Shivangi Sinha
In the month of February 2020, San Pablo, California, native Dioneth Lopez bid her adieus to her friends and family in her hometown as she moved to a sprawling town in a different state. However, after several days without any contact, her family grew concerned and reported her missing. As the police initiated a search for her, they discovered that she was the woman whose body had been found in the Olympic National Forest just a day before the missing person report. She was a victim of homicide. In the ‘See No Evil: Nowhere Girl’ episode, the police intensified their efforts to apprehend the killer and ensure justice for Dioneth Lopez.
How Did Dioneth Lopez Die?
In February 2020, 21-year-old Dioneth Lopez journeyed from San Pablo, California, to Seattle to visit a 23-year-old man named Alejandro Aguilera Rojas, with whom she was having an alleged secret affair. She landed at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on February 10, 2020, and Rojas was there to pick her up. The two had an itinerary of enjoyable days ahead, including a trip to Sequim and plans to go hiking with some other friends.
As Dioneth Lopez had not been in contact with her family since her arrival, their concerns grew, prompting them to reach out to Alejandro Rojas for more information about Lopez’s whereabouts. Unfortunately, Rojas couldn’t provide much assistance. On February 15, 2020, one of her friends officially reported her missing to the Washington Police. On February 14, a passerby on Forest Road 28-280 notified the police about seeing a woman lying at the end of the road, unresponsive to calls.
Upon identification from the missing report, the woman was confirmed to be Lopez. Near her body, the police found a broken tequila bottle, a box cutter, and a knife. Police reports indicated severe head trauma with both blunt and sharp objects, along with multiple cuts and lacerations on her arms and neck. The coroner’s report concluded that the cause of death was head injuries consistent with defensive wounds, suggesting an attempt to fend off a homicidal attack.
Who Killed Dioneth Lopez?
Dioneth Lopez’s friends and family had already started suspecting Alejandro Aguilera Rojas in connection with her disappearance and subsequent murder. Their suspicions were fueled by Rojas providing conflicting accounts when questioned about her absence after she failed to contact them for several days. To one of Lopez’s friends on Facebook, he claimed not to have been in touch with her since her trip to Mexico in November 2019. However, when Lopez’s mother inquired about her on Facebook, he told her that he had picked her up from the airport and she had gone on a hike with friends, but he was not aware of her activities afterward.
The police initiated their investigation by reviewing surveillance footage, leading them to identify Dioneth Lopez at a convenience store in Sequim, which she had visited with Alejandro Rojas on February 10. The investigation also revealed that the two had spent approximately 7 hours in Rojas’ truck at the Longhouse Market near 7 Cedars Casino. Then they started tracking both Lopez’s and Rpjas’ phone and were able to trace it back to his house in Renton where he stayed with his wife and kid. On February 19, Rojas was taken in for questioning by the police.
During police questioning, Rojas initially claimed that he had driven Lopez to Sequim, stating that she informed him about plans to go on a hike with friends, and he dropped her off at the park. When the police found his account unconvincing, he admitted that Lopez had no such hiking plans. Rojas then provided conflicting statements about his relationship with Lopez, initially denying any involvement and later acknowledging that they had been engaged in a “thing” for a couple of years.
As the investigation progressed, Rojas eventually confessed to the police that he took Lopez to a wooded area. He alleged that she had threatened to kill his wife and child, even picking up a knife to harm him. Rojas asserted that he acted in self-defense during the encounter and hit her with a tequila bottle in the head before driving away. He alleged that she was still breathing when he left the scene and did not expect her to pass away.
Alejandro Aguilera Rojas is Serving His Sentence Today
In December 2021, Alejandro Aguilera Rojas appeared in Clallam County Superior Court, where he entered a guilty plea to the charge of second-degree murder of Dioneth Lopez with a deadly weapon. Due to the crime being committed in the Olympic National Forest, a federal land, the charges at the state level were dismissed. Subsequently, he faced second-degree murder charges in federal court, to which he again pled guilty. On May 16, 2022, Rojas was sentenced to 200 months, and he is currently serving his sentence in federal incarceration.
