PARKERSBURG, W.Va. —A Pleasants County man wanted for the August killing of a one-year old girl in Parkersburg was located and arrested in Mexico City.
Parkersburg Police Chief Joe Martin said they had been searching daily for Curtis Dean Richards II, 30, of St. Marys, but didn’t start to get any strong leads on his whereabouts until offering a reward last week.
“We felt that was going to be a key piece into figuring his location out,” said Martin. “As it turned out it did play into giving somebody the incentive to provide additional information and agreeing to work with our detectives to lure him out of hiding in Mexico City.”
Martin was purposely vague on the details surrounding Richards’ arrest in Mexico, but indicated it included assistance from the FBI and U.S. Marshal Service which have offices in Mexico City.
“Mexico City is a very densely populated area with about 20 million people,” Martin said. “I think he was obviously trying to evade capture and not face consequences for his crime, but we’re not sure what tie he had to Mexico City. I’d like to know that myself.”
The trail picked up when Richards’ vehicle was discovered last week in the town of Evergreen, Alabama. A county sheriff’s deputy found the vehicle with no registration abandoned in a parking lot. Detectives also received information he may be headed to Mexico and used maps to plot and trace what possible route he would take.
“I have my doubts he entered Mexico legally or left the U.S. legally,” said Martin.
For now, Richards is lodged in a Mexican jail as authorities work out the details of his return to West Virginia to face the charges. Martin said they’ll first try to have him deported by the Mexican government, but if that doesn’t’ work they’ll have to use diplomatic channels through the U.S. State Department and U.S. Justice Department to have him extradited.
“It could take two weeks, it could take two years,” Chief Martin said. “We just don’t know, but he’s sitting in a Mexican jail and that eases our mind as far as locating him.”
Richards faces the charge in Wood County in the murder of Ariella Noel Merinar, 1, of Parkersburg. Police alleged Richards was the boyfriend of the child’s mother and was watching Ariella and her two-year-old sister on Aug. 5 while their mother was at work.
Richards was initially questioned about the child’s death and told police the two-year-old choked the one-year-old with a blanket while she slept. An autopsy, completed several days later, revealed severe head and neck injuries on the victim. By then, Richards had left the area.