UMATILLA COUNTY, Ore. — The suspect in the murder and disappearance of 30-year-old Yanira Cedillos appeared in court on Wednesday for an extradition warrant hearing.
After a governor’s warrant for extradition was issued for 27-year-old suspect Juan Ismael Gastelum of Hermiston, a hearing was set for Wednesday in Umatilla County, Oregon District Court at 8:15 a.m.
During the hearing, Gastelum waived his right to an extradition hearing.
Umatilla & Murrow County Circuit Courts confirmed Gastelum's defense is filing a waiver of extradition, which means he won't fight his extradition. It is expected that Gastelum will make his way back to Grant County this week. Moses Lake Police said they will be making arrangements in the next couple of days to bring him to the Grant County Jail.
Gastelum was originally set to appear in court on June 1 after a judge allowed a 45-day extension for the governor’s warrant to be issued. But, he refused to waive his right to a jurisdiction hearing to be transferred to the jail in Grant County. He was arrested back in March on charges of second-degree murder and second-degree rape and taken into custody in Hermiston after Cedillos' murder before her body was found in May.
Cedillos was reported missing on March 4, 2022 after she was out celebrating her birthday on the night of March 3 at Papa's Casino in Moses Lake. Moses Lake Police said they believed Gastelum, Cedillos ex-boyfriend, was the main suspect in her death and disappearance.
According to MLPD Cpt. Mike Williams, detectives obtained evidence showing that Cedillos was killed in her apartment and her body was moved after. The last piece of evidence detectives have of her being alive was approximately seven minutes after she and Gastelum arrived at her apartment.
During Cedillos' disappearance, her family, friends, the Moses Lake community and detectives spent weeks searching various areas in the hopes of bringing her home.
Cedillos' family even offered a cash reward for anyone with tips and information that would lead to locating her. The search finally ended when Moses Lake police found her body on Thursday, May 12 in a sleeping bag covered with tree limbs and leaves in a remote area in Walla Walla County. Her body was then positively identified on May 16.