Idaho Mom And Kids Vanish

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Cops say Becky Ramirez was murdered along with her two young sons, Miguel and Ricardo, by Jorge Alberto Lopez-Orozco.

It was a summer afternoon in July 2002 when Rebecca "Becky" Ramirez took her two young sons, 2-year-old Miguel and 4-year-old Ricardo, went to visit her father at his home in Nyssa, Ore.  Along for the ride was Becky's boyfriend, Jorge Alberto Lopez-Orozco.

At the end of the day, Becky's father said goodbye to his daughter and his grandchildren before they drove with Jorge back home across state lines. It would be the last time he would see Becky, Miguel, and Ricardo alive.

A few days passed, and no one had seen Becky or her two boys.  Police say it was not uncommon for Becky to leave with several of her young children for days at a time to travel to nearby cities to see family, or to look for work. 

But it seemed unusual this time, and Becky's family started to worry. She had not called to let anyone know where she was headed, so investigators listed them as missing persons, and the family awaited her return.

Missing Family Found Murdered In Burned-Out Car

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Elmore County Sheriff's investigators look for clues at the scene of the burned out car that contained the remains of Becky Ramirez and two of her young sons.

Nearly two weeks later, sturgeon fishermen were riding ATVs along the famed fishing section of the Snake River just outside Mountain Home, Idaho. Off in the distance, one of them spotted an abandoned and burned-out car. The fisherman decided to check out the car, and made a gruesome discovery -- charred human skeletal remains.

After arriving on the scene, detectives quickly determined that there was more than one body in the car.  Judging by the size of the skulls, there were remains of two small children. All three bodies had execution-style gunshot wounds to their heads.

Detectives knew that the victims were most likely Becky and her two children, and later made a conclusive match through DNA testing.

Detectives had to identify a suspect, and all signs pointed to Becky's 29-year-old boyfriend, Jorge Alberto Lopez-Orozco.

A Whole Family on the Run

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Jorge's brother, Simon Lopez-Orozco is wanted on accessory to murder charges but his common law wife, Maria Garcia, has been arrested. Authorities say they helped Lopez-Orozco flee the state when he confessed to the murders.

Investigators learned from Becky's friends that she had learned Jorge was living a double life -- he was actually married with children.

Her friends said that Becky was planning to break up with him. Detectives suspected that this was the motive for the killings:  Jorge might have feared losing his real family in the end, so he executed Becky and her kids.

Detectives are also looking for Jorge's brother, Simon. Investigators say Simon picked his brother up from the vicinity of the murder scene.

Cops say that the brothers then called Simon's wife, Maria, who helped them pack their belongings and take Jorge Lopez-Orozco's whole family on the run.

It is believed that the family fled the Mountain Home area in a black, 1980s Ford Ranger pickup. Simon is suspected of still being with Jorge and his wife and kids, but Maria was arrested.

Becky Ramirez was survived by her five other children, whose ages ranged between 7 and 17.  Three of her children shared the same father, Becky's ex-husband, who took custody of the surviving kids after the murders.

As the two remaining children were left orphaned and about to be separated from their other brothers and sisters, the ex-husband decided to also adopt the two other children.

On October 7, 2009, authorities say the Mexican Federal Ministerial Police, in cooperation with the FBI and the US Marshals Service, arrested Jorge Lopez-Orozco in Zihuatanejo, Micoacan, Mexico without incident. 

FBI: Top Ten Suspect In Custody

In 2002, a sturgeon fisherman made a horrific discovery while riding an ATV on the riverbanks of the Snake River outside Mountain Home, Idaho.

Inside a burned out and abandoned car were the remains of three bodies: Becky Ramirez and her two young sons. 

Since then, authorities in the United States and Mexico had been searching for Becky's suspected killer -- her boyfriend, Jorge Alberto Lopez-Orozco.

On October 7, 2009, the seven-year wait for justice ended when Lopez-Orozco was arrested while hauling a load of metal into a scrap yard in Zihuatanejo, Mexico.

The Mexican Federal Ministerial Police, in cooperation with the FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service, arrested the FBI Top Ten Fugitive without incident.

The FBI says that local prosecutors in Elmore County, Idaho, along with the U.S. Department of Justice and authorities in Mexico, will now work together on extradition proceedings.