The third person wanted in connection with the death of 23-year-old Marisela Botello-Valadez, a Seattle woman killed in Dallas last fall, has been arrested near Salt Lake City, Utah, Dallas police say.
Dallas police confirmed Friday afternoon that they learned 31-year-old Charles Anthony Beltran was in West Jordan, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City, and that they took him into custody without incident with the help of the U.S. Marshals North Texas Violent Fugitive Task Force and the West Jordan Police Department.
"The Dallas Police Department continues to pursue justice for the family of Marisela Botello-Valadez," the department said in a statement Friday. "We would like to thank our national partners for assisting us in making this arrest."
Marisela Botello-Valadez
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Botello-Valadez was reported missing by her family after she was last seen leaving a Deep Ellum bar on Oct. 5, 2020. Though her body wasn't found until last month, investigators said evidence indicated she'd been killed and those who were last known to be with her had all disappeared.
The Dallas County medical examiner confirmed last month that a body found in a wooded area in Wilmer five months after the woman's disappearance was in fact Botello-Valadez.
Dallas police said Beltran is expected to be charged with capital murder.
Two women also wanted in connection with Botello-Valadez's death, 50-year-old Nina Tamar Marano and 57-year-old Lisa Dykes, were arrested last month in Florida. An arrest warrant affidavit for Marano indicated she faced a capital murder charge with a $500,000 bond. In Texas, a conviction of capital murder carries either an automatic life sentence without parole or the death penalty.
It's not clear if Beltran, Marano or Dykes have obtained attorneys.
Marisela Botello-Valadez
Police in Dallas said Botello-Valadez flew from Seattle to Dallas on Oct. 2, 2020, to visit a friend in North Texas. That friend said she left his apartment on Oct. 4 to meet some friends at a nightclub, Marano’s arrest affidavit said. A Lyft driver picked her up. She never returned to his home and missed her flight back to Seattle.
According to Marano’s arrest warrant, police traced cellphones belonging to Marano, Dykes, Beltran, and Botello-Valadez to the home of Dykes and Beltran on Oct 4, which was the last evening she was seen alive.
Phone records also showed Dykes and Marano traveling south of Dallas, near Hutchins, to a densely wooded area near a concrete plant. When officials searched their residence, they found streaks of brown and red on the carpet, which had been cleaned. An analysis of DNA found on one of the carpets matched Botello's blood, according to the affidavit.
According to police, Beltran, Dykes and Marano all left their homes and jobs after the woman’s disappearance.
