Mom Realizes Police Found Her Daughter’s Body

🖤 The Obsession that Became Murder: The Case of Yianira Saddios

This story is a harsh lesson in how control and obsessive jealousy can metastasize into lethal violence. The murder of Yianira Saddios on her 30th birthday is a tragic indictment of her ex-boyfriend, Juan Gastelum, who went by the name Johnny Trujillo. His shifting narratives, blatant lies, and history of abuse painted a picture of calculated deceit that tragically ended her life.

The Vanishing Birthday Girl

The night started as a celebration for Yianira Saddios’s 30th birthday on March 3, 2022. She was out with friends, drinking “freaking shots, mixed drinks, everything,” moving from a restaurant to a casino. Yet, her fun was shadowed by the relentless, harassing calls from her ex-boyfriend, Johnny. Yianira’s best friend, Anna, was so disturbed by the constant contact that she eventually grabbed the phone in the restroom to confront Johnny—a fight that infuriated Yianira and led her to storm out alone.

This moment of frustration, fueled by alcohol and her ex-boyfriend’s manipulative timing, was the opening Johnny needed. Her friends and family quickly realized something was terribly wrong when she missed work the next morning. Police conducted a welfare check at her apartment but found nothing—no Yianira, no signs of struggle, just her car, a white Honda, sitting untouched.

The Liar and the Lingering Ex

The investigation immediately centered on Johnny Gastelum. Yianira had a protection order against him, a necessary precaution against his history of escalating violence, pushing her, holding her “really strong,” and generally being a dangerous, possessive figure in her life. Johnny had recently moved 1,300 miles away to Arizona but was back in Washington State, staying at his sister’s place in Hermiston, an hour and 40 minutes from Yianira’s Moses Lake apartment.

When police first called him, Johnny claimed innocence, stating he only just found out she was missing and was trying to reach her. When he voluntarily came in for questioning, his story was convoluted and dripping with victim-blaming, focusing on Yianira’s fight with Anna and her subsequent hysterical crying. He flatly denied that she left with him, saying he just tried to calm her down and she eventually left the area.

However, his story began to crumble the moment police shared what they knew. In his second interview, after police hinted at mobile phone pings placing him near Hermiston, Johnny admitted he drove Yianira back to her apartment and stayed for about an hour, denying anything beyond comforting her. This directly contradicted his initial denial. He also lied about a call from Yianira’s friend, Javier Hinahosa Perez, who called her as Johnny picked her up. Johnny, believing Hinahosa was a new boyfriend, violently threatened Yianira over the phone, demanding to know “Who the hell is that?” and “What the hell did I tell you about talking to people?” This incident was a key insight into Johnny’s mind: he was watching her, tracking her, and ready to unleash his possessive rage. The suspicion that Yianira may have been seeing someone new—a man named Alex who was at the casino—was the likely trigger that pulled Johnny back across the country and led to his relentless calls.

The Fatal Six Hours and the Evidence Trail

The final piece of Johnny’s deceptive alibi was obliterated by CCTV footage obtained from Yianira’s neighbors. Footage showed Johnny’s dark gray Ford Fusion arriving at Yianira’s apartment at 11:57 PM on March 3rd. It didn’t leave until 5:49 AM on March 4th. He had not stayed for one hour as claimed, but for almost six hours straight. On his way home, CCTV captured Johnny pulling into a gas station. He didn’t buy gas or food; his sole purpose was to dump several bags from his back seat into a trash can. Police recovered those bags from the dumpster. Inside were large kitchen knives and hunting knives, all confirmed by cadaver dogs to have human blood on them. Confronted with the evidence, Johnny had nowhere left to hide. He admitted they kissed and even revealed that Yianira told him she thought she might be pregnant with his child, a bombshell that could have triggered his final, fatal rage. He still flatly denied stopping at the gas station or having any knowledge of the knives, a useless attempt to cling to innocence.

The Discovery and the Past Tense

Detectives noted Johnny’s telling use of the past tense when speaking of Yianira, but they needed more than suspicion. They obtained a DNA match from a strand of black hair found in his trunk—a 98% match to Yianira. Furthermore, when they obtained a warrant for his phone, they discovered images he had taken of Yianira’s body after her death, confirming his depraved violation of her.

Using advanced phone tracking technology (Lexus Nexus ZX), officers located a remote spot where Johnny’s phone had lingered. On May 12, 2022, officers followed suspicious tire tracks to a secluded area near the water. There, they found what they had been searching for. Yianira’s decomposed body was found inside a sleeping bag, her legs bound with a pillowcase.

Juan Gastelum was subsequently charged with second-degree murder and second-degree rape. The fact that he was the subject of a protection order, had a history of violence, and was driven by obsessive jealousy makes it clear that Yianira’s death was a deliberate act of control. Her murder serves as a chilling example of how those who claim to love you can become the most dangerous monsters. Yianira Saddios’s family continues to wait for the final justice for the love that was twisted into a cruel and possessive obsession.