Jorge Alberto López Orozco (born April 22, 1976), is a Mexican former fugitive. He was wanted for the murder of his girlfriend and her two children and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution in Elmore County,

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

. On March 17, 2005, he became the 480th fugitive listed by the FBI placed on the

FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives The FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives is a most wanted list maintained by the United States's Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The list arose from a conversation held in late 1949 between J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI, and William ...

list. Lopez-Orozco was captured on October 8, 2009 in Zihuatanejo, Mexico. He was extradited to the United States and was convicted and sentenced to life without parole in 2013.

Background

Lopez-Orozco is an undocumented immigrant from

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

who earned income by distributing

methamphetamine Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug use, recreational or Performance-enhancing substance, performance-enhancing drug and less commonly as a secon ...

s and helping his family with their farming business in Mountain Home,

. His criminal record contained only an arrest during a traffic stop by Elmore County police on failure to possess a valid driver's license. Rebecca Ramirez, Lopez-Orozco's former girlfriend, had separated from him and lived in her father's home in Nyssa,

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. Lopez-Orozco persuaded Ramirez to meet with him, and he picked her up along with her sons. In July 2002 Rebecca brought her two children with Lopez-Orozco and drove off in their car to head back to Mountain Home, where they lived. After a few days, Ramirez' family alerted authorities because she did not contact her family. Investigators listed them as missing persons and the family awaited her return.

Triple murder and investigation

On August 11, 2002, sturgeon fishermen were riding

all-terrain vehicle An all-terrain vehicle (ATV), also known as a light utility vehicle (LUV), a quad bike or quad (if it has four wheels), as defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), is a vehicle that travels on low-pressure tires, has a seat ...

s along the fishing section of the

Snake River The Snake River is a major river in the interior Pacific Northwest region of the United States. About long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, which is the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. Begin ...

just outside Mountain Home, Idaho. One of the fishermen spotted an abandoned and burned-out car and eventually discovered charred human skeletal remains. Authorities were alerted and the place was declared a crime scene. DNA tests revealed that the remains were the bodies of Ramirez and her sons, Miguel and Ricardo. The car was set on fire after each victim had been shot execution-style in either the head or the chest. Investigators recovered the car's license plate and tracked down its owner. He had sold the car, and he had a photocopy of the buyer's

driver's license A driver's license, driving licence, or driving permit is a legal authorization, or the official document confirming such an authorization, for a specific individual to operate one or more types of motorized vehicles—such as motorcycles, ca ...

. The buyer was Jorge Lopez-Orozco. Later, investigators discovered that Ramirez had found out that her boyfriend Jorge was actually married with children. Her friends said that Becky was planning to break up with him. Detectives have suspected this being the motive for the murders. Lopez-Orozco's brother Simon and his wife Maria Garcia were both also charged with accessory to first degree murder. It was alleged they assisted him with fleeing the state of Idaho and helping to conceal and provide transportation for the Lopez-Orozco family. After fleeing Idaho, Simon and Maria were last seen in San Jose,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in August 2002. Maria Garcia was captured in 2006, but Simon Lopez-Orozco remains at large. Prior to Jorge's capture, the FBI believed they were possibly residing in Mexico and Jorge might have used alias "Raúl Solario". He was considered armed and extremely dangerous. The FBI offered a $100,000 reward for information leading Lopez-Orozco's capture.

Capture

On October 8, 2009, Mexican Federal Police arrested Lopez-Orozco in

Zihuatanejo Zihuatanejo (), and/or Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, is the fourth largest city in the Mexican state of Guerrero. It was known by 18th-century English mariners as Chequetan and/or Seguataneo. Politically the city belongs to the municipalities of Mexico, m ...

, Mexico. As of March 31, 2010, he was awaiting extradition to the United States in a

Morelia Morelia (; from 1545 to 1828 known as Valladolid; Otomi language, Otomi: ) is a city and municipal seat of the municipalities of Mexico, municipality of Morelia in the north-central part of the state of Michoacán in central Mexico. It is both th ...

prison. Prosecutors did not seek capital punishment against Lopez-Orozco, as Mexico refuses to extradite suspects who might face execution. He was returned to the United States and was convicted of murder and sentenced to life without parole. Lopez-Orozco is currently incarcerated in Idaho State Correctional Center in Boise.

References

External links

The Internet Wayback Machine's archive of Lopez-Orozco's FBI Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitive AlertJorge Lopez-Orozco's profile on ''America's Most Wanted''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez Orozco, Jorge FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives 1976 births Living people Mexican emigrants to the United States Mexican drug traffickers Mexican prisoners and detainees People from Mountain Home, Idaho Prisoners and detainees of Mexico Undocumented immigrants to the United States