The man accused of kidnapping and murdering Isabel Serris told police in an interview weeks after she disappeared that he spent several hours alone the night she disappeared.
Pima County prosecutors played jurors a recording of a police interview with Christopher M. Clements, 41, who is on trial in the case. Isabel was found missing from her bedroom in Tucson on April 21, 2012, but her fate changed when she found herself in a desert area in 2017 instead of Clements dropping unrelated charges. I didn’t know until I directed the authorities to her body in the city.
Detective Ana Eglora was one of two detectives who interviewed Clements on May 10, 2012, as part of a wider search for witnesses and information regarding the disappearance of a six-year-old.
Clements spoke casually with police during an interview and said he went to see a friend at Hooters on the northwest side near Ina Road and Interstate 10 on the night in question.
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He said he remembers the details “because it was a really crazy night,” and after the group at Hooters ended they went to a nearby bowling alley and stayed there until it closed.
Clements said that on his way home, a friend asked him to pick her up and take her somewhere else. He told police that when he got to her house, she didn’t answer his phone calls, so she went home.
He was there for less than an hour and she called back between 2 and 3 am, at which point he drove back to the southwest apartment complex to pick her up. He said he went and drove her home.
Isabel’s family previously testified that she came home late from a baseball game the night she went missing, and that she was in bed between 10:30 and 11:30 pm. Celis went to get ready for the softball game. Her family found her window ajar and the screen popping out.
Computers, Phones, DNA Evidence
Jurors also heard candid photos of her from the mother of two girls found by investigators in the My Secret Apps folder on Clements’ iPad. Both said they didn’t know about the photo until 2021, when the Tucson Police Department came to talk to them and showed them the photo they took in 2013. child.
FBI Agent Patrick Cullen, a digital forensic investigator, said in January 2016 on Clements’ cell phone, including searches for “Isabel Celis sexy,” “Isabel Celis update,” and “Isabel not kidnapped.” told the jury about the discoveries made.
Cullen said he also found two web pages that Clements had browsed on his mobile phone. One related to a young Chilean girl, and another of hers was called “Little Girls Make Your Body Feel Like a Party.”
Cullen said he only saw a digital image of Clements’ phone and didn’t see call detail records kept by the provider.
Jelena Myers, director of the Tucson Police Crime Lab, testified about DNA analyzed in the case, including several bloodstains found on the floor of Isabelle’s bedroom the morning she went missing. According to Myers, her DNA in her blood matched that of Isabel, but because there wasn’t enough material to profile her, the lab collected her DNA from her windowsill. Could not match sample.
No DNA matching Clements was found in the Sellis home, Myers said.
Clements’ attorney, Eric Kessler, asked Myers if wearing gloves guaranteed not to leave any DNA at the scene. Myers said it’s still possible that DNA was left behind. A jury asked whether the lab was able to match the DNA found in Isabel’s bedsheets to anyone, and Myers said the DNA from the sheets showed that all of Isabel’s immediate family members could have been contributors. Stated.
The trial is scheduled to continue until May 9 in Pima County Superior Court.
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Please contact Star reporter Caitlin Schmidt 573-4191 or cschmidt@tucson.com.
