A man has been arrested in the disappearance and death of his ex-girlfriend and their daughter - who he kept a secret from his own wife - eight years after the duo vanished in South Florida.
Gustavo Castaño, who has been a person of interest in the case since the beginning, was indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts of kidnapping resulting in death, according to Local 10 News. FBI officials announced his arrest on Tuesday, a day after agents told families that Castaño had been taken into custody.
The arrest comes more than eight years after Liliana Moreno, 42, and their daughter Daniella, 8, went missing on May 30, 2016.
“It has been eight years and we haven’t heard anything from them, so it was really, really shocking and unbelievable,” Lilana’s brother, Eduardo Moreno, told Local 10 News.
Liliana and Daniella were last seen near a Home Depot on Okeechobee Road in Hialeah Gardens, Florida, according to the FBI.
Detectives said Castaño and Liliana got into an argument and he said that he dropped the mother and daughter off on Turnpike Avenue near the store, NBC 6 reported. But, they were never seen or found after the argument.
A search was launched after relatives called from Colombia saying they hadn’t heard from the family in several days, the Miami Herald reported in 2016.
Just weeks into the search, Castaño stabbed himself in the throat inside a truck in the Home Depot parking lot when confronted by police, the Miami Herald reported.
He was then shot in the face with a police Taser stun gun, which caused him to lose his right eye, his lawyer at the time Miami Beach attorney Michael Grieco told the newspaper. Grieco maintained at the time that his client had nothing to do with the disappearance of the mother and daughter.
Castaño was named a person of interest in the case and was questioned by detectives but was never charged - until now.
For years, the family has passed out fliers to drum up tips on their whereabouts, and every year, they hold a vigil outside of Castano’s home, hoping he will talk.
Now that an arrest has been made, they are hoping to finally bring their loved ones home.
“We pray we’re still having hope to find them,” Liliana’s brother Eduardo Moreno said. “That is the last thing you can lose — the hope you can have them again.”
