Forensic evidence used to link 23-year-old Travis J. Hoffmeister
to murder of 20-year-old Hollister resident Christella Macias
Police have arrested a 23-year-old Hollister man on suspicion of the June murder of Christella Macias, who was found dead at the end of a residential road with a trash bag over her head.
Hollister police arrested Travis J. Hoffmeister Friday after connecting him to the crime using state-analyzed forensic evidence, according to a press release from the Hollister Police Department.
Macias’ body turned up on the morning of June 22 on the west end of C Street, a residential neighborhood, wearing only a shirt and with a trash bag over her head.
Macias’ body was found by a C Street resident, Josh Wardell, when he pulled out of his driveway to go to work. Wardell said the woman’s clothes were pulled up to her neck and wrapped around her head.
Police in their investigation conducted several search warrants and interviewed many witnesses, according to the statement. Hollister detectives and California Department of Justice agents discovered forensic evidence connecting Hoffmeister to the murder, according to police.
Hoffmeister was booked at the San Benito County Jail on Friday. He already had been in custody for an unrelated crime, according to the press release.
Anyone with related information should call Detective Jeff Caires, or the watch commander, at 636-4330.
