An El Paso man was sentenced to 75 years in prison in the death of a woman who went missing after a concert in 2019.

A jury last week found Ricardo Marquez guilty of murder in the death of 29-year-old Erika Andrea Gaytan, whose body remains missing. The prison sentence was handed down by Judge Sam Medrano on June 21 in 409th District Court.

Gaytan was the loving mother of a then-7-year-old boy when she vanished on a date with Marquez to El Reencuentro Norteño concert at the El Paso County Coliseum on July 13, 2019.

Gaytan made several social media postings from the concert featuring Los Rieleros del Norte, Polo Urias and La Maquinaria Norteña. 

Marquez told El Paso police detectives that he drove Gaytan back to his home after the concert, they got into an argument and claimed that she left on a ride-share service. 

During a lengthy investigation, detectives found no sign on Gaytan's phone records that she used a ride-share application, according to a criminal complaint document.

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Homicide detectives learned that Marquez asked to borrow a shovel from his sister and his brother's Jeep Wrangler even though Marquez had a car, a Ford Crown Victoria.

A Texas Department of Public Safety DNA lab report confirmed that blood found on the Jeep's rear cargo mat matched Gaytan, according to documents.

Investigators also obtained security camera videos showing the Jeep Wrangler traveling on Montana Avenue in the Montana Vista area to and from a desert off the East Montana area.

Detectives found "sand-filled shoes" and "zip ties tied in a manner to be used as restraints" during a search of Marquez's home on Nehemiah Place in the far East Side, documents stated.

Detectives concluded that Gaytan was dead and had been killed by Marquez at his home before her body was transported in the Jeep to an unknown location only accessible by off-road vehicles and that he used the shovel to bury the body.

Law enforcement and volunteers have searched the Red Sands desert area several times but have not found Gaytan's body.

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Daniel Borunda may be reached at 915-546-6102; dborunda@elpasotimes.com; @BorundaDaniel on Twitter.