State police are seeking to locate a woman with connections to the Tyrone area who went missing after she allegedly gave a ride to an Altoona man who’s body was found burning along a road near Blandburg in Cambria County last Thursday night.
Court documents indicate the disappearance of Christina DeStefano may be connected with the murder of 22-year-old James Tucker. His body was found burning along the road last week. He had been shot three times according to police.
Ebensburg State Police provided a release to The Daily Herald regarding Tucker’s murder and would only confirm they have more than one “persons of interest” in the case. The Hollidaysburg State Police confirmed DeStefano as a missing person.
Court documents show authorities attempted to locate DeStefano on Friday and Saturday after they learned from Tucker’s girlfriend that a woman identified as DeStefano picked up Tucker in Altoona around 9 p.m. on Thursday. Tucker’s burning body was found later that same night along Fire Tower Road in Reade Township. The woman said Tucker left Altoona with $2,000 to $3,000 in cash and crack cocaine.
Police also learned of a connection between DeStefano and Torone Dixon, aka “TuTu.” The court documents state that on Thursday night Dixon told a man he had been ripped off and “the guy was done in.” Dixon wanted to buy a vehicle from the man he spoke with. He told the man he had to get out of town.
An affidavit of probable cause filed with a magisterial district judge in Altoona showed that DeStefano’s current address was unknown and family members could not shed light on her whereabouts.
However, the documents show the woman’s grandmother received two phone calls from DeStefano on Sunday morning. In the first call, DeStefano told her grandmother she loved her. In a second call, DeStefano’s grandmother heard a man’s voice in the background and asked DeStefano if she was being held against her will. DeStefano said she was and the phone then went dead.
Police learned DeStefano was due to move into a trailer in Grazierville that was owned by a family member on Monday. Authorities located the trailer and observed a vehicle parked to the rear of it. The court documents said the vehicle matched the description of a vehicle that authorities believed Dixon was operating.
Neighbors in Grazierville said they had seen people matching DeStefano and Dixon’s description at the trailer. The last sighting was on Friday night although another neighbor did indicate that a light had been seen on in the trailer around 4 a.m. on Sunday.
The court documents said police received permission from the owner of the trailer to forcibly enter it due to concern for DeStefano’s safety. Police entered the trailer on Sunday afternoon and nobody was found inside.
Police observed a pair of jeans in plain view that appeared to have blood on it. Authorities wanted to obtain the jeans since the clothing might have a connection to Tucker’s murder and/or possible foul play concerning DeStefano.
A search warrant was filed and police found several items in the trailer in addition to the jeans. The items included other clothing, guns, ammunition and a cellular phone. Also among the items found were spent shell casings from a .22 caliber gun.
The Cambria County DA’s office told The Daily Herald no arrests have been made regarding the case as of this morning.
