Teen was raped on mattress in a field in 2006, Utah officials say. Now, two convicted

Two men were convicted of kidnapping and raping a teenager in 2006, Utah officials said.

In July 2006, the girl was walking home in Salt Lake City when she noticed a red car drive past her a few times, according to a criminal information documents.

Eventually the car stopped and a man jumped out, grabbing her and forcing her into the car at gunpoint, documents said.

She was taken to a field and raped on a mattress by two men who were later identified as Jose Luis Pina-Cruz and Frank Benavidez, officials said.

After the sexual assault, the Pina-Cruz and Benavidez told the girl to get dressed before putting her back in the car, officials said.

They took her phone and cash before eventually throwing her out of the car, documents stated.

She went to the hospital where staff conducted a sexual assault kit, but her case went unsolved for over a decade. That is until her kit was tested in 2018 through the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, according to a Feb 18. news release by the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s office.

The test helped identify Benavidez, who was already in prison from another case, officials said.

Benavidez was charged in the 2006 assault and while preparing to prosecute him, DNA technology continued to evolve and unprocessed samples were tested, identifying Pina-Cruz in July 2023, according to officials and court documents.

On Feb. 15, both men were found guilty of aggravated sexual assault, aggravated kidnapping and aggravated robbery, officials said.

They are scheduled to reappear in court in April for sentencing, prosecutors said.

This story was originally published February 19, 2025 at 5:04 PM with the headline "Teen was raped on mattress in a field in 2006, Utah officials say. Now, two convicted."