Child's remains found in concrete, sparking search for two missing children

The remains of a child were found encased in concrete in a storage unit in Pueblo, Colorado, last month, and police said Thursday they were looking for two other children last seen in 2018 as part of the murder investigation.

The gruesome discovery was made the morning of Jan. 10 at a downtown warehouse, Pueblo police said. in a statement.

Police said they were called to the facility, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) south of Colorado Springs, after someone found a metal container “filled with hardened concrete.” When the container was searched, the remains of a child were found.

Authorities said they were now looking for two children, Jesus and Yesenia Dominguez, who were last seen more than five years ago. Jesus would now be about 10 years old, and Yesenia would be 9, police said. They would not provide information on how the two children might be related to the child whose remains were found or to the murder investigation.

The Pueblo County coroner will identify the remains, police said. The coroner's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday afternoon.

Sergeant Franklyn Ortega of the Pueblo Police Department said by telephone that although no report had been filed on the two missing children, police were called to conduct welfare checks on the children but were never able to locate them.

When asked why police had not subsequently inquired further about the children's whereabouts, Sergeant Ortega said there were “custody issues” regarding the children, and could not provide further details. He said police had questioned two persons of interest about the killing, but no one was in custody.