Authorities say Francisco Yanes Valdivia married a woman to get his green card; the only issue was, he already had a wife.
The body of Cecelia Bravo Cabrera has yet to be found, but authorities say they have evidence implicating Mexican couple Francisco Valdivia, aged 37, and Rosalina Lopez, aged 39.
Valdivia, of Visalia in central California, married Cabrera so he could get legal permission to remain in the US.
Valdivia and Lopez were arrested on Tuesday.
Cabrera has been missing since June 9, when she was seen leaving a casino with Valdivia.
Five hours later, CHP officers and firefighters found her car torched in an orchard near the small town of Traver, roughly 17 miles north of Visalia.
Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said: ‘We do believe the motive surrounds this relationship of three people. It revolves around this relationship.’
‘We have a great deal of information. But, detectives have put me on notice that any release of information may result in the integrity of this case.’
