Victim's Daughter Speaks Out About Fatal Cosmetic Surgery

LAS VEGAS - Overcome with guilt, Janet Villalobos blames herself for what led to her mother's death Saturday.

"I wish I wouldn't have left her," she said. "I wish I would have never have brought her. I feel very bad actually."

Police say the only people who are guilty are husband and wife Ruben Matallana-Galvas and Carmen Torres-Sanchez. Police charged them with murdering Villalobos' mother Elena Caro after allegedly performing a cosmetic surgery that killed her.

Janet dropped her mother off for a buttocks enhancement procedure at a location near Pecos Road and Charleston Boulevard.

"She was very excited actually. She was like, ‘I can't wait. I can't wait,'" Villalobos said. "I met the doctor and his wife, and they told me everything will be fine. You have nothing to worry about." 

Villalobos left and when she returned four hours later to pick up her mother, Caro wasn't there. The doctors' office was cleared out.

"When I saw that, my heart just dropped," Villalobos said. "I thought, how can a grown woman disappear?"

Villalobos reported her mother's disappearance to police. Elena was later found at the corner of Lake Mead Boulevard and Pecos Road, where she was reportedly begging bystanders for help. Paramedics arrived, but Caro died before reaching the hospital.

"We still can't believe it. To us, it's like a nightmare. We haven't accepted the fact that she's gone. She was very energetic. She was never tired. She still had a lot of life left ahead of her," Villalobos said.

According to police reports, Caro's unlicensed doctor and his wife dumped her on the street after her botched surgery. Investigators say Galvas and Sanchez admitted performing a procedure on Caro and injecting her six times with a gel substance.

"I'm very, very sad that was my mom. I mean, she was the only one I had, and she left me and my two little brothers behind," Villalobos said. "So, I feel horrible, because it wasn't her time to go. I know it wasn't. She was young. She, she still had a long time ahead of her."

Police say Matallana-Galvas and Torres-Sanchez tried to flee the country. Authorities arrested them at McCarran International Airport, where they tried to board a flight to Columbia. Matallana-Galvas told police he practices a homeopathic medicine in Columbia, but he is not licensed to practice medicine in Las Vegas.