An Indiana Uber driver confessed to abducting, raping and killing Chanti Dixon, 30, who went missing on Sunday, Sept. 8.
Dixon’s body was found on Sept. 9 in a wooded area, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Chief Chris Bailey said at a press briefing on Wednesday, Sept. 11.
The mother-of-two was reported missing on Monday when she didn’t return home from work the day before.
Chief Bailey said Dixon ordered an Uber around 3:30 a.m. Sunday to take her home from work. On Monday, police responded to a 911 report of a dead body in the woods in a residential area of Indianapolis.
The body was identified as Dixon, police said. She had been raped and shot in the head.
Police said 2 cell phones belonging to Dixon were found near her body.
Detectives began their investigation by contacting Francisco Valadez, the 29-year-old Uber driver who picked Dixon up from work early Sunday.
He reportedly told police that after he dropped Dixon off, a man attempted to rob her.
Police said Valadez gave conflicting stories during his interrogation. He eventually confessed to shooting Dixon in the head after trying to have sex with her in the backseat of his car, police said.
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Uber has banned Valadez from its ride share service, the company said on Tuesday.
Assistant Police Chief Catherine Cummings said Dixon’s death is an isolated incident.
“As a woman, this hits differently for me,” she said at Tuesday’s press conference. “Women, girls, mothers have a right to exist freely in our community without fear of something heinous happening to them.”
Valadez has been charged with one count of murder. More criminal charges are expected.
