Dad charged with abuse says remains found in Phoenix home were girl who died in 2017
PERRY VANDELL | Arizona Republic
Prosecutors have charged a Phoenix couple with child abuse days after a child's skeletal remains were discovered inside their home.
Phoenix police arrested Rafael Loera, 56, and Maribel Loera, 50, after firefighters noticed human remains hidden within drywall after they extinguished a fire at their west Phoenix home on Jan. 28.
During a police interview, Rafael told investigators that the bones belonged to an 11-year-old girl the couple had adopted. Rafael said the girl became ill in July 2017 and that he waited days before attempting to take her to Phoenix Children's Hospital, documents say.
Rafael said the girl was vomiting and convulsing before she died on the way to the hospital, court documents say. Fearing they would lose custody of their other children, the couple decided to wrap the child's body in a sheet and hide it in the attic where it remained for two years, Rafael told police.
Documents say Rafael told police he knew Maribel physically abused the 11-year-old girl before she died, but never contacted police to help her. Instead, he left her with his wife while he worked two jobs.
Court documents say the couple adopted a female infant months after the 11-year-old girl died.
Investigators first learned about the potential child abuse when a different 11-year-old girl called police on Jan. 20 and told police she had been left alone at home for two days and was hungry.
Responding officers found the home near 59th Avenue and Camelback Road had human feces on the floor throughout the home, according to court documents. The Arizona Department of Child Safety removed the girl that day.
The girl told officers that Maribel, her foster mother, had a “bad temper” and would hit her with various objects such as a knotted extension cord and slam her head into walls, according to court documents. Records say the girl's body showed injuries indicating she had been struck with a rope-like object.
The girl also told detectives that she had an older sister who disappeared in 2017.
Her foster father, Rafael, had told her that her sister had been adopted and sent to Mexico, court documents say. But Maribel told her that her sister had been adopted and sent to Columbia.
Fire starts moments after other children removed
A DCS case worker contacted Rafael at his front door on Jan. 28, and he signed documents giving DCS temporary custody of a 9-year old boy and 4-year-old girl, court records show. It is not yet clear if those children were fostered or adopted.
DCS found that the 11-year-old girl and 9-year-old boy had numerous scrapes, scars, burns and other injuries all over their bodies – the boy's injures were listed as "too numerous to count," according to court documents.
Documents say Rafael set fire to his home moments after the children were removed, siphoning gasoline from his car and pouring it on the floor near the fireplace before setting it alight with the goal of killing himself, but a neighbor reported the fire before it grew too large.
Firefighters responding to the scene saw smoke and entered the home to make sure the fire was put out, court documents said. They found Maribel with a garden hose she had pulled inside to put out the fire. Firefighters were checking the ceiling for embers when they found human bones.
Rafael tells police about abuse
After the fire, police interviewed Rafael and he told police he had seen his wife strike the 11-year-old girl and 9-year-old boy with an electrical cord and broom handle, but never reported the abuse to police because he feared his wife would hurt him as well. He said Maribel hit him with a broom handle while he tried defending the children, court documents say.
The family had recently left for Minnesota, but Rafael and the 11-year-old returned to Arizona. He told police he was trying to protect her but could not afford to stay home with her so he left her home alone "for the majority of the day," court documents said.
Rafael told investigators that Maribel returned with the two children a couple days after DCS took custody of the 11-year-old girl. Court documents don't specify whether the 9-year-old boy and 4-year-old girl were also adopted.
DCS did not immediately return requests for comment.
Prosecutors charged Rafael with two counts of child abuse, one count of abandoning or concealing a dead body and arson.
Maribel was charged with abandonment or concealment of a dead body and two counts of child abuse.
This is a developing story. Check azcentral.com for updates.
Reach the reporter Perry Vandell at 602-444-2474 or perry.vandell@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @PerryVandell.