Miami man who claimed immigration agents seized his girlfriend is now charged with her murder after investigators uncovered major inconsistencies.
Miami man who claimed his girlfriend had been detained by immigration agents is now facing a second-degree murder charge after investigators found her body in a nearby canal and uncovered evidence that contradicted his account.
Authorities say Saul Garcia-Gonzalez, 40, reported his girlfriend, 37-year-old Nerida Martel, missing on Thursday October 9, 2025, three days after he said he last saw her. He told deputies that Martel might have been taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a claim that raised immediate concern among her friends and family.
According to investigators, Gonzalez said he left home on October 6, 2025, to take the couple’s two-year-old daughter to daycare, leaving Martel preparing to head to work. But Martel never arrived, and her employer notified police after she failed to show up for her shift — something colleagues described as highly unusual for the reliable mother of two.
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A friend later told detectives that Gonzalez had suggested Martel was in ICE custody. When her name did not appear in federal records, the friend urged him to file a missing persons report. Soon after, detectives noticed inconsistencies in his statements. While Gonzalez initially told authorities he last saw Martel at home, he reportedly told others he had dropped her at a bus stop.
Cellphone tracking data deepened investigators’ suspicions. According to an arrest affidavit, Martel’s phone never left the couple’s residence on the day she disappeared. Meanwhile, Gonzalez’s phone data placed him near the canal where her body was later discovered, approximately half a mile from their home. Detectives say his phone then returned home before traveling back to the same location with both devices, after which Martel’s phone went offline.
On Saturday October 11, 2025, Martel’s body was found floating in a canal near SW 168th Street and SW 205th Avenue. An autopsy determined she died from a gunshot wound, and the medical examiner ruled her death a homicide on November 25, 2025. Gonzalez was arrested the same day. He has denied killing her.
Authorities also noted a previous emergency call to the couple’s home in May 2025, when a woman was heard shouting for help, though deputies were unable to locate the caller.
Gonzalez appeared in court on Thursday November 27, 2025, where a Miami-Dade judge denied him bond. He remains in custody at the Turner Guilford Knight Detention Center as the investigation continues.
