Investigators say new analysis of cellphone evidence helped connect Joey Emiliano Tovar-Vargas to the disposal of the 20-year-old woman’s body.
BEXAR COUNTY, TX — Nearly seven years after 20-year-old Meagan Gonzales disappeared and was later found dead in southwest Bexar County, authorities have arrested a man investigators say was involved in disposing of her body, though he has not been charged with killing her.
Joey Emiliano Tovar-Vargas, 24, faces a charge of tampering with evidence with intent to impair a human corpse. Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said investigators currently have evidence tying Tovar-Vargas to the disposal of Gonzales’ body but have not established how she died. The arrest marks the most significant development in a case that remained unsolved for years as Gonzales’ family continued seeking answers.
Gonzales was last seen Nov. 11, 2019, with Tovar-Vargas, according to an arrest affidavit and investigators. Family members became worried when they could no longer reach her and reported her missing several days later. Authorities found her abandoned pickup truck on Dec. 2, 2019, at an apartment complex. Investigators said blood recovered from the truck bed matched Gonzales’ DNA.
Gonzales’ body was found the next day in a field along Wisdom Road in southwest Bexar County. Authorities said her remains had been burned and were badly decomposed. She was wrapped in a blanket with a distinctive pattern. The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office could not determine the cause or manner of her death, according to records cited in the arrest affidavit. That finding has complicated efforts to determine exactly what happened to Gonzales and whether prosecutors can support a homicide charge.
The case received renewed attention after a sheriff’s office cold case investigator began another review in 2025. Investigators obtained a new search warrant for Tovar-Vargas’ cellphone and used newer forensic technology to examine information that authorities said had not been available when the device was first searched in 2019. Salazar said the renewed examination produced a large amount of information that investigators considered significant to the case.
According to the affidavit, cellphone location information placed Tovar-Vargas near areas connected to Gonzales’ truck and belongings in the days after she disappeared. Investigators also found searches on the phone about how long fingerprints remain and how to delete a social media account. Authorities said the phone had connected to Gonzales’ truck through Bluetooth after she disappeared. Investigators also reported finding photographs that showed a blanket resembling the one in which Gonzales was found.
The affidavit also describes an account from Tovar-Vargas’ father. Investigators said the father told them that Tovar-Vargas came to his home on Nov. 20, 2019, and asked for help moving a body from a backyard. The father said he refused and did not see a body. He later noticed that a trash can was missing, according to the affidavit. Authorities allege Tovar-Vargas used a trash can and a pickup truck as part of the disposal of Gonzales’ body. Those claims are allegations contained in the investigation and have not been proven in court.
Salazar said investigators believe they can establish Tovar-Vargas’ role in disposing of the body. “What we can prove at this point is that he disposed of her body,” Salazar said after the arrest. Authorities have not announced a murder or other homicide charge against him. The medical examiner’s inability to determine how Gonzales died remains a central issue as investigators continue reviewing the evidence.
For Gonzales’ father, Eddie Gonzales, the arrest brought a measure of relief after years of waiting for a break in the case. He said he never gave up hope that investigators would find evidence leading to an arrest. “It gave me some relief, some hope,” he said after learning of the development. He has continued to remember his daughter as a hardworking, ambitious and caring young woman while pushing publicly for answers about her death.
The arrest also came close to the seventh anniversary of Gonzales’ disappearance. Her father told local reporters he hopes the investigation will ultimately determine what happened to his daughter and whether anyone will face additional charges. Sheriff officials have said they do not currently have another suspect in her death, although investigators have continued seeking information that could help establish the full sequence of events.
As of Nov. 14, Tovar-Vargas had not been charged with homicide in Gonzales’ death. The evidence-tampering allegation will proceed through the court system while the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office continues investigating the circumstances of her death. Any additional charges would depend on evidence developed by investigators and decisions by prosecutors.
Author note: Last updated November 14, 2026.