Homicide suspect captured, returned to California after years on the run

After evading authorities for nearly a decade, a wanted homicide suspect has been apprehended and returned to California following an international search effort, the FBI’s Sacramento office announced this week. 

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In September 2017, an angler in the Sacramento River discovered the body of Emelina Quintero-Ramos. About a month later, authorities issued a felony arrest warrant for Jose Guadalupe Lopez Nunez, her then-boyfriend, who they believe dumped her body in the waterway to conceal the crime. After initiating an international search campaign, collaborating with several agencies and following a public tip, authorities located Nunez in Mezquital del Oro, Zacatecas, Mexico, in August 2025. 

“Following a nearly nine-year effort to return Jose Guadalupe Lopez Nunez” from Mexico to Sacramento “for prosecution, our mission is complete,” the FBI’s Sacramento office wrote on social media. On July 7, Nunez appeared in Sacramento Superior Court to face a homicide charge.

Following a nearly nine-year effort to return Jose Guadalupe Lopez Nunez from #Mexico to #Sacramento for prosecution, our mission is complete. Thanks to a tip, he was located and extradited to the United States to face a homicide charge in #SacramentoCounty

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— FBI Sacramento (@FBISacramento) July 7, 2026

“We hope today’s arrest offers some relief to the family of Emelina Quintero-Ramos after many years of waiting for prosecution,” said FBI Sacramento Acting Special Agent in Charge Brian Tosh in the release.