Man accused of killing Las Vegas woman Lesly Palacio arrested in Mexico

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Nearly four years after her death, the man accused of killing Lesly Palacio is in custody in Mexico, the 8 News Now Investigators have confirmed.

Erick Rangel-Ibarra was arrested in Mexico, a source said. Rangel-Ibarra, now in his late 20s, is the only suspect in Palacio’s August 2020 murder.

Las Vegas Metro police suspect Palacio, 22, died Aug. 29, 2020. Police found her remains two weeks later near the Valley of Fire.

In 2021, Jose Rangel, Erick Rangel-Ibarra’s father, pleaded guilty to helping his son move Palacio’s body from the family home. A judge sentenced Rangel to two years in prison. The 8 News Now Investigators reported Rangel was released after serving less than nine months.

Video evidence presented to a grand jury in 2021 showed Rangel-Ibarra and Rangel moving Palacio’s body on the morning of her suspected death, according to documents obtained first by the 8 News Now Investigators that year.

According to court transcripts and video footage, prosecutors said Rangel-Ibarra returned to his home with Palacio around 6 a.m. after a night of drinking. Video shows a man, whom prosecutors identified as Rangel-Ibarra, helping a woman, identified as Palacio, get out of a truck parked in front of his home, court documents said.

An hour later, the same camera from a home down the street captures two men, whom prosecutors identified as Rangel-Ibarra and Rangel, dragging a body from the home and into the same truck. A few minutes later, the video shows the truck leaving, and a man, whom prosecutors identified as Rangel, hosing off the walkway.

Rangel initially told police he thought Palacio had died from an overdose, but then told police he initially saw the body when his son dragged it down the stairs of their home on a bed sheet, documents said.

Palacio’s official cause and manner of death are listed as undetermined. Investigators have not elaborated on what evidence inside the Rangel home led them to determine Palacio is the victim of a homicide. An undetermined cause and manner of death means there is not enough evidence on a deceased person’s body to clearly determine how they died.

Over the years, Metro police and the FBI have worked with international partners in attempts to locate Rangel-Ibarra.

It was not immediately clear when Rangel-Ibarra would be transported to Las Vegas to face charges.

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