Longmont police believe Rita Gutierrez-Garcia is dead

New information reveals that police believed the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of 34-year-old Longmont resident Rita Gutierrez-Garcia were “suspicious” from the beginning.

Investigators are just now saying they believe Gutierrez-Garcia is dead, and revealed they’ve identified a person of interest and are offering a $10,000 reward hoping to spur people who know something about the case to come forward.

Longmont police Deputy Chief Jeff Satur said at a news conference Monday morning that “early on in the investigation, this was always on our mind, that this was not going to have a positive outcome.”

“It breaks our heart to announce it,” he said at the news conference.

Gutierrez-Garcia, a mother of three, was last seen around 2:30 a.m. March 18 after celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with friends and family. She was walking to a parking lot behind 3’s Bar at 333 Main St. in downtown Longmont.

Police have a “person of interest” in the case, but need more information to make an arrest, Satur said. They have interviewed a number of suspects and eliminated many of them.

He wouldn’t release any information about the person of interest, but said the person is not an imminent danger to the community.