San Jose Mother Arrested After Son's Death Left Note For Father

SAN JOSE, CA — A mother from San Jose was arrested Tuesday in Denver after her 7-year-old son was found dead in Nevada, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said.

Samantha Moreno Rodriguez, 35, was arrested by the Denver Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force, which is led by the FBI. Her son, Liam Husted, was found dead May 28 at a trailhead west of Las Vegas, police said. Until his body was identified, detectives called him John "Little Zion" Doe.

Investigators believe she placed her son's body at the trailhead, NBC reported. Rodriguez's arrest came after a nationwide arrest warrant was issued on Monday. Rodriguez will be extradited to Las Vegas after being booked into a Denver-area jail on suspicion of murder, police said.

At a news conference on Tuesday, Las Vegas police said that Rodriguez left a note for Liam's father on May 24 before leaving with Liam. The father came home that day to find that Rodriguez's and Liam's belongings were gone.

"I’m sorry I had to do it like this," the note stated, according to Las Vegas Police Lt. Raymond Spencer. "I’m going to try to get a house for Liam and I and that we can talk about this in the future."

Spencer added: "There was nothing suspicious in that message that would lead the father to believe that Liam or Samantha were involved in any kind of foul play or that there was any harm potentially to come."

The father didn't reach out to law enforcement until June 1, and even then he didn't want to get Rodriguez in trouble or report a parental abduction, according to Spencer.

But Liam had already been killed, according to the police timeline. Las Vegas police believe Rodriguez had driven with Liam down the Pacific Coast Highway to Laguna Beach, then went up to Victorville and ended up in a hotel room in Las Vegas on May 27. Liam was still alive at that time, according to police.

Liam's body was found on the 28th in Mountain Springs, a city about 30 miles southwest of Las Vegas.

The San Jose Police Department received a tip from a friend of Rodriguez on Friday that Liam could be the boy who was depicted in sketches that had been shared publicly. They coordinated with the Las Vegas Police Department, and Las Vegas police detectives flew to San Jose to retrieve items from Liam's bedroom.

DNA samples collected from Liam's pillow and clothing in San Jose matched that of the body found on the trail.

Las Vegas police were unsure of why Rodriguez ended up in Denver, where she was arrested around 6 a.m. Tuesday morning. She was with a man at the time of her arrest, though police said he wasn't involved in the incident.

Police believe Rodriguez was alone at the time that Liam was killed. Officials are still working to determine a motive for the killing.

Patch editor Amber Fisher contributed to this report.