On Wednesday, October 25, Laura Cardenas was reported missing by her employer when she didn’t show up for work for two days. Deputies responded to her home and spoke with her fiancé, Adam Hughes, who told them he had not seen her since Saturday, October 21.
On Thursday, October 26, investigators executed a search warrant on the home and discovered human blood inside. Investigators also seized two vehicles from the home and subsequently obtained search warrants to search them for evidence. Inside Mr. Hughes’s truck, multiple blood samples were recovered from the bed of the truck and the back seat.
Through the course of this investigation, Henry County Investigators explored leads that Ms. Cardenas’s remains were possibly located in South Boston, VA.
On Tuesday, October 31, investigators from the Henry County Sheriff’s Office and the Virginia State Police traveled to South Boston to search for those remains. Her remains were located in a wooded area near the roadway.
Yesterday, November 1, Virginia State Police Agents conducted rapid DNA testing and confirmed those remains were Laura Cardenas. As a result of this investigation, Adam Lee Hughes, 41 years of age, 1588 Kings Mill Rd. Ridgeway, VA, was taken into custody yesterday evening and charged with the following: 2nd Degree Murder and Concealment Dead Body
