A macabre discovery at a San Antonio storage unit has led to the arrest of a 53-year-old man, who police say was hiding his deceased mother's remains inside a trash can. Identified as Rogelio Bernal, the man faces a charge of altering, destroying or concealing a human corpse, according to court documents.
Following a call to the police on Dec. 21 about the finding of human remains, officers visited the storage facility located on the 4700 block of Vance Jackson Road. The caller, after winning the storage unit in an auction, stumbled upon the grisly find. Court records obtained by Fox San Antonio indicate that Bernal was already in custody for an unrelated active warrant when he was interviewed and confessed the remains were indeed those of his mother.
Bernal was the primary caregiver for his mother, with whom he shared an apartment. The affidavit revealed a chilling narrative: on Oct. 31, 2021, while Bernal was cooking, he heard his mother fall in the shower. According to statements he gave police, a criminal record prevented him from calling 911 after finding her "still breathing" and eventually deceased on the bathroom floor. Instead, Bernal placed her body in a hall closet and covered it with lye and cleaning supplies for over a year, causing a gnat infestation according to the affidavit cited by KSAT.
When Bernal was evicted in October 2022, the decomposing corpse of his mother was placed in a trash can and transported from their former residence to the storage unit. The disturbing sequence of events culminated in his eventual arrest as Bernal sits in the Bexar County Jail with a bond set at $75,000.
