An Española teenager and Los Alamos man have been accused of drugging and raping a married Los Alamos woman June 19 while her husband was house-sitting elsewhere.
Los Alamos Police arrested and have searched the homes and vehicles of Ethan Goss, 17, of Española, and David Ellenberg, 23, of Los Alamos, according to warrants filed in state District Court.
Goss and Ellenberg each face one count of criminal sexual penetration, Los Alamos Police Cpt. Randy Foster said.
The evening of the incident, the victim received a text message from Ellenberg’s cell phone reading, “hey I got 2 friends with me do u know of any girls for them?” according to an affidavit filed by Los Alamos Police Det. Jeremy Duran.
The woman made arrangements for Ellenberg, Goss and another Los Alamos man, who has yet be arrested, to have dinner with her and her husband at their home.
The husband told police he left his home around 10 p.m. for a house-sitting job in White Rock and received a phone call from his wife three hours later; she sounded groggy and was “begging” for help, according to the affidavit. He arrived to find the home “in disarray and bottles of alcohol littered the area.” Upstairs he found Ellenberg and Goss allegedly nude in a bedroom, and his wife partially clothed and vomiting in the bathroom, the affidavits state.
The two suspects allegedly fled, ramming aside the husband’s car, which he had parked behind theirs’ to block their escape, the affidavit states.
The husband told police he found his wife wearing only her underwear with the crotch area pushed aside, and a medical examiner at St. Vincent Hospital in Santa Fe reported finding genital abrasions, documents state.
Los Alamos Police found, among other items, 17 condoms and two condom wrappers in Goss’ two-door Pontiac Sunfire, an inventory filed with the warrant states.
During a search of Ellenberg’s sister’s home, police found 96 brown vials that were used to store gamma hydroxy butyrate, or GHB, a substance often used to rape victims, an affidavit states. An identical vial was found at the victim’s home, and a narcotics expert told police the woman’s speech patterns and blurry recollections of the night’s events are typical symptoms of the drug, Duran stated in an affidavit.
Police arrested Goss and Ellenberg at a traffic stop early the morning of June 20, and both were booked at the Los Alamos County Jail, Foster said. Goss was subsequently transferred to the Santa Fe County Juvenile Detention Center, and Ellenberg remains in custody at the Los Alamos Jail, Foster said.
Duran confirmed a second Los Alamos man remains under investigation, though no charges have been filed against him, and Foster said the investigation is focused on Goss and Ellenberg.
The second, 31-year-old Los Alamos man arrived at the woman’s residence with Goss and Ellenberg, but had left by the time the husband arrived, according to affidavits.
Duran declined to say how the third man was involved, or discuss other details.
“We’re still working on the case, so I can’t say anything about the incident or any charges,” Duran said.