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A Utah man has been charged with allegedly killing a West Valley City woman, whose body was found on the side of a Colorado freeway in August.

Francisco Jesus Huerta-Martinez, 34, was charged Wednesday in 3rd District Court with the first-degree felony murder for the death of 32-year-old Maria Astorga-Chavez in August. Huerta-Martinez was also charged with first-degree felony aggravated robbery and second-degree felony obstructing justice.

Also Wednesday, a warrant was issued Huerta-Martinez's arrest, with bail set at $1 million, cash only. As of Aug. 10, officers believe he had boarded a bus to Queretaro, Mexico.

On Aug. 6, Astorga-Chavez dropped her son off at her sister's Salt Lake County home, with the understanding that she would pick him up the next morning.

Astorga-Chavez then left in a white Ford Expedition with Huerta-Martinez, according to the charges.

At 10:19 p.m. that night, Astorga-Chavez talked to her cousin over the phone, and was still with Huerta-Martinez, the charges add. She also left a message with her cousin at 1:09 a.m. the next morning, Aug. 7.

But Astorga-Chavez never arrived to pick up her son.

On Aug. 9, Huerta-Martinez allegedly met a friend in Fort Worth, Texas, and "told the friend he had strangled a person to death, wrapped the body in a blanket, and dumped the body off the side of the road in the mountains of Colorado," according to the charges.

"Huerta-Martinez also said that he planned to travel to Mexico," the charges read. "Officers located a bus manifesto and found Huerta-Martinez had boarded a bus to Queretaro, Mexico on [Aug. 10]."

On Aug. 16, a transportation worker found Astorga-Chavez's body, wrapped in a green comforter and a Calvin Klein comforter, along Interstate 70 in Summit County, Colo. A Colorado medical examiner later determined that she was strangled.

Astorga-Chavez's body was also missing several rings that she was known to wear, the charges add.

Officers searched Huerta-Martinez's Salt Lake County home and found a bag that displayed a picture of a green comforter, a bag for a Calvin Klein comforter, and a picture of Huerta-Martinez in his room that shows a green comforter on his bed, according to the charges. But during the search, officers allegedly did not find bedding on Huerta-Martinez's mattress.

Officers also reportedly found a clothes iron with its cord cut off. A cord that was tied around Astorga-Chavez's body was "similar to the portion of the cord remaining on the clothing iron," according to the charges.

A search of Utah court records show no other criminal history for Huerta-Martinez.

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