Police: Man last seen with Morris interfered with investigation

PLANO — Documents filed by Plano police say that the man last seen with 23-year-old Christina Morris made false statements about several important aspects of the case, and probably left a Plano shopping center with Morris in his car.

On Wednesday police said Enrique Arochi isn't a suspect in the disappearance of Morris, but they did call him a suspect in interfering with a public duty investigation.

The allegations were made in an affidavit, posted below, that police used to obtain a warrant to search the man's car for any evidence of what may have happened when Morris vanished from a parking garage at The Shops at Legacy in Plano during the early morning hours of August 30.

The warrant authorized police to search for hair, blood, bodily fluids and other evidence inside Enrique Arochi's 2010 Chevrolet Camaro and at his home in Allen.

Investigators cited several contradictions between available evidence and statements made by Arochi, a high school acquaintance of Morris.

"The most likely way Morris could have left the parking garage undetected was in Arochi's vehicle," the affidavit says.

Arochi was captured on surveillance video walking with Morris towards the garage of Henry's Tavern after the pair went to several bars with a group of friends and then hung out at a residence at The Shops at Legacy. According to the affidavit, Arochi originally told police he didn't walk with Morris inside the garage because his vehicle was parked elsewhere. However, the affidavit says police later found video of Morris and Arochi entering the garage together, and video that showed Arochi's Camaro exit the same garage.

Police clarify Enrique Arochi's role in the investigation into Christina Morris' disappearance 68 days ago. Jenny Doren has more. WFAA

A friend who was part of the group that night told police several of them parked in the garage. According to her, the cars belonging to Morris and Arochi were parked "within close proximity of each other."

When confronted, Arochi told police, "I must have parked there."

Investigators said a co-worker of Arochi reported that on the day after Morris' disappearance, Arochi was limping and complaining that his ribs hurt. He also had a bite mark on his arm. Arochi, the affidavit said, told his co-worker that he'd suffered those injuries in a bar fight the previous night.

Police said Arochi originally told them he hadn't called Morris' boyfriend, Hunter Foster, after he and Morris left a party near the shopping center and began walking to their cars.

Evidence showed, however, that Arochi's phone had been used to contact Foster at 3:50, 3:53 and 3:55 on the morning of her disappearance. When presented with that evidence, police said, Arochi told them that he loaned Morris his phone and she must have contacted her boyfriend.

At 3:58 a.m., a surveillance camera captured images of Arochi's 2010 Camaro leaving the parking garage.
Authorities said that when they searched Arochi's car, it had been cleaned and vacuumed. The affidavit also says "fresh damage" was found on the front right fender of the Camaro.

According to the warrant, Arochi said the damage to his vehicle occurred when he became angry while having trouble turning his tires several days before Morris' disappearance. He told police he became frustrated and punched his car several times.

They said Arochi told them the blows to the car explained why he had cuts on his right hand and a bruise on his forearm.

"The damage was inconsistent with Arochi's explanation of how the damage occurred," the warrant states.

The affidavit also says that a gas station surveillance camera that night showed Arochi inspecting his car, wiping down the passenger door, and cleaning the windows and backside of the vehicle with a squeegee.

News 8's Rebecca Lopez sits down with the man who was last seen with missing woman Christina Morris. Police have interviewed him multiple times in relation to the disappearance, but he says there is no evidence and he is innocent.

Police also said that Arochi mis-stated the route he took home. According to police, he first told authorities he exited the shopping center heading east on Legacy Drive, where he then entered Central Expressway and exited at Bethany Road toward his Allen home. However, the report states that toll tag records showed he took the Sam Rayburn Tollway and traveled through Custer Road at about 4:08 a.m.

"It frightens me," said Anna Morris, the missing woman's stepmother. "It terrifies me. It does strengthen the belief that he obviously knows something that happened in that garage."

Arochi denies Morris was ever in his vehicle. He has said he was confused about which parking garage he used because the garages look identical and he has a poor sense of direction.

"I feel like they're wasting their time on me when they could be looking at someone else that's actually the suspect or the person who actually did it," he said.

News 8's Rebecca Lopez and Jobin Panicker contributed to this story.

Read the full affidavit below.