In the winter of 1998, the life of 19-year-old Trisha Marie Beristain, a White/Caucasian female from Salt Lake City, Utah, was tragically cut short. On the evening of November 17th, Trisha went out with her boyfriend, a man she knew as Jesse Vega. She had plans to have breakfast with her father the following morning, a meal that would never happen. In the early hours of November 18, 1998, her body was discovered in Big Cottonwood Canyon.
She had been shot multiple times, execution-style, with a 9mm handgun. Her father, who was on the phone with another daughter, saw a news report about an unidentified woman's body being found and, to his horror, recognized the description as his own child.
The investigation into Trisha's murder quickly pointed to her boyfriend, Jesse Vega, whose real name was later discovered to be Arturo Munguia. The motive for this brutal act was determined to be jealousy. Munguia had become enraged over Trisha's friendship with another man, despite her insistence that their relationship was platonic. Trisha's family described her as a kind-hearted person who was friendly with everyone, a trait that her jealous boyfriend tragically could not accept.
In the immediate aftermath of the murder, Munguia, along with an accomplice named Diego Cruz Silva, fled the state. Silva was eventually apprehended in June 1999 and confessed to his involvement. He told investigators that he was with the couple on the night of the murder and witnessed the entire event. According to Silva, Munguia's jealousy escalated into a violent rage. He drove Trisha and Silva to Big Cottonwood Canyon, where he shot her and left her body. Silva's confession provided enough evidence for authorities to charge Munguia with murder, but by then, he had vanished. A warrant for his arrest was issued, but he has managed to evade capture for over two decades. Despite the passage of time, Trisha's family continues to hold out hope for justice, and law enforcement continues to search for Arturo Munguia.
