Tulare County Man Accused of Killing Estranged Girlfriend Found, Arrested in Mexican Hotel

44-year-old Adel Hussein (middle). Photo TCSO.

 

(KMJ) – A Tulare County man suspected of killing his ex-girlfriend, a mother of four from Plainview, CA is tracked down and arrested in Mexico.

On Thursday, US Marshals, Imperial County Sheriff’s Office Deputies and Mexican Authorities found and arrested 44-year-old Adel Hussein in Mexico for the murder of Brittney Steenbergen.

On January 1, 2020 the Imperial County Sheriff’s Office responded to a body found in a rural area.

Jan 3, 2020, a positive identification on the body was made, and it was determined to be 36-year-old, Steenbergen, who had disappeared.

 

Brittany Steenbergen, 36. Photo: TCSO.

Steenbergen was last seen December 28, 2019 at her home in Plainview.

The case was updated to a homicide investigation.

On Jan 1, 2020, Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said the suspect was Hussein, her estranged, live-in boyfriend, and sent out the following alert:

Detective are [also] searching for Adel Hussein, who is her estranged live in boyfriend and father of Britteny’s 4 children, who are currently with family.  Adel is a person of interest in Britteny’s disappearance. Hussein was last seen in the Tipton area around 6:00 p.m on Tuesday, December 31st. He is known to frequent the Plainview and Porterville area. Hussein is 5-feet, 4-inches tall, 200 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a grey hat with a “B” on it, black jacket, blue jeans and black shoes. He is also known to drive a 2007 Toyota RAV4  license plate 5XNS883. Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Britteny Steenbergen or Adel Hussein is encouraged to call the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office at 559-733-6218 or anonymously at [email protected] or by text or voicemail at 559-725-4194.

 

Adel was found Thursday Jan 9, 2020 in a Mexicali motel and arrested without incident.

The Sheriff’s Office said he is currently being housed at the Imperial County Sheriff’s Office.

Tulare County Homicide Investigators are on their way to Imperial County to continue with the investigation.

Click to listen to the report by KMJ’s Liz Kern: