RivCo Man Suspected of Killing Hemet Woman To Answer Murder Charges

MURRIETA, CA — Felony charges may be filed Tuesday against a man suspected of killing a 43-year-old Hemet woman.

Joseph Wayne Rainey, 40 and also of Hemet, was arrested last week on suspicion of murder following a Riverside County Sheriff's Department investigation into the death of Jessica Rodriguez.

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Rainey is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Byrd Detention Center. His case was under review Monday by the District Attorney's Office.

Sheriff's Sgt. Carlos Mendoza said that on the afternoon of Oct. 23, passersby came upon the remains of a woman dumped in the area of Bautista Canyon and Willis roads in the unincorporated community of Anza.

Deputies were called to the location and couldn't immediately determine how the victim, quickly identified as Rodriguez, had died. An autopsy a few days later confirmed she "was the victim of a homicide," Mendoza said.

Central Homicide Unit detectives assumed the investigation and identified Rainey as the alleged assailant. He was taken into custody without incident on State Street in Hemet Friday.

"Investigators seized multiple items related to the investigation" during a search of the suspect's residence, according to Mendoza.

He did not disclose a possible motive, the specific means by which Rodriguez died, or her relationship to the suspect.

Background information on Rainey also was unavailable.