Where is Juan Figueroa Jr. today? Whereabouts explored ahead of new NBC Dateline episode

Juan Figueroa Jr., a man initially suspected in the 2018 disappearance of Rita Gutierrez-Garcia from Longmont, Colorado, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping. The mother-of-three mysteriously disappeared from an alley in the early morning hours after St. Patrick's Day celebrations.

As part of the plea agreement that included taping a confession to the murder, Figueroa Jr. was also expected to reveal the whereabouts of Gutierrez-Garcia's body, which was found in Weld County, Colorado, more than four years after she went missing.

Reports state that Juan Figueroa Jr., who was already serving a 93-year prison term for an unrelated s*xual assault case in June 2022, was given a 48-year prison term for the killing to be served concurrently with the previous term. He is currently serving time at Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility in Cañon City.

An all-new two-hour Dateline episode will further delve into Rita Gutierrez-Garcia's chilling case this Friday, March 10, 2023. The episode, titled Finding Rita, airs on NBC at 9 pm ET.

---

Juan Figueroa Jr. was already serving a 93-year sentence when he pleaded guilty to Rita Gutierrez-Garcia's murder

On June 3, 2022, 33-year-old Juan Figueroa Jr. pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping charges. This was part of a plea agreement that included taping a confession to the killing and providing the location of Rita Gutierrez-Garcia's body to authorities.

A grand jury originally indicted him on charges of first-degree deliberate murder, felony murder, and second-degree kidnapping in the death of the Colorado mother, who went missing in Longmont over four years ago in March 2018.

Reports state that when Figueroa pleaded guilty, he was already serving a 93-year prison sentence in connection to an unrelated s*xual assault case. The plea deal suggested that will serve the second-degree murder charge's maximum 48-year sentence concurrently with a s*xual assault term. The plea deal also prohibits him from appealing the case or requesting a sentence reduction.

Juan Figueroa Jr. is currently serving time at the Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility in Cañon City, Colorado.

---

Prosecutors presented their case against Juan Figueroa Jr. as a "no body homicide"

According to reports, Rita Gutierrez-Garcia disappeared in the early morning hours of March 18, 2018, during a night out with friends and family as they celebrated St. Patrick's Day at a bar in downtown Longmont. She was last spotted in a city parking lot near 3's Bar.

Juan Figueroa Jr. was identified as a suspect during the initial stages of the missing person's investigation. However, due to the lack of a body, prosecutors were only able to present the case to a grand jury in April 2021 as a "no body homicide."

Figueroa decided to cooperate as part of the plea deal, directing detectives to investigate a location in Weld County where Gutierrez-Garcia's decomposed remains were discovered on April 28. The plea deal also required the accused to write a confession while also recording a video confession in addition to directing police to the remains.

Prosecutors alleged that Juan Figueroa Jr. confessed to knocking Gutierrez-Garcia out cold, taking her to his truck, and strangling her. He later appeared at the hearing and confessed to the murder in court.

According to a Times-Call report, Figueroa stated:

"[It] was crazy. I was insane, I couldn’t handle my emotions. When she called me 'Weirdo,' yeah, I snapped."

He also spoke to the victim's family, claiming that he was sorry for taking Rita away from them.

---

Watch Dateline on NBC this Friday at 9 pm ET.