SAN ANTONIO, TX – A peculiar case has emerged from San Antonio, Texas, where a local man was alleged to have concealed his mother’s body for two years by shifting it between his house and a rented storage unit. Authorities claim his fear of reporting her death was the reason for his strange behavior.
The alleged suspect, 53-year-old Rogelio Bernal, is now staring at charges of destruction and concealment of a human corpse. The chilling discovery happened on Thursday when an unnamed individual chanced upon the corpse of an elderly woman in a trash can, stored in a storage unit that was won at an auction.
The storage facility’s property manager identified Bernal as the last known tenant of the storage unit. The previous encounters with law enforcement marked Bernal’s record.
An outstanding warrant on drugs charges facilitated his arrest the following day. This warrant was one of the reasons Bernal cited for not reporting his mother’s passing.
As per the police documents, Bernal admitted that he took care of his mother and lived with her. On the day of her demise, October 31, 2021, she slipped in the shower. Although she was alive but injured when he found her, Bernal refrained from notifying the authorities due to his criminal background and did not alert them even after her ensuing death.
In an attempt to handle the situation, it is alleged that Bernal stashed his mother’s body in an apartment closet, and regularly utilized lye and other cleaning products to manage the odor. However, a swarm of gnats made living there impossible, and he was evicted after a year. That’s when Bernal transported his mother’s remains to a storage unit.
Bernal is now held in, Bexar County Jail, his bond set to $75,000.