OCEAN CITY- Nearly nine years after a Virginia man was apparently murdered in his family’s Ocean City condominium, the victim’s remains have never been found and the case is still an open investigation although a potential lead unveiled in November appears to be a dead end.
Eduardo Masoller, then 52, of Springfield, Va., was reported missing by his family on February 3, 2005, just three days after he and his crew arrived in Ocean City for a contracting job. Ocean City Police, accompanied by family members, went to Masoller’s condominium on 68th Street and found a large knife on the floor as well as a large amount of blood evidence throughout the unit, the most significant of which was a large pool in one of the unit’s bedrooms.
In June 2005, a Worcester County Circuit Court judge ruled favorably on a petition to declare Masoller officially deceased, turning the missing persons case into a homicide investigation. The judge essentially agreed the evidence presented suggested the victim could not have survived the injuries indicated by the amount of blood discovered in the unit.
In the nine years since, the case has remained active and open and OCPD detectives still chase leads and other tidbits of information, but the victim’s remains have never been found and the two main suspects identified early in the investigation have likely fled the country. In every year since the incident, OCPD detectives have urged hunters and hikers across the Eastern Shore and beyond to keep an eye out for the victim’s remains to no avail.
In November, a possible break in the case surfaced when human remains of a Hispanic male roughly the same age and size of Masoller were discovered by hunters on Thanksgiving Day in a remote area of Jefferson County, West Va. Jefferson County is located near Harper’s Ferry in the West Virginia panhandle and is bordered by Maryland.
Because of the description of the remains, and that they had likely been out in the remote area for several years, OCPD detectives explored the possibility the remains of the Hispanic male could be those of Masoller. In addition, the area of West Virginia where the remains were found are along a logical transportation route to Columbus, Ohio, where Masoller’s stolen van was ultimately found and where one of the two prime suspects was located and arrested on theft and other charges related to the case.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office in November reported the human remains are believed to be those of a Hispanic male whose body might have been in the area where the remains were discovered for years. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and a forensic archaeologist indicated the man was Hispanic and likely around 50 years of age or older and that the remains could have been there for multiple years. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office reported it did not believe the deceased man was local, but was rather dumped in the remote area several years ago.
However, over two months later, no positive identification of the remains found in West Virginia has been made. In November, OCPD detectives said it was certainly in the realm of possibility the remains found in West Virginia could be those of Masoller. However, this week, OCPD detectives said it now appears the West Virginia remains no longer appear to be those of Masoller.
From the beginning, the investigation centered around two main suspects, both of whom were part of Masoller’s contracting crew and were among the last known to see him alive. One of the suspects, Jose Damian Hernandez, was convicted in September 2005 on a theft charge related to the victim’s stolen vehicle, which was later recovered, along with Hernandez, in Columbus, Ohio. Hernandez was sentenced to five years in jail, but he has since been released and has been deported to his native El Salvador.
Meanwhile, the other main suspect, known to OCPD detectives for a long time only as “Beto,” remains at large and could provide a vital piece of missing information in the case. In 2006, resort detectives learned the true identity of “Beto” and are actively seeking the suspect. Beto has been identified as Jose Roberto Orellana Romero, 34, with no fixed address. Romero’s most recent address available is in Columbus, Ohio, where Hernandez was ultimately arrested on the theft charges, but resort detectives believe he could have fled to his native El Salvador.
After determining Romero’s identity, OCPD detectives were able to secure a warrant for his arrest, charging him with multiple counts of felony theft for his role in the incident. However, as the years go by and the trail runs cold, hopes of finding Romero grow increasingly remote. Meanwhile, the homicide investigation is still open and being pursued although as the years go by, the search for Masoller’s remains and those believed responsible for his apparent demise continues to be cold.