October 20, 2026
12-Year Fugitive Anna Somoza Caught in Mexico in Cold-Case Murder of 4-Year-Old Crystal Reyes
Headline card by The Night Desk
12-Year Fugitive Anna Somoza Caught in Mexico in Cold-Case Murder of 4-Year-Old Crystal Reyes
A 12-year international manhunt ended Sunday. Anna Marlene Somoza, 60, was detained in Xochitepec, Mexico, on charges of first-degree murder in the 1997 death of her 4-year-old daughter, Crystal Reyes.
Mexican Attorney General's Office and federal security agents took Somoza into custody around 2:27 p.m. local time on October 18, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. Authorities are now coordinating her return to the United States to face charges in Arizona.
The case
On January 30, 1997, prosecutors allege, Somoza and her boyfriend Avelino Tamala repeatedly tortured, starved, and abused the little girl — at one point confining her to a small dog kennel. The abuse turned fatal when Crystal was bound, suffocated with a taped towel, and left to die inside a sealed cardboard box, according to federal officials.
Crystal's remains were found by a hunter on November 30, 1998, in a remote area near Mobile, Arizona. They sat unidentified for nearly two decades until DNA analysis in August 2014 established her identity.
A grand jury indicted Somoza and Tamala on first-degree murder charges in December 2014. Tamala was arrested, convicted on November 8, 2016, and sentenced to life in prison. Somoza fled — believed to be hiding in Mexico.
The manhunt
The Marshals Service said Somoza took "deliberate and extensive measures" to evade law enforcement across 12 years. Investigators obtained a provisional arrest warrant for her extradition in October 2022, and in 2026 the case was designated a Major Case, with added manpower and resources.
The break came in early September 2026, when task force members developed information that she was evading detection in Cuernavaca, Mexico — near Xochitepec, where she was detained.
What happens next
Somoza is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Extradition proceedings to return her to Arizona are underway; no timeline has been announced.
Reporting: U.S. Marshals Service press release, azcentral, FOX 10 Phoenix.
Source: U.S. Marshals Service / azcentral — read the original report
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