Woman Says Police Took A Week For Welfare Check On Her Murdered Daughter

PUEBLO, Colo. (CBS4) - Authorities in southern Colorado are searching for a man suspected of killing his pregnant girlfriend, and the victim's mother believes the murder could have been prevented.

Phenia Martinez, 25, was a mother of two and was eight months pregnant. She went missing Jan 5. Her mother, Priscilla Sifuentes, said she called police the next day asking them to do a welfare check.

But it took officers a week to check Martinez's apartment where they found her body.

"How long would it have taken? How long would it have taken for them to just go ... into the apartment?" Sifuentes said.

Pueblo police released a missing person notice to the public on Friday but a search warrant wasn't executed at Martinez's home on West 13th Street until Monday, one week after she was last seen.

Sgt. Gonzales with Pueblo Police said the response was hindered by protocol they had to follow before they could finally execute the search warrant.

RELATED: Pueblo Woman, 8 Months Pregnant, Found Murdered In Home

Sifuentes is now accusing the neighbors of not doing anything to help her daughter.

"The neighbors heard it, the neighbors heard her yelling, heard her screaming; but they're like, 'Oh well, we didn't want to get involved.' But now look at the end result," Sifuentes said.

Police are searching for the victim's boyfriend and baby's father, Joseph Romero, 56. He's the only suspect in the case.