TULARE COUNTY, Calif. — The manhunt continues for a man suspected of killing his estranged girlfriend and mother of his children. Her body was found in El Centro over 300 miles from where she was reported missing in Tulare County, just north of Kern County.
Brittney Steenbergen was reported missing with the Tulare County Sheriff's Office on December 31st by one of her children. On New Year's Day, her body was discovered on the side of the road in El Centro by an on-duty California Highway Patrol officer.
Her disappearance quickly turned into a homicide investigation.
"We also learned that she was potentially involved in a domestic violence incident a couple of days prior in which she was the victim," explained Lt. Jimmy Duran of the Imperial County Sheriff's Office. "The potential suspect, in this case, is Adel Hussenin a 44-year-old out of Tulare County. We are assisting Tulare County. We processed some pieces of evidence down here and we will be turning over the evidence to Tulare County."
"We've seen it in the past, where people or decedents are dumped in our county," continued Duran. "Why - because we are sparsely populated and we have a large desert area. These are cases we've seen in the past."
According to the Tulare County Sheriff's Office, the family's vehicle, a dark blue Toyota RAV-4 was found abandoned in El Centro. The Imperial County Coroner's Office is still awaiting autopsy results.
Anyone with information that can help investigators find the suspect is encouraged to contact law enforcement immediately or call 9-1-1.
