An Elmhurst man has been accused of beating and stabbing to death a woman he lured to his home.

Santino Ortiz, 22, of the 600 block of West Belden Avenue, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of 21-year-old Claudia Mojarrieta-Matos.

The death was announced Tuesday by Elmhurst police and the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office.

Around 4:35 a.m. Saturday, police were called for a report of a missing woman.

The male caller said he dropped Mojarrieta-Matos off at 1 a.m. in the 600 block of West Lorraine Avenue to meet with another person, later identified as Ortiz.

About 15 minutes later, the caller received a phone call from Mojarrieta-Matos, in which he heard a struggle and the woman crying. The call ended abruptly.

The caller returned to the area to look for her before calling the police.

Ortiz is charged with six counts of first-degree murder, one count of armed robbery and one count of concealment of a homicidal death.

Police met with Ortiz Saturday afternoon and arrested him.

Authorities say Ortiz solicited Mojarrieta-Matos for paid sex and arranged to meet her in the 600 block of West Lorraine, which is a block over from his address. He then led her into his garage, grabbed her, forced her to the ground face down and repeatedly slammed her head on the garage floor.

He then stabbed her with a knife from behind, according to authorities. He wrapped her head in a garbage bag and put her body in a garbage can.

Then around 8 a.m. Saturday, he took the body to a rural area in Wadsworth and disposed of it about 40 feet off a roadway, among some brush and trees.

She had been stabbed about seven times in the face and head, according to the Lake County Coroner’s Office.

On Tuesday, DuPage County Judge Joshua Dieden ordered that Ortiz be detained. Ortiz’s next court date is Jan. 5.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20251209/crime/man-accused-of-murdering-woman-in-elmhurst/