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On Tuesday, June 4, authorities announced that federal investigators and local police detectives have apprehended three people in connection to the February 2023 murder of Limber Lopez Funez.
In February last year, family members of Lopez Funez alerted the Frederick County Police Department that the teen had gone missing, prompting a massive, multi-agency search that came to a head on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2023, when detectives found a crime scene in a wooded area near Orchard Way.
At that scene, police said that investigators found evidence “that indicated a serious assault had occurred there. The scene was processed, and detectives continued their investigation to find Lopez Funez.”
What started as an investigation into an unrelated case first led to the arrest of Asael Ernesto Perez Rojas, 23, who attempted to provide a false name, though his gambit was quickly uncovered by detectives who recognized him.
He was charged with accessory after the fact to first-degree murder and cited on an active arrest warrant for failing to make a court appearance on felony drug offenses.
Days later, members of the US Marshals Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force located Santos Reyes Depaz Cruz, 22, at a Frederick residence, and he was taken into custody on an active arrest warrant for first-degree murder.
Finally, members of the Frederick County Police Department's Major Crimes Unit and the sheriff's office arrested and charged Roberto Bladimir Flores Flores, 25, who was also charged with first-degree murder.
To date, there have been nine suspects arrested for their alleged roles in the death of Lopez Funez, according to police.
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