An early morning Amber Alert was canceled when the 17-year-old girl was found her safe in South Texas, but in a twist, she is now facing murder charges. NBC 5’s Maria Guerrero reports Garland police say the man mentioned in the early morning alert is on the run, also wanted for murder.
A teenager who was the subject of an AMBER Alert overnight Thursday is now facing a murder charge along with the man police say was wanted in her abduction and who is now on the lam.
Garland Police said Friday morning that 17-year-old Natalie Navarro and 21-year-old Yordy "Jordy" Martinez are both wanted for murder in the Aug. 29 shooting death of 21-year-old Arturo Pena.
Pena's body was found in a vehicle stopped along the 300 block of West Oates Road in Audubon Park. A passerby notified police that a man appeared to be passed out in the vehicle, but officers arrived and said the man was dead from an apparent gunshot wound. Pena, police said, had been reported to the Dallas Police as a missing person on Aug. 27.
On Friday morning, Garland Police said during the investigation into Pena's murder Navarro became the subject of an AMBER Alert issued by the Dallas Police Thursday night after she was last seen at about 2:15 p.m. that afternoon and was believed to be in grave or immediate danger.
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The AMBER Alert for Navarro was discontinued at about 3:30 a.m. and Garland Police later confirmed she'd been found by law enforcement in Webb County in South Texas and was safe and in custody.
Friday morning, Garland Police said Navarro and Martinez were both persons of interest in Pena's death and that warrants for murder were being obtained for both of them. Further details about how Navarro and Martinez were developed as suspects in Pena's death have not yet been released.
"The reason why this happened, we've yet to totally determine that. We hope to get more when we talk to Natalie to see exactly what was going on if these persons knew each other, if they had a relationship, if there was a falling out," said Garland Police Lieutenant Richard Moldonado.
Martinez, meanwhile, is still at large and is considered armed and dangerous.
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The investigation into Pena's murder is ongoing.
Anyone with information on Martinez's location or Pena's murder is encouraged to call the Garland Police at 972-485-4840. Tips may also be submitted anonymously to Garland Crime Stoppers at 972-272-8477 (TIPS) or garlandcrimestoppers.org. Crime Stoppers will pay up to a $5,000.00 reward for information leading to an arrest.
TEXAS STATEWIDE ALERT PROGRAMS
Eight kinds of alerts can be issued for missing or endangered people in Texas. Below are links to articles with more information about each type of alert.
- Active Shooter Alert
- AMBER Alert & Athena Alert
- Blue Alert
- Silver Alert
- CLEAR Alert
- Camo Alert (no longer operational)
- Endangered Missing Person Alert
- Power Outage Alert
