NEW WINDSOR – Matthew Mercado has been in jail for burglary at the New Windsor Motel since November 6, 2019.
Exactly a year later, Mercado was indicted on a second-degree murder charge for the killing of Jessica Lopez, who was last seen with him at the motel around the same time he was arrested for the burglary.
And the body of Lopez has never been recovered, said Orange County District Attorney Dave Hoovler.
“They were last seen together,” said Hoovler. “And the fact that shortly after they were seen together, the entire footprint of her life, her personal behavior, her electronic behavior, her social behavior, all of her contacts with her family, it stopped immediately after they were together.”
Hoovler said the search for Lopez’ body will continue as he tries to convict Mercado on the murder charge.
“I’m very confident Mr. Mercado killed her,” said Hoovler. “I’m very confident I can prove he killed her, and I’m very confident it can be done without the recovery of the body.”
Hoovler said there are many cases of video that helped with the indictment of Mercado, who was also charged with second-degree burglary, grand larceny and multiple charges of tampering with evidence.
