Subject Wanted for 1999 Murder in Arlington County Extradited to the
Published on September 09, 2016
ARLINGTON, Va. — Following a joint investigation by the Arlington County Police Department, the United States Department of State Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), the Department of Justice Office of International Affairs, the United States Marshals Service and Guatemalan National Police, a subject wanted in the 1999 murder of Eva Veliz has been taken into custody in Guatemala and extradited to the United States. Ludvin Estrada, 46, arrived in the United States on Friday, September 9, 2016 and is currently being held in the Arlington County Detention Facility charged with murder.
On May 11, 1999, at approximately 4:33 p.m., Arlington County Police responded to the report of a 27-year-old female victim located deceased inside the trunk of a vehicle parked in the 1300 block of N. Pierce Street. The investigation revealed that on the evening prior, the victim and the subject had been out dancing and were seen leaving together at approximately 2:45 a.m. on May 11, 1999. At some point, a verbal altercation ensued between the two and the subject strangled the victim causing her death. Estrada immediately fled to Guatemala where he remained until his capture in 2016.
A warrant was issued for Estrada in 1999 but efforts to locate him in Guatemala were unsuccessful. In 2012, the case was assigned to the Arlington County Police Department's Cold Case Unit. Through a review of the case files, crime scene evidence and laboratory results detectives located additional information that verified Estrada's involvement in the death of Eva Veliz. Efforts to locate and apprehend Estrada were resumed. DSS special agents located in Estrada in Guatemala in coordination with the Guatemalan National Police after the Arlington County Police Department requested assistance locating him. He was taken into custody on April 11, 2016.
The apprehension of Estrada is the direct result of outstanding police work and the leveraging of resources from our federal and international partners.
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