Woman suspected in 2009 cold case killing of Bay Area newborn arrested in Colorado
According to the Union City Police Department, the girl was found dead at the Parkside Apartments on Decoto Road on May 18, 2009 by a man searching for recyclables.
Police named the girl Matea Esperanza, a name meaning "Gift from God" in Hebrew and "Hope" in Spanish.
During the lengthy investigation, detectives said they were able to develop leads with what they described as "advanced" DNA analysis of evidence collected in 2009. Police said further DNA comparison led to 46-year-old Angela Onduto of Denver, who was identified as a person of interest during the early stages of the investigation.
Angela Onduto of Denver, Colorado has been charged with murder in connection with the 2009 death of a newborn who was found in a dumpster in Union City, California.
Union City Police Department
Last month, around when the girl would have turned 16, Union City detectives said they traveled to Denver to coordinate with local law enforcement. Police arrested Onduto but charges were withheld pending additional forensic analysis and reviewing the medical examiner's findings.
After the additional investigative work, police said the Alameda County District Attorney's Office filed a murder charge against Onduto. Denver Police took Onduto into custody late Wednesday.
"The UCPD expresses deep gratitude that justice is progressing in Matea's case after 16 years, reaffirming the department's commitment to solving cold cases and bringing closure to the community," police said in a statement Thursday.
Onduto remains in custody in Colorado as Union City detectives work on extraditing her back to California.
In 2017, the Union City Police Officers' Association purchased a permanent marker for Esperanza, who is buried at the Chapel of the Chimes in Hayward. The department holds a memorial for her each May.
REMEMBERING MATEA ESPERANZA On May 18th, 2009, officers responded to the report of a baby located in a dumpster at the... Posted by Union City Police Department on Sunday, May 18, 2025
"She is a part of our UCPD family and will not be forgotten," the department said in a May 18 post on social media.
Anyone with additional information is asked to contact Detective Ayala of the Union City Police Department at 510-675-5259. Tips can also be given anonymously by calling 510-675-5207.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
‘Epstein client list' doesn't exist, feds say, despite Musk's claim that Trump is on it
Jeffrey Epstein had no 'client list', according to a new memo from the Department of Justice and FBI, just a month after Elon Musk accused President Donald Trump of being on it. The convicted pedophile died by suicide in a New York City jail cell in August 2019, the new two-page memo confirmed, after conspiracy theories swirled about his death for years. 'This systematic review revealed no incriminating 'client list,'' the memo read. 'There was also no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions. We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.' The agencies also released hours of surveillance footage from the Manhattan prison where Epstein spent his final days in the hope of definitively establishing that no one else was involved in his death. 'The conclusion that Epstein died by suicide is further supported by video footage from the common area of the Special Housing Unit where Epstein was housed at the time of his death,' the memo, first reported by Axios, said. 'As DOJ's Inspector General explained in 2023, anyone entering or attempting to enter the tier where Epstein's cell was located from the SHU common area would have been captured by this footage.' Epstein has long been the subject of conspiracy theories that he kept a secret list of wealthy and well-known public figures to whom he trafficked underage girls for sex. There has also been long-standing speculation that he was assassinated under the orders of someone powerful to stop him from revealing details of their crimes. Before they were brought into the Trump administration, FBI director Kash Patel and deputy director Dan Bongino were some of the strongest voices in MAGA world questioning how the disgraced financier died. Last month, during a bitter war of words with the president on social media, former ally Musk alleged that the reason there had been no update in the Epstein investigation was because Trump's name was mentioned in the files. 'Time to drop the really big bomb,' Musk posted on X. '@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!' He followed up shortly after: 'Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out.' Trump denied being on the list and later shared a statement from former Epstein lawyer David Schoen that said the president wasn't implicated. 'I can say authoritatively, unequivocally, and definitively, that [Epstein] had no information to hurt President Trump,' said Schoen, who also represented Trump in his first impeachment trial. This weekend, Trump reignited his feud with the world's richest man, saying Musk had gone 'off the rails', to which Musk responded by posting a meme of a digital display set to zero to serve as 'The Official Jeffrey Epstein Pedophile Arrest Counter.' jo@
Yahoo
43 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Man stabbed to death in Vauxhall pictured as suspect charged with murder
A man who was stabbed to death in Vauxhall has been identified for the first time by police. Daniel Manuel has been named as the victim of a fatal stabbing on Saturday (July 5) at a home on Bondway. The 32-year-old was found by police with stab wounds around 5.30am and died at the scene. (Image: Met Police) An investigation was launched and two men were arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder. Abdul Kareem Fawaz, 35, has been charged with murder and possession of a knife and is due to appear at Croydon Magistrates' Court today (July 7) having been remanded in custody. The second suspect, aged 33, has been released on bail pending further enquiries. While formal identification of Daniel has not yet been made, his family are being supported by specialist officers.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
A Vermont dairy farm was raided. The mixed messages from Washington since then have increased fears
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — After six 12-hour shifts milking cows, José Molina-Aguilar's lone day off was hardly relaxing. On April 21, he and seven co-workers were arrested on a Vermont dairy farm in what advocates say was one of the state's largest-ever immigration raids. 'I saw through the window of the house that immigration were already there, inside the farm, and that's when they detained us,' he said in a recent interview. 'I was in the process of asylum, and even with that, they didn't respect the document that I was still holding in my hands.' Four of the workers were swiftly deported to Mexico. Molina-Aguilar, released after a month in a Texas detention center with his asylum case still pending, is now working at a different farm and speaking out. 'We must fight as a community so that we can all have, and keep fighting for, the rights that we have in this country,' he said. The owner of the targeted farm declined to comment. But Brett Stokes, a lawyer representing the detained workers, said the raid sent shock waves through the entire Northeast agriculture industry. 'These strong-arm tactics that we're seeing and these increases in enforcement, whether legal or not, all play a role in stoking fear in the community,' said Stokes, director of the Center for Justice Reform Clinic at Vermont Law and Graduate School. That fear remains given the mixed messages coming from the White House. President Donald Trump, who campaigned on a promise to deport millions of immigrants working in the U.S. illegally, last month paused arrests at farms, restaurants and hotels. But less than a week later, the assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security said worksite enforcement would continue. Such uncertainty is causing problems in big states like California, where farms produce more than three-quarters of the country's fruit and more than a third of its vegetables. But it's also affecting small states like Vermont, where dairy is as much a part of the state's identity as its famous maple syrup. Nearly two-thirds of all milk production in New England comes from Vermont, where more than half the state's farmland is dedicated to dairy and dairy crops. There are roughly 113,000 cows and 7,500 goats spread across 480 farms, according to the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, which pegs the industry's annual economic impact at $5.4 billion. That impact has more than doubled in the last decade, with widespread help from immigrant labor. More than 90% of the farms surveyed for the agency's recent report employed migrant workers. Among them is Wuendy Bernardo, who has lived on a Vermont dairy farm for more than a decade and has an active application to stop her deportation on humanitarian grounds: Bernardo is the primary caregiver for her five children and her two orphaned younger sisters, according to a 2023 letter signed by dozens of state lawmakers. Hundreds of Bernardo's supporters showed up for her most recent check-in with immigration officials. 'It's really difficult because every time I come here, I don't know if I'll be going back to my family or not,' she said after being told to return in a month. Like Molina-Aguilar, Rossy Alfaro also worked 12-hour days with one day off per week on a Vermont farm. Now an advocate with Migrant Justice, she said the dairy industry would collapse without immigrant workers. 'It would all go down,' she said. 'There are many people working long hours, without complaining, without being able to say, 'I don't want to work.' They just do the job.' ___ Ramer reported from Concord, N.H.
