PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A man accused of kidnapping and killing a little girl in Philadelphia is in FBI custody after a quarter-century on the run.
Authorities in Honduras handed over Mario Roberto Flores Mejía to face murder charges in Philadelphia.
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El Ministerio Público, a través de la ATIC, entregó al FBI al extraditable hondureño Mario Roberto Flores Mejía, acusado de asesinato, secuestro y abuso sexual de una menor de 5 años en Pensilvania (EE.UU.).
Flores Mejía, conocido con los alias “Alexis Flores”,… pic.twitter.com/zzNOPFA8eU
— Ministerio Público (@MP_Honduras) August 30, 2026
He was on the FBI’s Most Wanted list, accused in the strangulation death of 5-year-old Iriana DeJesus.
Her body was found in an apartment in Hunting Park in August 2000. Investigators said she had been sexually assaulted and killed.
In February, the suspect — who also goes by Alexis Flores — was captured in Honduras. Wayne A. Jacobs, special agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Field Office, said a concerned citizen provided information that led to his arrest — “exactly what we’re looking for from law enforcement when we ask for the public’s assistance.”
“For more than 25 years, Iriana’s family has lived with an unimaginable loss while waiting for this day,” Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said in a statement. “Alexis Flores may have crossed borders and spent decades trying to escape responsibility, but our commitment to Iriana and her family never stopped. His return to Philadelphia is the result of extraordinary persistence by our homicide investigators and the FBI, together with our international partners in Honduras.”
Flores Mejía is now charged with murder, rape, kidnapping and related offenses in Philadelphia.
