“THEY WILL NEVER FIND ME ACROSS THE BORDER”!!! BELIEVE IT OR NOT, AUTHORITIES SAY FORMER FBI TEN MOST WANTED FUGITIVE ALEXIS FLORES HAS BEEN APPREHENDED IN HONDURAS AND RETURNED TO PHILADELPHIA IN CONNECTION WITH THE JULY 2000 RAPE AND STRANGULATION OF FIVE-YEAR-OLD IRIANA DEJESUS… AND HE NOW FACES CRIMINAL CHARGES OF KIDNAPPING, MURDER AND RAPE.
A man formerly on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list has been returned to Philadelphia following his arrest, according to authorities.
Alexis Flores, 51, was taken into custody in connection with the rape and murder of a 5-year-old girl in 2000, authorities said.
Flores was wanted for the killing of Iriana DeJesus, WTFX-TV reported.
He was apprehended in Honduras in February after several years on the run, according to the television station.
Now, Flores has been extradited to Philadelphia, the station reported.
He will face criminal charges in connection with the young girl’s death, according to WTFX-TV.
Authorities said Flores is facing multiple charges, including kidnapping, murder and rape, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
The case began in the summer of 2000.
In July 2000, Iriana was reported missing in Philadelphia, the newspaper reported.
A few days later, her body was found in an empty apartment located above a local store in Philadelphia, authorities said.
Evidence indicated the 5-year-old girl was raped and strangled, according to authorities.
Yet years passed before investigators publicly named a suspect in the girl’s death.
Flores was named the suspect in her death about seven years later, in 2007, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
He was then sought by the FBI, according to the newspaper.
Investigators linked Flores to the killing after DNA had been collected during a separate arrest in Arizona, WTFX-TV reported.
That biological evidence tied him directly to the 2000 crime scene, according to the television station.
In June 2007, Flores’ name appeared on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.
When his name appeared on the list, Flores was in Honduras, where he had been previously deported to, WTFX-TV reported.
He remained a fugitive for years before authorities located him.
Then, in February, Flores was arrested in Honduras.
Federal authorities highlighted the long passage of time following his return to Pennsylvania.
“The return of Alexis Flores to Philadelphia demonstrates our unwavering commitment to pursuing fugitives wherever they may run, no matter how much time has passed,” Wayne A. Jacobs, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia office, said in a statement, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Following his arrest in Honduras in February, Iriana’s mother, Lizasuain DeJesus, described her daughter as an “angel,” WTFX-TV reported.
“I know she’s an angel,” DeJesus said.
“She was an angel before.”
“She became an angel the minute that she was murdered and she will continue to be my angel watching over us.”
City police leadership also released a statement regarding the suspect’s return.
“For more than 25 years, Iriana’s family has lived with an unimaginable loss while waiting for this day,” Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said in a statement, per WTFX-TV.
“Alexis Flores may have crossed borders and spent decades trying to escape responsibility, but our commitment to Iriana and her family never stopped.”
“His return to Philadelphia is the result of extraordinary persistence by our homicide investigators and the FBI, together with our international partners in Honduras.”
“We are deeply grateful to everyone who helped bring him back to face justice,” Bethel’s statement continued.
“Iriana was only five years old.”
“We have never forgotten her, and we never will.”
And the legal process in Philadelphia is now set to proceed.
It was not immediately clear whether Flores had retained legal representation.
The charges are allegations and have not been proven in court.
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