Child's Ashes Back With RivCo Family, Suspect Pleads Guilt In Burglary

PALM DESERT, CA — An Indio man pleaded guilty to the early November storage locker burglary and taking numerous personal belongings, including the cremation remains of the locker renter's deceased one-year-old son. According to court and inmate records, Juan Carlos Molina, 36, was immediately sentenced to one year of supervised release.

Multiple suspects arrested in this case are awaiting court appearances, including Thousand Palms resident Taylor Spencer, 31, who is charged with one felony count each of burglary and receiving stolen property. Other suspects included Wally Venecia, 43, of Indio, and 54-year-old Victor Banuelos, of La Quinta, were also charged with the crime.

Banuelos additionally faces one felony count each of possessing controlled substances while armed and possessing ammunition, as well as three felony counts of being a convicted felon and narcotic addict in possession of a firearm, according to court records. Venecia and Banuelos pleaded not guilty to their respective charges on Nov. 15 at the Larson Justice Center. According to court records, Venecia's next court appearance was set for Dec. 28, when Spencer is set to be arraigned. Banuelos will next appear in court on Jan. 3, 2024.

In early November, the suspects were believed to have broken into the Prime Storage facility in the 42900 block of Madison Street, according to the Indio Police Department. The locker belonging to the victim was cleaned out of multiple belongings, including the child's cremation remains.

Detectives pursued multiple leads over the following days before two traffic stops, and a search warrant led them to arrest Molina.

Some of the victim's belongings were found at a Bermuda Dunes motel, but the ashes were not immediately located, according to police.

A search warrant was later served in Palm Desert, where Victor Banuelos was arrested for allegedly having a large amount of the victim's property, an assault weapon, additional handguns, and 1 1/3 pounds of methamphetamine for sale.

He was arrested on Nov. 10 and booked into the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning but was released on Nov. 16.

At some point, the child's ashes were delivered to the Cal Fire Station #81 in Palm Desert, according to police. They were then transferred to the Riverside County Coroner's office, which returned the remains to the family.

Two additional suspects -- Venecia and Spencer -- were found and arrested on Nov. 13 in Coachella in connection to the burglary, according to police.

According to inmate records, Spencer was booked into the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility but was released on a $10,000 bail bond the next day. Venecia was booked into the John J. Benoit Detention Center but was released on a $50,000 bail bond.

Anyone with additional information on the burglary was asked to call Detective Andres Meraz at 760-541-4120 or Valley Crime Stoppers anonymously at 760-341-7867.

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Child's Ashes Among Items Stolen From Indio Storage Unit | Palm Desert, CA Patch

City News Service, and Patch Editor Ashley Ludwig contributed to this report.