Man charged in Louisa County with dragging body behind van

A Columbus Junction man was arrested this week on a charge that he dragged a man behind a van on a gravel road in Columbus Junction.

Salvador Castaneda, 58, is charged with abuse of corpse. According to a criminal complaint, police believe he tied another man to the back of a van and dragged him along R Avenue in Columbus Junction.

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A resident of a house on R Avenue called police at 4:28 p.m. Wednesday to report that she saw a white van drive quickly past her residence before seeming to crash into the ditch on the side of the road, according to the complaint.

When an officer from the Columbus Junction Police Department arrived, he found the van stuck in the ditch on the east side of the road. No one was in the van, but the officer found a cellphone and a .25 auto handgun. There was also a black cord hanging from the bottom of the van. In the ditch on the opposite side of the road, the officer found a deceased man, Noe Ibarra-Tijerina, with a cord tied around his midsection that matched the cord on the van. Extensive injuries on his head, arms, legs and torso indicated he had been dragged down the gravel road, the complaint states.

Another resident on the street told police she had seen the van drive past her house dragging what appeared to be a body behind it. Another witness said she had just given a man a ride from the scene up the road to 314 Collins Rd. Officers found Castaneda and another man standing outside at that address, and the witness who had given Castaneda a ride was able to identify him.

Police also discovered a puddle of blood outside a nearby building, at 316 Collins Rd., .25 auto shell casing, and a trail of blood and drag marks that continued from Collins Road to the place where the van had crashed on R Avenue, the complaint states.

Castaneda told police that he had been with Ibarra-Tijerina and had lent the van to him. The keys to the van were found in Castaneda’s front pants pocket and his clothing appeared to have blood stains on it. Castaneda was wearing clothing that matched the description given by a witness of the crash, except for a gray T-shirt. Castaneda told police he had removed his shirt and placed it in his shop, which officers later searched with a search warrant. The shirt was found as well as a router tool that was missing its cord. The cord appeared to have been ripped from the tool, and matched the cord that was found attached to the van and the cord tied around Ibarra-Tijerina, according to the complaint.

The complaint didn’t indicate what Ibarra-Tijerina’s cause of death was, or if police believe he died before or after being dragged behind the vehicle. Brandon Marquardt, the Louisa County Sheriff, whose office helped with the investigation, told The Gazette in an email that more information about the case will be released “as soon as possible.”

Castaneda had his first appearance in court Thursday and is being held in the Louisa County Jail on a $25,000 cash-only bond.

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