Pregnant Girlfriend Of Suspect In Kansas College Student's Slaying Returns To U.S.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) _ The pregnant girlfriend of a man suspected of killing a college student has returned to the United States, her mother said. <br/><br/>Sandy Martens said she is convinced that her daughter,

Thursday, December 27th 2007, 9:00 pm

By: News On 6

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) _ The pregnant girlfriend of a man suspected of killing a college student has returned to the United States, her mother said.

Sandy Martens said she is convinced that her daughter, Victoria, knew nothing about 18-year-old Emily Sander's death and thought she was on a vacation with Israel Mireles when they went to Mexico.

``I just want her to have the baby ... and have as good a life as possible,'' she told The Wichita Eagle.

Mireles, 24, is charged with capital murder, rape and aggravated criminal sodomy in the death of Emily Sander. The disappearance of the 18-year-old Butler Community College student drew nationwide attention after it was discovered that she also led a secret life as an Internet porn model named Zoey Zane. Mireles was arrested last week in Melchor Muzquiz, Mexico. U.S. authorities were seeking his extradition to Kansas.

In the fall, Victoria Martens and Mireles had moved into the same motel room where authorities say they found a lot of blood after Sander's disappearance Nov. 23.

Sander's body was found six days later, about 50 miles east of El Dorado, as police traced the route they believed Mireles took to pick up Victoria Martens in Baxter Springs, where she had been spending the Thanksgiving holiday with her family.

Victoria initially had refused to return to the country but eventually called her father to pick her up at the border and bring her home, Sandy Martens told The Hays Daily News, her employer. The girl was apprehended at the border, and her father did not get to see her or talk to her, she said.

Victoria now is in temporary juvenile custody in Texas. Her mother said she will likely be brought back to Hays and be questioned by El Dorado authorities investigating allegations against Mireles. Mireles, who is believed to be the father of Victoria Martens' baby, is also charged with aggravated indecent liberties with a child.

Martens said her daughter learned over the summer that she was pregnant and told her mother that she was positive Mireles was the father.

Martens acknowledged that she and her daughter didn't tell Hays police about the identity of the father when they asked in October. Martens was 15 when she became pregnant, too young to legally consent to sex.

Martens said she feared talking to police would widen the rift between her and her daughter. She said she was also concerned that stress would harm the baby and her daughter, who had a miscarriage scare in June.