Five children were rescued after the arrest of their parents in Mexico, who have been on the U.S. Marshals' Most Wanted List after having been on the run for almost two years.
Edgar Salvador Casian-Garcia, 34, and his girlfriend, Araceli Medina, 38, are charged with murder and multiple child sex abuse charges in Franklin County, Washington, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said Friday. The couple had been elevated to the marshals' 15 Most Wanted in February, the first time a couple had made the list.
Two of Casian-Garcia's daughters were found abandoned in Tijuana, Mexico, in late 2020, both alleged to be showing signs of "severe physical and sexual abuse," the Marshals Service said in February. The girls were 8 and 3 at the time.
Investigators said they believed the couple were abusing and trafficking their children.
Casian-Garcia and Medina were also wanted for questioning in the murder of the girls' 7-year-old brother, who was tortured to death in Washington state. His body was found in rural Washington in February 2022.
It is unclear where Casian-Garcia and Medina traveled between when the girls were found in Mexico in 2020 and when they were known to have crossed the border in 2021.
The couple crossed the border into Mexico in June 2021, which investigators believe was an attempt to flee after the boy's death. The Marshals Service said they might have had five children with them, three of Medina’s children from a previous marriage and two children Casian-Garcia shared with another woman.
A reward up to $25,000 each was offered for tips that led to the couple’s capture.
John Bischoff, of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said Friday that he was grateful the children had been rescued.
"The crimes that Araceli Medina and Edgar Casian-Garcia are charged with are heinous, and we commend the unwavering dedication of law enforcement," Bischoff said.
Casian-Garcia and Medina were in custody in Mexico and are expected to be extradited to the U.S. to face criminal proceedings, the center said.
They are charged with first-degree aggravated murder, four counts of rape of first-degree child and three counts of first-degree assault of a child in Franklin County, the marshals said in February. Court records were not immediately available.
The Marshals Service did not immediately respond to a request for more information from NBC News on Sunday.
