Dental records tie skull to missing woman

EDINBURG — Skeletal remains found in Willacy County earlier this month are those of a woman missing since last year, prosecutors said Friday.

The dental records of 68-year-old Josefina Lugo match those of a skull discovered Feb. 14 in a drainage ditch east of Lyford, said Michelle Puig, an Hidalgo County assistant district attorney. But investigators have submitted the remains to a DNA testing facility in Phoenix for further confirmation.

"It's her," Puig said. "But we want to make absolutely sure."

This marks the second time remains found near Lyford have been linked to the woman, who disappeared from her Mission condo in August. In October, DNA analysis tied a severed arm found eight miles from the skull's location to Lugo.

And last week, Mission police investigators scoured the rural area near the intersection of Farm-to-Market roads 1420 and 1018 in hopes of turning up more remains.

Prosecutors allege Lugo's husband, Pedro, and stepson, Javier, killed her in a dispute over money. Both men were indicted in December on charges they murdered her, even though her body had not yet been found.

Friends and family members said Josefina Lugo had planned to divorce her husband shortly before her disappearance.

Pedro and Javier Lugo have entered pleas of not guilty and are set to go to trial later this year.

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Jeremy Roebuck covers courts and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4437.