Leg Found In SoCal Desert Confirmed As Missing Teen's, Suspect Charged With Murder

SALTON CITY, CA — After a human leg was found late last year near the Salton Sea, investigators used DNA testing to determine who it belonged to. For the family of a missing teen girl, the results confirmed the worst.

But an arrest this month may lead to information about what happened to the 17-year-old.

On Feb. 14, the Imperial County Sheriff's Office announced that Abraham Feinbloom, 51, of Salton City, was arrested in the case of the missing teen, T'Neya Tovar. He was charged with murder in her apparent death and two sentencing enhancements: the use and discharge of a firearm during the commission of a crime. He pleaded not guilty.

According to the sheriff's office, at about 7:30 a.m. Feb. 13, deputies, along with FBI agents, served a search warrant at a home in the 2800 block of Harlequin Court in Salton City. Feinbloom was at the residence and attempted to flee, but was captured by deputies and questioned by the FBI before being arrested, according to the sheriff's office.

T'Neya Tovar's mother reported her child missing in December and shared efforts to find her daughter on her Facebook account, with pleas to the public.

"She has not been on social media and her phone was going straight to voicemail. A friend of hers dropped her off almost 2 weeks ago and has not heard from her," Chaya Tova posted. "The police were sent to the last address where she was dropped off. No one answered and the doors were locked. The police said there’s nothing they can do."

Meanwhile, on Dec. 21, deputies assigned to the Salton City sheriff’s station responded to a call about the discovery of human remains in Salton City. They later determined the remains to be a decomposed human leg.

Worried the limb belonged to her daughter, Chaya Tovar provided a DNA sample to investigators, which matched the grim discovery.

The distraught mother had suspected Feinbloom was involved in her daughter's disappearance. In Facebook posts, she publicly identified him as a person of interest and tracked his movements before the sheriff's office announced his arrest.

The teenager's body has not been found, but her mother believes she's dead. In a memorial-like photo of her daughter that she posted to Facebook, she wrote, "Gone too soon."

Details about a possible motive in the alleged killing were not disclosed, and it's unclear how, if at all, Feinbloom knew the victim.