Madeline Pantoja

Madeline Molina Pantoja, 20, disappeared from her Midland, Texas, apartment on West Francis Avenue on or about May 11, 2023. Her vehicle, phone, and dog were left unattended, prompting immediate concern from her family and friends. After initial tension between the family and local police regarding the pace of the investigation, multi-agency search teams combed a 60-square-mile area. On May 20, 2023, her remains were discovered hidden in a rural field in Midland County. Her ex-boyfriend, Mario Juan Chacon Jr., 24, was arrested the same day. Investigators linked Chacon to the murder through cell phone location data and physical evidence of a struggle in her apartment, including bloodstains, holes in doors, and a missing coffee table. An indictment asserted that Pantoja had been beaten, strangled, and suffocated. On February 20, 2026, Chacon pleaded guilty in the 142nd District Court to first-degree murder and tampering with evidence. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison.