PORTLAND, Ore. — A man suspected in the death of a woman found in blueberry field in Dayton in 2016 has been extradited to the U.S. to face charges after fleeing to Mexico.
On Tuesday, federal agents transported Victor Melcher-Villalba, 45, back to Oregon where he is now in custody at the Yamhill County Correctional Facility.
In October 2016, Melcher-Villalba's girlfriend — Lilia Cosco-Ortiz, a 37-year-old mother of three from Vancouver — was found dead in a blueberry field. Her body was spotted by passing motorists along Highway 99W near Kreder Road, between Lafayette and Dayton. An autopsy revealed Cosco-Ortiz died from homicidal violence.
Cosco-Ortiz and Melcher-Villalba had lived together in a Vancouver apartment. Her family said they were going to visit the Oregon Coast. Cosco-Ortiz was last seen leaving her home. She was reported missing the next day.
In January 2017, a Yamhill County grand jury indicated Melcher-Villalba for murder. After receiving a warrant for his arrest, investigators learned that he had fled to Mexico, according to the Yamhill County Sheriff's Office. A federal warrant for his arrest was then issued for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
Five years later, Melcher-Villalba was taken into custody in Durango, Mexico on unrelated charges, alerting law enforcement in Yamhill County of his whereabouts. Since July 2022, the Yamhill County Sheriff’s Office and the county district attorney's office, along with the U.S. Department of Justice, worked to extradite Melcher-Villalba.
His first court appearance is scheduled for Wednesday.
According to court documents, Melcher-Villalba has a history of domestic violence, including a warrant out for his arrest in Yakima County on a domestic violence assault charge from 2010, where Cosco-Ortiz was the victim. Cosco-Ortiz had filed a temporary restraining order against Melcher-Villalba around the time.
