Nearly 30 years after the death of her 3-year-old daughter, Crystal Reyes, Anna Marlene Somoza has been apprehended in Mexico by U.S. law enforcement. The 60-year-old mother faces first-degree murder charges.
Somoza was captured by the U.S. Marshals Service, ending her more than 12 years as a fugitive. Her connections to Mexican cartels previously helped her evade arrest, authorities report. She will be extradited to the U.S. to face allegations of murdering Crystal Reyes, her daughter.
Details of Abuse
Before her death, Crystal Reyes suffered severe abuse, torture, and malnutrition. Authorities describe her confinement in a dog kennel, where she was bound, gagged, and left alone for extended periods. On January 30, 1997, she was gagged, suffocated with a towel taped to her face, and left to perish in a sealed cardboard box.
In November 1998, a hunter discovered human bone fragments in a remote area of Arizona. Nearly two decades later, DNA analysis in August 2014 confirmed these remains belonged to Crystal Reyes.
Legal Proceedings
Authorities confirmed her identity with her biological father’s DNA. With this information, detectives charged Somoza and her then-boyfriend, Avelino Tamala, with murder in December 2014.
Tamala, who was not Reyes’ father, was convicted of Crystal’s murder in 2016 and sentenced to life in prison.
Somoza’s Criminal Background
Before being charged in her daughter’s death, Somoza was involved in drug trafficking along the Arizona border in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1993, she was arrested for marijuana trafficking and later became a confidential informant. During this time, she began a romantic relationship with Tamala, a narcotics detective.
In 1999, a year after her daughter’s remains were found, Somoza and Tamala were jailed for drug and weapon offenses. Somoza served eight years and was deported in 2008. In 2014, after connecting her to the child’s remains, authorities began their hunt for her.
Efforts to Find Somoza
Somoza used extensive methods to avoid detection. In October 2022, an arrest warrant was issued for her extradition. The search was intensified in 2026. In early September, it was discovered she was avoiding capture in Cuernavaca, Mexico. On October 18, she was finally caught in Xochitepec, Mexico.
Extradition Process
The U.S. Marshals Service will collaborate with the Mexican government for her extradition. Russel Lorfing, a former federal prosecutor, explained that the extradition might take months or even years if Somoza contests the charges. She could challenge her extradition through an amparo, an appeal questioning her constitutional rights. Such appeals in Mexico can significantly delay extradition processes.