Kira Trevino Murder: When There’s No Body, Blood Will Do

Kira and Jeff Trevino.

Having a body is normally step one in prosecuting a murder case, but authorities in St. Paul believe they have enough evidence to charge Jeffrey Trevino in the death of his wife Kira, 30, although her remains have not been located. Trevino, charged with two counts of second-degree murder, called police to report his wife missing on Sunday, February 24. According to Trevino, Kira left the couple’s Iowa Ave home to go to the gym and the tanning salon before work that Friday but never showed up to her job as a clothing store manager at the Mall of America. Both the gym and the tanning salon told police they did not see Kira Friday.

Trevino’s white Chevy Cobalt was found Monday in a remote area of the mall’s parking garage. Her wallet and phone were in it. Trevino’s family told Fox 9 that her car had been found backed in to a spot where she didn’t usually park. They added that she was not skilled at parking. After finding the car, police searched the Trevinos’ home. Blood, say police, was found in both the trunk of the vehicle and the home. ”Based on the amount of blood found in her home and the vehicle and based on the fact that it is highly uncharacteristic of her to be missing for nearly a full week without any contact with friends, family or coworkers, there is probable cause to conclude that she is dead,” reads the criminal complaint against Trevino. According to the complaint, “copious amounts” of blood were found throughout the house: in the master bedroom, living room, bathroom, hallway and on the stars. A large piece of carpet was allegedly found to have a body-shaped blood stain, and the presence of towels, bleach, and a carpet cleaner with blood on the brushes suggests an attempt to clean up the scene.

Read the criminal complaint below.

Jeff Trevino booking photo.

A friend of Kira’s told Fox that he’d recently worked on her Chevy Cobalt because it had had a flat tire, a cut brake line and cut transmission line within one month, adding that he thought someone may have been trying to sabotage the vehicle. Trevino reportedly told police that he and his wife had been having marital problems, but resolved to work on their relationship and planned a “date night” for Thursday, the day before Kira was reported missing. Trevino claimed that the couple went out to dinner and bowling on Thursday night and then came home in separate cars and went to bed. At about 2:15 a.m. on Friday morning, Kira’s debit card was used at a gas station. A surveillance video from the gas station shows a man in gray sweats filling up Kira’s Cobalt before heading off in the direction of their home. At 9:45 that morning, the Cobalt was seen parking in the mall garage. The car’s occupant, whose identity cannot be confirmed due to video quality, was seen throwing out what appeared to be a trunk liner before getting into a taxi. The trunk liner, apparently stained with blood, was later found at the scene and a GPS signal from the taxi showed that it traveled from the mall garage to the Trevino home.

Jeffrey Trevino was taken into custody on suspicion of murder Tuesday and was officially charged Thursday morning. He remains jailed on $1 million bail, awaiting his next court appearance on March 14. In a news conference, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said it’s difficult to prosecute a murder case without a body, but that it’s “possible to obtain a conviction.” Trevino, says Choi, has not pointed authorities to the location of Kira’s body.

MISSING: Kira Trevino, 30, of St. Paul