Police on Thursday arrested a Salem man accused of shooting and killing a woman he knew who was reported missing last month. Erik M. Meza, 44, was charged on Friday in Marion County Circuit Court with second-degree murder and tampering with evidence in the death of Priscilla J. Aldana, 43, of Salem. He was accused of removing evidence of the killing. Meza and Aldana were in a domestic relationship, the Salem Police Department said in a news release Friday. Priscilla J. Aldana (Salem Police Department) Prosecutors said in court documents that Aldana’s death occurred between Dec. 19 and the day she was reported missing, Dec. 23. Four days later on Dec. 27 Salem police asked for the public’s help in finding Aldana and described her as “endangered.” The agency said she left her minor children and was without medication she needed. A Facebook account that appeared to be used by the suspect posted about Aldana’s disappearance on Dec. 24, calling for her to “come home.” On Dec. 29, the account asked for people to contact police or himself if they had information about her.  The investigation into Aldana’s disappearance led detectives to Maza as a suspect in the case,  according to the police statement. Around 10 a.m. on Jan. 3, officers found a body outside a burned structure on otherwise empty lot in the 3000 block of Southeast Lancaster Drive. Police later identified the person as Aldana. She had a gunshot wound to her head, and an autopsy ruled that her death was a homicide. In a Facebook group dedicated to finding Aldana, she was described as an Indigenous Yaqui woman who was part of the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. Detectives and a group of tactical officers arrested Meza  Thursday night in the 500 block of Northeast 18th Street, police said. He was booked into the Marion County Jail. Police also established probable cause to arrest Meza for second-degree abuse of a corpse and second-degree arson, according to a Salem police affidavit. Prosecutors have not filed those charges as of Friday afternoon. Meza has a criminal history dating back 25 years to 1998, when he was convicted of attempted first-degree assault in Marion County. His sentence for the crime could not be established. He was later sentenced in 2008 to nearly four years in federal prison for possessing a firearm as a felon.  In 2011, Meza was one of 25 people arrested in Utah as part of an investigation by federal authorities into methamphetamine trafficking. He pleaded guilty in Salt Lake City U.S. District Court to conspiracy to distribute meth and sentenced to over seven years in federal prison. In 2018, he faced his third conviction for unauthorized use of a vehicle in Marion County and was sentenced to two years in prison.  RELATED COVERAGE: Police investigating “suspicious death” after body found on SE Lancaster Drive Police seek help finding missing, endangered Salem woman Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053. A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE– If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now – easy and secure: SUBSCRIBE. The post Man charged with murder of Salem woman reported missing appeared first on Salem Reporter.