Defendant has an extensive criminal history and is a flight risk, the judge ruled.
BRANCHBURG- A Pennsylvania man charged with dumping a 29-year-old woman's body in the grass and bushes of a Route 22 median earlier this month after she died in a motel was ordered held without bail Monday.
David DeSantos, 32, of Henryville, Pa., is charged with second-degree disturbing human remains after the body of Ashley M. Castro was discovered April 5.
Castro, of Hopatcong, had been concealed in the median since March 29, authorities said. DeSantos and Nicole Barbour, 26, of Ringwood, are accused of moving Castro's body from a Route 22 motel to the median after she died.
Police are still looking for Barbour. The cause of Castro's death hasn't been released, but investigators told family members that they suspect a drug overdose.
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During the court hearing Monday, Judge Kathy C. Qasim determined DeSantos posed a significant flight risk and ordered that he remain jailed while awaiting trial.
DeSantos has an extensive criminal history, including convictions in New York and Florida on drug distribution charges and failure to appear warrants in Pennsylvania and North Carolina on drug and larceny charges, authorities said.
DeSantos is facing five to 10 years in state prison on the second-degree charge of disturbing human remains. He has another hearing scheduled for May 22.
David DeSantos (left) and Nicole Barbour (Somerset County Prosecutor's Office) Defense attorney Matthew Katzenbach had sought the release of DeSantos by arguing that his client called police to tell them he had moved Castro from his room at the Regency Motel because he felt guilty.
Assistant Prosecutor Alex Mech said, however, DeSantos told his stepmother about Castro's body and she alerted authorities. Police then contacted DeSantos and he directed them to Castro, Mech said.
Barbour is described as white, approximately 5-foot, 4-inches, 106 pounds with green eyes and blond-brown hair, police said.
Authorities ask anyone with information on Barbour's whereabouts to contact the Somerset County Prosecutors Office Major Crimes Unit at 908-231-7100, the Branchburg Township Police Department 908-526-3830 or the Somerset County Crime Stoppers' Tip Line at 1-888-577-TIPS (8477) or online at www.888577tips.org or www.scpo.net and click on either "Crime Stoppers" or "TIPS HOTLINE."
All anonymous Crime Stopper tips will be kept confidential.
Dave Hutchinson may be reached at dhutchinson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DHutch_SL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.