A woman who works at a Mission Bay resort and an Imperial Beach restaurant is facing human smuggling charges after two Chinese women were found locked in the hot trunk of her abandoned Mercedes in a San Ysidro neighborhood, according to a search warrant filed this week.

Cindy Lenette Gutierrez, 27, was arrested on May 7 — about three weeks after the women were rescued from the trunk by police.

She has pleaded not guilty.

Someone called 911 shortly before 9 a.m. on April 13 reporting hearing noises coming from the trunk of a black 2000 Mercedes C230, according to court records. The car was parked on Via de la Melodia, a residential street a couple miles from the San Ysidro Port of Entry.


San Diego police officers arrived within 20 minutes and knocked on the trunk. Someone inside knocked back.

After some effort, the trunk was opened and two women emerged.

In interviews with investigators, the women said they made separate arrangements to be smuggled into the U.S. — one agreeing to pay $15,000 — and had flown to Tijuana to start the journey. Their handler took them separately to a stash house in Tijuana first, and then sometime in the early morning hours they were told to get in the trunk, according to court records.

They estimate they were in the trunk for several hours. The vehicle made many stops, and at one point an unknown man opened the trunk. One of the women tried to get out to urinate, but the man told her to get back inside and shut the trunk on her hand, the court records say.


The women also said they heard a woman’s voice from inside the vehicle, apparently on the phone.

Once the car stopped for good, it became increasingly hot inside, the women said. A meteorologist expert told authorities that an idle car can reach internal temperatures of up to 115 degrees on a sunny, 70-degree day — similar weather to that morning, the search warrant affidavit says.

A search of the vehicle turned up a set of keys hidden under the driver’s side floor mat.

The car is registered to Gutierrez, authorities say. Records show that she crossed from Tijuana into the U.S. at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry at 12:09 a.m. on April 13, and again at 2:38 a.m. She crossed with a valid U.S. passport.


Gutierrez was arrested on May 7 as she tried to enter the U.S. at Otay Mesa in a different car.

She told investigators that she left her Tijuana apartment early on April 13 for her restaurant cleaning shift. She said she parked her car at a Chula Vista McDonald’s, locked the car and “went for a walk” to a nearby Target and bank. She said when she returned, her car was gone, the affidavit states.

She said she had phone charging issues and did not report the car as stolen then, instead taking public transportation to her job.

Authorities said they have been unable to find evidence of Gutierrez in the shopping areas at the times she stated.


The Chinese women are being held in the U.S. as material witnesses to testify in the case. They remain in custody, unable to pay bond.


kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @kristinadavis