Girl's Body Still Missing, But Court Proceedings Continue: MoVal

MORENO VALLEY, CA — A preliminary hearing is set next week for two brothers accused of killing a 16-year-old Moreno Valley girl whose body has yet to be found.

Gary Anthony Shover, 25, and Owen Skyler Shover, 21 — both of Hesperia — were arrested in 2019 for the alleged slaying of Aranda Briones.

Both defendants are being held without bail at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta and are charged with murder and a special circumstance allegation of lying in wait.

The preliminary hearing for the pair is scheduled for April 6 at the Riverside Hall of Justice and will determine whether there's sufficient evidence to warrant a trial.

According to Riverside County sheriff's officials, the brothers were identified as suspects in Briones' disappearance and death following a weeks-long investigation that ended in February 2019, when the siblings were taken into custody without incident at their residence on Grevillea Street, near Old Ranch Road.

Briones was last seen Jan. 13, 2019, in Moreno Valley Community Park at the intersection of Cottonwood Avenue and Frederick Street, where she had been visiting with friends and relatives.

The young woman's case was included this week in the California Department of Justice's featured missing persons circulars, available at https://oag.ca.gov/missing/featured/children. State authorities asked anyone with information about her disappearance to contact the Riverside County Sheriff's Department at 951-486-6700.

Sheriff's Lt. Chris Durham said in 2019 that Owen Shover, a friend of hers from Moreno Valley High School, was the last person to have seen her alive.

Durham said investigators spoke to Shover, who claimed he had dropped Briones at the park, where she was picked up by somebody in a four-door sedan. But Durham said that surveillance cameras from the area undercut Shover's story.

"The camera system was reviewed, and ultimately it destroyed the timeline that he provided," Durham said at the time.

A neighbor of the Shovers told reporters in February 2019 that she observed investigators digging in the backyard of the brothers' home, where they unearthed clothing and blankets.

"Evidence was collected that confirmed ... Miss Briones was the victim of a homicide and points at these two brothers," Durham said.

A possible motive for the alleged slaying has not been disclosed.

In the weeks following her disappearance, the girl's loved ones distributed flyers throughout the city and surrounding locations bearing her photograph and other information. However, detectives have still not determined where her remains might be located.

The defendants have no documented prior felony convictions.