We recall reporting about this in "Today's News" back in June and your email piqued our interest, too, since we'd heard nothing about the case since, either.
For those of you not familiar with the back story, on Monday May 18, 2009 a survey crew working in the desert near Primm located human bones approximately one mile west of Whiskey Pete's Casino. The bones were later identified as Carlos Arturo Leon-Martinez. A native of Ecuador, Leòn-Martinez was a heavy gambler and was known to frequent the Monte Carlo and other local casinos in Las Vegas and Primm. Evidently something of an itinerant individual, he lived in Seattle and Newcastle, Washington; San Diego, Vista, and San Francisco, California; Miami, Florida; Las Vegas, Nevada; and San Juan, Puerto Rico.
We put our on our sleuthing hats and found a flier online posted by the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department on September 16, seeking information in connection with Leòn-Martinez' death. With the emphasis on his heavy gambling and the fact that the body had been found out in the desert near a casino, we assumed that he'd either been murdered or had perhaps taken his own life. However, the flier clearly stated that it was his "death" that was being investigated, so evidently they weren't considering it a homicide or suicide.
We followed up with a phone call to one of the contacts named on the flier and received a call back from the charming and very helpful Sargeant Frank Montanez, who shared as much information as he could about the case. He confirmed that there was no evidence of foul play and that the body had been in the desert for at least a year and possibly two. This makes life difficult for those investigating the circumstances surrounding the death, since there is no remaining evidence aside from the deceased's bones.
We asked if Leòn-Martinez had had any outstanding markers at Whiskey Pete's or any other casino and the answer is no. Aside from this, very little informatin is known. His disappearance had been reported by his children to the Ecuadorean embassy, but it turns out that the embassy does not work with the FBI's National Crime Information Center, which is responsible for handling missing persons cases, so the U.S. authorities had had no idea that the victim was missing until his remains were found.
Leòn-Martinez had apparently been working in Seattle prior to his death and also had entry stamps in his passport for Chicago and Atlanta. Little more is known about his background other than the fact that he apparently was formerly a doctor but had been forced to retire after an injury to his back, after which he apparently was never the same and had started the downward spiral into heavy gambling.
That's all that's known, although we did unearth one other interesting factoid in the course of our own investigations, namely that Carlos Leòn-Martinez' daughter is actress Adrianne Leòn, who formerly had roles in "General Hospital" and "The Young and the Restless" (in which she played the part of Colleen Carlton for two years before being fired from the show in 2007).
If anyone recognizes Leòn-Martinez and has any information at all that might assist the police in solving the mystery of his death, Sgt. Montanez requests that you please call him on 909/387-3589.
