‘We want them home’: After police arrest the man they believe killed a Utah mother and her young son, focus is on finding their bodies

Orem • In their prayers, Brenda Marsh and her family ask for one thing: that the bodies of her daughter and grandson be returned to them soon.

Emily Quijano, 23, and her 3-year-old son, Gabriel Almiron, disappeared two years ago. Now, police believe Quijano’s boyfriend, Christopher Richard Poulson, killed the mother and son Sept. 8, 2015, and spent two days disposing of their bodies.

The mother and son have never been found — though Poulson, 28, was charged last week with two counts aggravated murder in their deaths.

At a Tuesday news conference, Marsh thanked the Orem police officers who worked “quietly, yet tenaciously” building a case over the past two years against Poulson, which culminated in his arrest Friday evening in Hawaii.

“Now, because of their expert work, we have answers,” Marsh said. “And we can go forward with the purpose of recovering Emily and Gabriel’s bodies and bringing them home. … We want them home.”

Finding their bodies is a top priority for law enforcement officers, too, officials said Tuesday.

Orem Police Chief Gary Giles said Tuesday that investigators believe it is likely that Poulson hid the remains somewhere in southern Utah County, but added they could be anywhere from Utah County to St. George.

Police are asking anyone who has information about Poulson’s whereabouts in September 2015 — and especially if anyone saw his silver Ford 2002 Mustang — to call them at 801-229-7070.

Quijano’s stepmother, Diana Quijano, told The Salt Lake Tribune that family members hope Poulson “will finally do the right thing and lead us to them.”

She described her stepdaughter as smart and funny, someone who loved her family “more than anything.”

The two were in their families’ lives for too short of a time, Marsh said, and family members feel deep anguish over their disappearances.

“But this anguish will never surpass the incredible joy we have that they were ours and we were blessed to be their family,” Marsh said. “They made our lives beautiful and now they are our sweetest, dearest memories.”

Poulson was charged last week in 4th District Court with two counts of first-degree felony aggravated murder and one count of second-degree felony obstruction of justice, according to court records unsealed Monday.

Prosecutors have not yet decided whether they’ll seek the death penalty in the case, Deputy Utah County Attorney Sam Pead said Tuesday.

It’s unusual to file murder charges when no body has been found — Pead said he personally has never handled a case like it — but the prosecutor said his office is confident they have a “sufficient case” to prove Poulson’s guilt.

“In any murder case, you have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the victims are deceased and usually we do that through a medical examiner, pictures, things like that,” Pead said. “In this case, we’re going to have use a different kind of evidence to get there. But we’re confident in our ability to show that both Emily and Gabriel are no longer with us.”

Poulson appeared Tuesday in a Hawaii courtroom, according to Hawaii News Now, where he agreed be extradited to Utah to face the charges. A public defender who represented him Tuesday told the judge in Hawaii that his client maintains his innocence.

Poulson has told investigators that he broke up with Quijano, who has also gone by the name Emily Almiron, on Sept. 8, 2015, after finding drug paraphernalia in their apartment. She left their Orem apartment with her young son, the man reported, and was never seen again.

She never used her cellphone, according to prosecutors, and her bank account was never accessed. She never went back to work or massage therapy classes she was attending.

Quijano’s ex-husband reported her missing to police days later, after she did not show up for a child custody exchange.

Prosecutors allege that Poulson murdered the woman and her son, wrapped them in sheets and then “buried or otherwise disposed of and concealed their bodies.”

Authorities have not publicly revealed a motive for their deaths.

Though their bodies have not been found, prosecutors say numerous pieces of evidence add up to murder.

The day after the mother and son disappeared, Poulson bought a shovel and work gloves and then turned off his cellphone, according to a probable cause statement filed in court. The phone was turned back on three hours later and police traced it to a rural area of Payson.

Prosecutors allege that geolocation data from Poulson’s phone show he took a trip on Sept. 11, 2015, to St. George, where he abandoned Quijano’s red Toyota Prius with the keys and some of her belongings inside. Poulson returned to Utah County via a shuttle service, charges state.

The car was found in April 2016 and was searched by police. But authorities say the only fingerprints found on the bags of Quijano’s belongings were Poulson’s.

Though Poulson had originally told investigators that Quijano usually drove him around in her car, police discovered that the man owned a Ford Mustang, which he sold below value days after the disappearances. Police tracked down and searched the vehicle, and a cadaver dog “indicated” on the trunk area three times, according to charging documents.

Poulson also told other lies to police as they investigated the disappearances, prosecutors allege, including omissions about being a drug user himself — though he had blamed the breakup on Quinjano using drugs.

After being confronted with all of this evidence during an Aug. 24 police interview in Logan, Poulson left for Hawaii two days later. He had most recently been living in Smithfield, according to court records.