ICE arrest of undocumented immigrant charged with concealing woman’s dead body potentially blocks prosecution

CHICAGO (WGN) — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have arrested an undocumented immigrant after he was charged with concealing a missing Antioch woman’s body in mid-April, leading to confusion on how local and federal authorities will proceed with his prosecution.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claimed 52-year-old Jose Luis Mendoza-Gonzalez is in the United States illegally and was arrested by ICE officers in Chicago sometime Saturday.

Mendoza-Gonzalez, who previously lived in Waukegan, was awaiting his next court appearance at the time of his ICE arrest in connection with the Waukegan Police Department’s investigation into the disappearance and death of 37-year-old Megan Bos.

According to the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office (LCSAO), they believe criminal prosecution in the United States, as opposed to deportation, is the best path forward in this case.

“The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office has been in constant contact with the family about Megan’s death and the ongoing investigations by the Waukegan Police Department and the Lake County Coroner’s office into the circumstances of her death and discovery of her body, which includes how and when she obtained fentanyl and what role that may have played in her death,” a LCSAO spokesperson said in a statement Monday.

“As was previously reported, the initial autopsy reports showed no signs of trauma or a struggle and at no point was Megan decapitated before or after her death. While we have not been contacted by ICE, we are preparing an official request that this offender be held locally. As we have told the family, we believe that a criminal trial and sentencing is more appropriate than deportation procedures.

“The defendant is charged with several felonies, which can result in potential consecutive prison sentences upon a conviction. As people know, deportation to another country does not lead to prison in that country. If he were to agree to deportation, he could be free in days. We are hopeful that he will be brought to court so that he can be held fully accountable for his actions.”

Mendoza-Gonzalez was taken into police custody on Thursday, April 10, and later charged with two counts of concealment of a death, abuse of a corpse and obstructing justice.

The reason why he was out of police custody and ICE was able to arrest him in Chicago on Saturday is because all of the counts Mendoza-Gonzalez was charged with are considered Class 4 felonies, but are not detainable offenses under Illinois’ SAFE-T Act.

Earlier that day on April 10, Waukegan police officers went to an area business to question Mendoza-Gonzalez, a person of interest in Bos’s disappearance.

He told Waukegan police through a translator about how Bos came to his house on Wednesday, Feb. 19, but he initially said she left after her visit. When asked about her whereabouts and whether she was still alive, Mendoza-Gonzalez said he did not want to be arrested at the business, according to investigators, but did not say why.

WPD then moved the conversation to their precinct, where Mendoza-Gonzalez told police Bos was in a container in his yard in the 700 block of Yeoman Street.

Officers went on to secure a search warrant for Mendoza-Gonzalez’s home and found her body on the property.

As WPD’s conversation with Mendoza-Gonzalez carried on, he explained Bos’s visit to his home in greater detail.

According to Waukegan police, Mendoza-Gonzalez said when Bos came over to his house on Feb. 19, she snorted drugs at some point, but he wasn’t sure what kind of drug it was.

Mendoza-Gonzalez then told police that Bos asked him if she could hang out in his basement while he worked on a plumbing issue in a different part of the house. Police said Mendoza-Gonzalez obliged, and when he came back to check on Bos later that day, Mendoza-Gonzalez told them he allegedly found her dead of what he thought was an overdose.

According to a press release from the Lake County Coroner’s Office on Monday, July 21, fentanyl, cocaine metabolites and morphine were found in Bos’s liver tissue, indicating recent and potentially lethal cocaine, fentanyl and probable heroin use.

The LCCO also said that making a distinction between an accidental drug intoxication and an asphyxial death based solely on the autopsy findings and the presence of potentially lethal drugs in Bos’s body is not possible.

Asphyxial death is defined as death resulting from a lack of oxygen to the body, preventing the cells from receiving or utilizing oxygen. Mechanical obstruction of the airway, chemical interference with oxygen uptake, or even heart failure triggered by oxygen deprivation are all examples of what can cause asphyxial death.

The DHS’s press release on the ICE arrest of Mendoza-Gonzalez claimed Bos was found decapitated and bleached on his property—a claim that has been refuted by Bos’s mother and proven wrong through the LCCO’s autopsy records.

Bos’s mother, Jennifer Bos, said her daughter was not found decapitated, but was found bleached.

After police recovered Bos’s body, her remains were taken to the LCCO for an autopsy on Friday, April 11. According to the LCCO, she was not decapitated, and her body showed no signs of trauma or a struggle before her death.

Mendoza-Gonzalez told detectives he was afraid he was going to be in trouble, so he left her in the basement for several days before moving her to a container in his yard, where she remained until WPD found her on April 10.

According to investigators, Mendoza-Gonzalez told them he broke Bos’s phone and threw it in the trash on the night of the alleged overdose. He said he didn’t know what he was going to do with her when police asked what he planned to do next.

Bos was reported missing on Sunday, March 9, and APD launched a missing persons investigation into her disappearance. At the time, family members said they had last heard from her on Monday, Feb. 17.