San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said today that 48-year-old Eduardo Magana has been sentenced to 15 years-to-life in prison for the murder of his former girlfriend, Alexis Berenice Guadarrama Orozco, 33.

Magana was convicted by a jury of second-degree murder in November.

At his trial, prosecutors laid out a timeline that showed the defendant met Guadarrama at the Star Motel in Otay Mesa on July 15. The defendant was later seen placing a large, heavy object in the trunk of his car in the early morning hours of July 16. At the same time, all communication from the victim to her friends and family stopped. Magana was arrested three days later in Bell Gardens, Calif. near Los Angeles.

Guadarrama’s body was never found and is believed to be in the Southern California area. DA Stephan and San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl are asking for the public’s help locating it.

“Even though we have obtained a measure of justice with the murder conviction and today’s sentencing, true semblance of closure and dignity will come when the victim’s remains are returned to her grieving family,” DA Stephan said. “I am grateful to our prosecution team and the San Diego Police Department detectives who solved this case.”

Anyone with information on this case is asked to contact the San Diego Police Department’s Homicide Unit at 619-531-2293 or the Crime Stoppers anonymous tip line at (888) 580-8477.  Please visit www.sdcrimestoppers.org for information on how to send a web or mobile app tip.

While murder prosecutions where no body has been located are rare, hundreds of such convictions have occurred in the U.S. and here in San Diego County over the past several decades, thanks to advances in forensic science and digital evidence.

Deputy District Attorneys Justine Santiago and Jennifer Crampton prosecuted this case. Assistance on this case was also provided by the Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles County Sherriff’s Department, and the San Bernardino County Sherriff’s Department.