Massachusetts fugitive wanted for a 1991 murder has been captured at a Guatemala shrimp farm, according to a news release from the Massachusetts State Police, CNN reports.
A multiagency team spent more than 30 years searching for Massachusetts fugitive wanted Mario R. Garcia, 50, before developing a lead in the case earlier this year indicating he was in Iztapa, Guatemala, a coastal town about 70 miles from Guatemala City.
After months of investigation, an apprehension team coordinated by several domestic and international law enforcement agencies deployed to a shrimp farm that Garcia had been operating under an alias, Massachusetts police said on Wednesday.
“Garcia attempted to evade capture by jumping into a body of water at the shrimp farm but was apprehended and placed into custody,” the release states.
“The fact that we were able to reach into Guatemala to hold accountable someone who committed a homicide in Massachusetts is a result of both tenacious police work and the value of our relationships with local, federal and international partners,” Massachusetts State Police Colonel Christopher S. Mason said.
Garcia had been on the run since he was 19 years old, accused of stabbing Ismael Recinos-Garcia to death during a fight in Attleboro, Massachusetts, in November 1991, according to the release. He disappeared after an arrest warrant was issued.
Massachusetts police said one of their units learned in 2014 Garcia had “likely fled to a remote area of his native Guatemala.”
“We are glad that the victim, Ismael Recinos-Garcia, will finally have justice be brought forth for this senseless murder,” Attleboro Police Chief Kyle P. Heagney said.
District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn confirmed Garcia will be extradited from Guatemala and prosecuted for Recinos-Garcia’s murder in Bristol County, Massachusetts.
It is unknown whether Garcia has acquired an attorney.