MIAMI – Two women wanted in connection with the death of a Seattle woman in Texas last year have been arrested in Florida, court records show.
Nina Tamar Marano, 49, was taken into custody last week in Miami-Dade County and remained in jail Tuesday after waiving an extradition hearing, records show. Lisa Dykes, 57, was arrested in Orange County, Florida, on Saturday. Authorities in Texas said they were still searching for a third suspect, Charles Beltran, 31.
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News outlets reported the trio is suspected in the death of Marisela Botello-Valadez, 23, who disappeared in October after leaving a Dallas nightclub during a visit from Seattle.
Marano's arrest warrant in Dallas said police believe she is one of the last people to see Botello-Valadez before she disappeared. The woman's body was recovered last week in Texas.
Neither the Miami-Dade County State Attorney's Office nor Miami-Dade police offered details on the arrest, the Miami Herald reported. But online court records show Marano is not expected in court for almost two weeks after waiving the extradition hearing.
An arrest warrant showed Marano works for a company in Davenport, Florida, which is about 230 miles north of Miami.
Police in Dallas said Botello-Valadez flew from Seattle to Dallas on Oct. 2 to visit a friend. That friend said she left his apartment Oct. 4 to meet some friends at a nightclub, Marano's arrest affidavit said. A Lyft driver picked her up. She never returned to his home and missed her flight back to Seattle.
Police said no one heard from Botello-Valadez after that evening.
A medical examiner in Texas said human remains found last week in Wilmer, Texas, were a match for Botello-Valadez.
According to Marano's arrest warrant, police traced cellphones belonging to Marano, Dykes, Beltran and Botello-Valadez to the home of Dykes and Beltran on Oct 4, which was the last evening the Seattle woman was seen alive.
In December, Beltran's car was recovered in New York, and a hair discovered in the trunk is being tested to determine whether it is Botello’s, the Dallas Morning News reported.
According to police, Beltran, Dykes and Marano all left their homes and jobs after the woman's disappearance.
Court records in Orange County and Miami-Dade County show Dykes and Marano are being held on fugitive warrants out of Texas. It was not immediately known whether the women have retained attorneys. The search for Beltran continues.