By Joe Johnson
An Athens man has pleaded not guilty to an indictment that charges him with concealing the death of his in girlfriend whose body was found in a trash can last year..
Javier Carbajal-Soto, 52, was indicted last month by a Clarke County grand jury on one felony count of concealing the death of another person and tampering with evidence for allegedly wrapping in plastic the body of 38-year-old Adriana Casteñeda and placing it in a trash can that he disposed of in a wooded area near his house on Maple Forge Drive.
The indictment alleges that Carbajal-Soto’s actions “hindered the discovery of whether or not (Casteñeda) was unlawfully killed.”
Casteñeda and Carbajal-Soto were said to have been dating at the time she was reported to be missing from her Kathwood Drive home in March 2023. Court records indicate that Carbajal-Soto was going through a divorce at the time.
Casteñeda’s body was found three weeks later in the trash can in the woods near the defendant’s house.
Although a cause and manner for Casteñeda’s death have yet to be established, investigators have been treating her death as though foul play was involved.
Police indicated that there were no obvious signs of trauma to the woman’s body that could explain her death, and an autopsy at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Crime Lab was inconclusive.
“Castañeda’s death has not been ruled a homicide, it is just being investigated as one,” said Lt. David Norris, commanding officer for the Athens-Clarke County Police Department's Criminal Investigations Division. “There was a loss of life and until the manner of death is clearly determined we will devote resources to its investigation and resolution the same as a criminal homicide investigation.”
After Castañeda’s body was found investigators obtained search warrants for Carbajal-Soto's house, from which they removed undisclosed evidence which Norris said supported the criminal charges.
“We believe Carbajal attempted to conceal the death and discovery of Castañeda based on what was discovered during the investigation," Norris said.
At the time arrest warrants were secured, police believed that Carbajal-Soto had fled to Mexico.
He was arrested on Jan. 13 at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents.