Meagan Gonzales: Arrest made in 2019 Bexar County murder case, no homicide charge yet
Arrest made in 2019 Bexar County murder
Nov. 11, 2026 marks the seven-year anniversary of the disappearance of Meagan Gonazles, a young woman out of Bexar County. Her murder was a cold case for years, but recently, there's been some movement on her case, bringing her loved ones hope. FOX 7 Austin's Angela Shen reports.
BEXAR COUNTY, Texas - An arrest was recently made in a seven-year-old Bexar County homicide case.
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar recently announced Joey Tovar-Vargas, 24, was arrested and charged with tampering with evidence.
He has not been charged with homicide at this point. Meagan was last seen with him in her vehicle.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Meagan Gonzales: 2019 murder of San Antonio woman found burned in field still unsolved
What happened to Meagan Gonzales?
The backstory:
Meagan Gonzales, 20, was last seen on Nov. 11, 2019.
On Dec. 3, 2019, her body was found on Wisdom Road in Atascosa in southwest Bexar County. Her body was burned, decomposing, and wrapped in a blanket.
MIT: Meagan Gonzales
A young San Antonio woman was found burned in a field three weeks after she was reported missing. Years later, her killer is still on the loose. FOX 7 Austin's Angela Shen has this week's "Missing in Texas".
The Latest:
Sheriff Salazar says investigators suspected Tovar-Vargas at first, but there was not enough evidence to link him to the crime. It turned into a cold case.
Last year, investigators used new technology to go through his phone. They found what Salazar calls a "treasure trove" of information.
Joey Tovar-Vargas
Phone records place him near where Meagan's belongings and vehicle were found. He did web searches about how long fingerprints last and how to delete social media. He asked a witness for help moving a body. He was seen by witnesses dumping evidence. There were pictures of the blanket Meagan was wrapped in on his phone.
Tovar-Vargas has a lengthy criminal history. He has domestic violence cases with three separate victims; none of those were Meagan. He also had an unrelated human smuggling charge in another county.
Meagan's father speaks with FOX 7 Austin
What they're saying:
Eddie Gonzales, Meagan's father, describes who she was as a person.
"My daughter was always a very fun person to be with. She was funny, ambitious, a hard worker. I want the world to remember her for what she was, not for what happened to her," he said.
As the years go by, he says, "I was already starting to feel a strong pain knowing that my daughter's anniversary was coming. Every year it just gets stronger and stronger."
Sheriff Salazar's announcement was a step towards closure.
"I feel a little bit better, and I've been feeling a little more of a relief on that good news that we got. I call it an early Christmas present," Eddie said.
"I just hope that the person that got arrested, they charge him to the fullest. I'm hoping that he gets more charges added to him. We're hoping that he gets charged for the homicide as well. Him and whoever else was involved, I hope that they get to the fullest what they deserve. That's what we're waiting for, and that's where we're hoping for. Just time will tell, and we just want to be able to have closure," Gonzales said.
He also says his message to others would be, "if they're going through the same thing that I have been going through of losing my daughter, to not ever give up, to continue seeking and keeping their loved ones alive, not to forget them, because I've been fighting for my daughter's justice for the last seven years and I never gave up. I continued until we got some answers recently, and there is hope," he said.
What you can do:
Sheriff Salazar says there's no indication there are other suspects, but things could change if more information comes up.
If you know anything, contact the Bexar County Sheriff's Office.
The Source: Information in this report comes from the Bexar County Sheriff's Office, reporting/interviews by FOX 7 Austin's Meagan Gonzales and previous reporting.