DALLAS — A third suspect has been arrested in connection to the disappearance and death of a Seattle woman whose remains were found last week in Dallas County, officials announced Friday.
Charles Beltran, 31, faces a capital murder charge. Police say he was the last person Marisela Botello-Valadez was seen with before she went missing in October.
He was taken into custody without incident by the U.S. Marshals North Texas Violent Fugitive Task Force, in conjunction with the Dallas Police Department and West Jordan Police Department in Utah.
Surveillance video showed Botello-Valadez with Beltran on Oct. 5, 2020 when she was going out in Deep Ellum, police said.
The first suspect to be arrested was Nina Marano, 49, on March 25. She was taken into custody in Miami, Florida and faces a capital murder charge in connection to Botello-Valadez's death, police said.
On Monday, Lisa Dykes, 57, was arrested in Florida in connection with Botello-Valadez's death.
A phone analysis showed the three suspects were allegedly with Botello-Valadez the night she went missing and investigators found Botello-Valadez's blood at a suspect's apartment, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
On Tuesday, members of the FBI's Evidence Response Team Unit, alongside investigators with the Dallas Police Department, spent 11 hours searching for and collecting evidence in connection to her death.
Last week, Dallas police announced that Botello-Valadez's remains were found in a wooded area in Wilmer, Texas near E. Belt Line Road and Post Oak Road.
On March 25, those remains were identified as Botello-Valadez.
She flew to Dallas from Seattle to visit her ex-boyfriend and decided to go out alone for the evening on Oct. 5, police said. A surveillance video showed her in a parking lot with one of the suspects, Charles Beltran.
Police said at the time Botello-Valadez did not seem scared or in distress in the video but believe something happened to her after the video was taken.
After Botello-Valadez's disappearance, all the suspects left their jobs and moved out of their individual homes in Texas and Pennsylvania, police said.
Anyone with information about this case should also contact Det. Ramirez with the Dallas Police Department Special Investigations Unit at (214) 671-3668 or christine.ramirez@dallascityhall.com. Please reference case #177834-2020.
Affidavit: Blood found on carpet
An arrest warrant affidavit says that Botello-Valadez's ex-boyfriend told detectives that she took a Lyft ride from his apartment to an unknown location late in the evening on Oct. 5 and that was the last time he saw her.
An analysis of phone records shows that the suspects were together at Dykes and Beltran's residence in Mesquite, the affidavit said. The analysis also shows that Dykes and Marano went to an area south of Dallas near Hutchins, which is densely wooded and close to several bodies of water and a concrete plant, the affidavit said.
After traveling to Hutchins, both Dykes and Marano traveled back to Dykes' residence.
A later search of their residence showed that the carpet had been cleaned, but streaks of brown and red color were underneath the carpet, the affidavit said. Items seized were submitted for forensics analysis and confirmed human blood.
Blood found on the carpet in what was believed to be Beltran's room was matched to Botello-Valadez, according to the affidavit.
On Dec. 31, 2020, a black 2014 Audi that was previously registered to Dykes and Beltran and known to have been driven by Beltran was searched by New York State Police after the vehicle was transported to New York. Concrete material was found in the rear wheel well of the vehicle and it appeared to match the same type/color of concrete used at the concrete plant where suspect Dykes and Marano traveled that night.
Police believe that Botello-Valadez was injured based on the blood found at the residence.
