Man Suspected Killing Wife, Abducting 5-Year-Old Daughter Arrested in Mexico

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (KESQ) - A man suspected of killing his wife and abducting his 5-year-old daughter was arrested in Mexico, the Los Angeles Police Department announced.  

LAPD detectives learned this weekend that Fregoso had been taken into custody in Mexico and his daughter, Daleyza Fregoso, a United States citizen, was located safely and is in the custody of Mexican officials, according to the department.

The extradition process will begin for Fregoso in the coming days while United States Embassy officials in Mexico will begin returning Daleyza to her family, police said.

Fregoso and Daleyza had last been seen at about 4 a.m. on May 24 in the area of Alsace Avenue and Ferndale Street in the West Adams area of Los Angeles, according to the California Highway Patrol, which issued an Amber Alert on behalf of the LAPD.

Officers responded to a radio call for a welfare check at about 12:40 p.m. May 25 in the 2600 block of South Alsace Avenue, near Adams Boulevard.   

Upon arrival, officers discovered a woman who appeared to have suffered a violent death inside the residence with her husband identified as a person of interest, police said.

The mother was identified by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner as 34-year-old Marisol Garcia Palacios, whose cause of death remains deferred pending further investigation.

Authorities located the Land Rover Discovery SUV that Fregoso and his daughter were believed to be traveling in near the San Ysidro crossing in San Diego County, near the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office has charged Fregoso with one count of murder and one misdemeanor count of child abuse under circumstance or conditions other than great bodily injury or death.   

Detectives assigned to the LAPD's Robbery-Homicide Division, with assistance from the Gang and Narcotics Division, U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force and FBI Los Angeles Field Office personnel, worked with U.S. Marshals Service agents in Mexico to locate Fregoso and Daleyza, police said.