Teacher who was found dead in trunk of burned car ID’d, ex charged with murder

The California teacher whose body was found inside the trunk of a burned car has been identified as a 27-year-old UCLA graduate – whose one-time boyfriend was charged with murder.

Firefighters discovered the body of Veronica Aguilar on Wednesday after they were called to a fire at the home of 37-year-old Matthew Switalski in the Quartz Hill neighborhood of Lancaster, KTLA reported.

Neighbors in the Los Angeles suburb told the outlet that the two were believed to have dated at one point.

Switalski, who was named a “person of interest” after the gruesome discovery was made in his garage, was located in Kern County late Thursday and arrested on a murder charge, according to the outlet.

Neighbors reported hearing a woman screaming and what sounded like an explosion just before the fire erupted on 38^th Street West.

“Around 2 a.m., I heard a blood-curdling scream,” a neighbor who did not wish to be identified told KTLA. “I had just opened my window after I was finished with some work and when I went to go check, I didn’t hear it anymore.”

Aguilar’s family said she was a UCLA graduate and elementary school teacher.

A man who identified himself as her uncle said she taught in Palmdale.

“Things will never be the same ever again. We miss her so much,” her brother Juan Aguilar told Fox LA. “She had the best spirit, she always had a smile. My family is heartbroken.”

Neighbors told KTLA that Switalski was previously employed by Northrop Grumman and reportedly rented out several rooms of his home to company workers.

He was being held on $10 million bail, according to court records cited by Fox LA, which reported that he was arrested in May for an unspecified felony.

Anyone with information was asked to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500.

Tipsters also can call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.