One of the U.S. Marshals Service’s 15 most wanted fugitives has been arrested in the Mexican sea resort of Cancun after almost 24 years on the run, the service said.
Vincent Legrend Walters, 45, was taken into custody on Friday in a joint operation by the U.S. Marshals Service’s Mexico City Foreign Field Office and Mexican law enforcement authorities, and transferred to Mexico City to await extradition to the United States.
“Thanks to the hard work of our Deputy U.S. Marshals, local law enforcement and Mexican law enforcement partners, we were able to bring Walters in to face the consequences for his laundry list of accused crimes,” said David Harlow, Assistant Director of the U.S. Marshals Investigative Operations Division.
Walters, who faces murder, drugs and weapon possession charges in San Diego, resided in Cancun under assumed identity of Oscar Rivera and worked at the Cancun International Airport, the U.S. Marshal’s Service said.
He is wanted for the kidnapping and murder of Christina Reyes, who was killed in September 1988.
Walters and his brother, Martin, took three people hostage in a drug trafficking deal that went bad.
The brothers later released two hostages, but Reyes died when she was gagged with a chemically saturated rag that killed her almost instantaneously.
Martin Walters was caught soon after the crime and is serving 25 years to life in prison.
The U.S. Marshals Service's 15 Most Wanted Fugitives Program was established in 1983 in an effort to prioritize the investigation and apprehension of high-profile offenders who are considered to be some of the country’s most dangerous fugitives.
The 15 Most Wanted Fugitives list is similar, but not identical to the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.
