California woman arrested after 7-year-old son found dead in Las Vegas

DENVER — Authorities in Colorado have arrested a California woman on suspicion of murder after officials said they found her 7-year-old son dead last month near a hiking trail in Las Vegas.

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On Monday, officials with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said an open murder warrant had been issued for Samantha Moreno Rodriguez, 35, in the death of her son, Liam Husted. Authorities said she was awaiting extradition to Las Vegas on Tuesday morning following an arrest in Denver.

Authorities said they found Liam’s body around 7:45 a.m. on May 28 while responding to a report of an unresponsive boy near the Mountain Springs Trailhead. The boy was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said.

At a news conference on Monday, Lt. Ray Spencer said authorities investigated hundreds of leads in order to identify Liam. It wasn’t until after a woman in San Jose, California, saw the composite sketch of Liam released by police that investigators were able to link the missing persons case to the homicide in Las Vegas.

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Spencer said investigators determined that Rodriguez and her son left San Jose on May 24. Two days later, they were spotted in Laguna Beach, then Victorville, California.

One day after Liam’s body was found, authorities said the vehicle the pair was using was spotted near Grand Junction, Colorado. On May 31, Rodriguez checked into a hotel room in the Denver area without her son, Spencer said.

Authorities said Liam’s father called police after Liam and Rodriguez vanished, but “not trying to get the mother into trouble, he didn’t want to file any kind of charges or anything,” Spencer said. Liam’s father is not considered a suspect in the homicide, according to police.

It was not immediately clear why Rodriguez left San Jose with her son.

“We understand that vehicle was packed-full of belongings -- and when I say packed, I believe that the backseat and cargo compartment of the car had no room for anyone to sit and it was packed completely,” Spencer said. He added that images showed Rodriguez had visited Las Vegas in the past, “but as far as why she was in the Las Vegas Valley that day, we don’t know.”

Authorities continue to investigate.

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