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

Police suspect that Erick Rangel-Ibarra is in Mexico. (LVMPD/KLAS)

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

Palacio, 22, a suspect by Las Vegas Metro Police, died on August 29, 2020. Police found her remains two weeks later near the Valley of Fire.

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

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

According to court records and video footage, prosecutors said Rangel-Ibarra returned home with Palacio around 6 a.m. after a night of drinking. The 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 house down the street films two men, identified by prosecutors as Rangel-Ibarra and Rangel, dragging a body from the house into the same truck. A few minutes later, the video shows the truck driving away and a man, identified by prosecutors as Rangel, hosing down the sidewalk.

Rangel initially told police he believed Palacio had died of an overdose, but then said he did not see the body until his son dragged it down the stairs of their home on a bedsheet, documents say.

Palacio’s official cause and manner of death is listed as undetermined. Investigators have not elaborated on what evidence in the Rangels’ home led them to believe Palacio was 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 conclusively determine how they died.

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

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