International manhunt busts ‘Most Wanted’ couple for murder

Araceli Medina and Edgar Salvador Cason-Garcia (US Marshals)

A fugitive couple was captured in Mexico last week after being on the run for murder and rape charges since 2020, authorities said. Edgar Salvador Casian-Garcia and Araceli Medina are currently sitting in a Mexico jail pending extradition to the United States.

An investigation was launched into the alleged killer couple after two of Casian-Garcia’s biological daughters were found abandoned at a gas station in Tijuana, Mexico. The girls — originally from Pasco, Washington — were severely physically and sexually abused, according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). The sisters, 8 and 3, were taken into child protective custody.

Six months after the discovery in Mexico, investigators in Washington were notified about the girls. Authorities immediately recognized the family name and realized the sisters also had a brother named Edgar Jr. Investigators went to the family’s apartment looking for the 7-year-old, but Casian-Garcia and Medina allegedly said the boy was staying with his two sisters in California with their biological mother.

Edgar Jr. Casian-Garcia (US Marshals)

Once detectives realized their story was a lie, it was too late, as Casian-Garcia and Medina had fled to Mexico, taking Medina’s four biological children and their infant son the couple had together with them, according to authorities.

The U.S. Marshals Service and NCMEC immediately began looking for Edgar Jr., along with the other five children the couple had taken off with. Detectives believed the couple had either stayed in Mexico or eventually made their way to Canada. Weeks turned into months, months turned into years — and then a horrific break in the case.

In Feb. 2022, hikers found human bones about 15 minutes away from the couple’s Washington home. Dental records confirmed the remains belonged to Edgar Jr.

After the fatal discovery, in mid-February, the United States Marshal Service elevated the couple to its ‘Top 15 Most Wanted’ list — which was the first time a couple has ever been featured on that specific list. The U.S. Marshals 15 Most Wanted fugitive program claims to  “draw attention to some of the country’s most dangerous and high-profile fugitives.”