Thread: Phila. Police Get a Lead in a Cold Case

http://www.kyw1060.com/pages/319944.php ... tId=386622

Phila. Police Get a Lead in a Cold Case

by KYW’s Sonia Rincon

There’s been a break in a Philadelphia murder case from nearly seven years ago. The victim is a little girl from Hunting Park.

Police have a warrant for 25-year-old Alexis Flores:

"He's wanted for the murder and sexual assault of Iriana DeJesus, a 5-year old Latino female."

Homicide captain Michael Costello says little Iriana was reported missing on August 29, 2000 then found five days later:

"Iriana's body was discovered inside a house, 3902 North 6th Street."

The man who lived at that address walking Iriana, holding her hand the day she disappeared.

The only trace of her killer was DNA from the crime scene. And last month, authorities found a match in an illegal immigrant from Honduras convicted of forgery in Arizona three years ago.

Police say Alexis Flores could be anywhere. The FBI is looking for him, and police here are asking for the public's help too.

http://www.pennlive.com/newsflash/pa/in ... ylist=penn

Honduran drifter wanted in 2000 murder of 5-year-old Philly girl
3/23/2007, 5:18 p.m. EDT
By PATRICK WALTERS
The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Based on DNA evidence, city police on Friday issued a warrant for a Honduran drifter wanted in the murder and sexual assault of a 5-year-old girl nearly seven years ago.

Iriana DeJesus was last seen in her Hunting Park neighborhood on July 29, 2000, walking with a Hispanic man known by locals only as "Carlos." Her body, wrapped in a trash bag on a floor, was found five days later in an apartment building under construction nearby. She had been strangled.

The drifter was believed to have been passing through the city on his way to Chicago. He left Philadelphia around the same time the girl disappeared.

Authorities now believe they have identified him as Alexis Flores, 24, based on DNA evidence obtained from police in Phoenix last month. Flores was convicted on a forgery charge in Arizona and deported to Honduras in June 2005, Philadelphia police Capt. Michael Costello said Friday.

Philadelphia police and FBI investigators announced Friday that a warrant has been issued for Flores' arrest on murder and sexual assault charges. Costello said Flores' whereabouts are unknown.

"We wish it had happened sooner," Costello said of the DNA match.

Police have said the drifter had been helping to do work on the building where the girl was found and had also been living there.

Flores is a 5-6, 115-pound Hispanic man with brown eyes, dark brown hair and a distinctive scar on one side of his face, a description similar to the one given for the man known as "Carlos."

At the time, neighbors said the drifter claimed to be 25, but that everyone believed he was younger. Investigators had said the man first appeared in the neighborhood only three days before the murder.

At one point, Philadelphia authorities had searched for a connection between the DeJesus case and the high-profile kidnapping and murder of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion in California. Another man was eventually convicted of murder, kidnapping and sexual assault in Runnion's 2002 slaying.

http://www.nbc10.com/news/11350820/detail.html

Police Identify Suspect In Girl's Rape, Killing Almost 7 Years Ago
Authorities Say DNA Match With Phoenix Case Helps Identify Suspect

POSTED: 7:08 pm EDT March 23, 2007
UPDATED: 1:01 am EDT March 24, 2007

PHILADELPHIA -- Almost seven years after a young girl was found raped and murdered, Philadelphia police said they have a break in the case.

Slideshow: Suspect Named In 5-Year-Old's Rape, Murder

The question now is whether the suspect accused of sexually assaulting and killing 5-year-old Iriana DeJesus is still in the neighborhood or even still in the country.

On Friday, police announced that the man who allegedly lured the 5-year-old away from her North Philadelphia home during the summer of 2000 is 24-year-old Alexis Flores.

The girl's mother, who was out of town, spoke with NBC 10 by telephone and said she was overjoyed by the news of a break in the case.

"There's nothing in this world, whether he's caught or not, that's ever going to bring my child back," said Lizasuain DeJesus, adding that every day since her daughter's death has been a struggle.

At the time of Iriana's disappearance, police searched for five days and finally found her body in a nearby residence. She had been strangled, and her body was partially stuffed in a trash bag.

In the days following that discovery, police released a sketch of the suspect, and until now they called the suspect "Carlos."

"Carlos, however, remained unidentified until late February of this year. At that time, the Pennsylvania State Police notified us that a DNA match had been established between Alexis Flores, that he was the man known as Carlos," said Philadelphia police Capt. Michael Costello.

Police said Flores -- who they believe was a transient passing through Philadelphia on his way to Chicago -- was arrested in Phoenix in 2004 on forgery charges and deported to his home country of Honduras. During that arrest, officials obtained a DNA sample and compared it with fluid found at the crime scene.

"While his last known location is Honduras, it has been two years. We can't rule out the possibility that he may have returned to this country. Specifically, he may have returned to this area," Costello said.

DeJesus said word of the DNA match brought her the "happiest feeling ever from six years of waiting," being patient and hoping the might someday be taken off the streets.

The rest of Iriana's family members gathered in Hunting Park on Friday and, looking at the picture of the man who police said killed the girl, also expressed mixed emotions.

They said they were glad progress had been made but won't be at rest until an arrest occurs. They don't know how someone could commit such a crime.

"It's good that they're going to catch him and he'll pay for what he did, because it's not fair what he did and he's still around doing this stuff to other kids," said Daviana Garcia, Iriana's cousin.

Iyanna Vasquez never thought she would see the day a warrant was issued in her sister's death.

"I never thought they would have found him," Vasquez said. "… I just want to ask him the same question: Why? Just why?"

Police are asking anyone who might have information about Flores' whereabouts to contact them.

NEW TOP TEN FUGITIVE
Suspect in 2000 Philadelphia Murder

06/02//07


Poster FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive Alexis Flores

A Honduran man suspected in the strangling death of a 5-year-old girl in Philadelphia seven years ago has been added to our Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. Alexis Flores, a convicted felon, is linked to the crime scene by DNA evidence. His addition to our Most Wanted list raises the reward for information leading to his arrest up to $100,000.

Flores, who also goes by the names Mario Flores, Mario Roberto, and Alex Contreras, is 5 feet four inches tall and weights 130 to 140 pounds. He has scars on his forehead and right cheek. Flores is believed to be 31 years old, though he has used dates of birth ranging from 1975 to 1982.

An itinerant worker with ties to Honduras and a criminal history that stretches to Arizona , Flores is believed to have lived in the apartment building where young Iriana DeJesus’s body was discovered on August 3, 2000 . The girl had been reported missing six days earlier, on July 29. She was last seen with a Hispanic male who allegedly told people he was from Honduras and was seeking work and a place to stay. Flores allegedly disappeared from the area at the same time the girl was reported missing.

Few solid leads emerged until earlier this year, when our Philadelphia field office was notified that a DNA sample from an Arizona convict matched evidence taken at the Philadelphia crime scene. The convict, Alexis Flores, served time in Arizona on a forgery charge and was deported to Honduras following his release in 2005. Philadelphia authorities issued an arrest warrant on March 22 charging Flores with the 2000 murder and various other felonies related to the case.

Flores is the 487th fugitive to be added to the Most Wanted list since its creation in 1950. He replaces Shauntay Henderson, an alleged Kansas City gang member and murder suspect who was captured March 31, the same day she was added to the list.

Flores should be considered armed and dangerous. If you have information you believe may be helpful to the investigation, contact our Philadelphia office or submit a tip on our Tips and Public Leads page.

http://www.fbi.gov/page2/june07/wanted060207.htm