After six years on the run, a former Marine who was deemed to be so dangerous that the U.S. Marshals issued the highest-ever prize has been apprehended in El Salvador.
The 36-year-old Raymond “RJ” McLeod was discovered working as an English teacher in Sonsonate, a 71,000-person community 20 miles inland from the Pacific.
In April 2021, the Marshals placed him to their list of 15 “Most Wanted” individuals and doubled the standard reward sum to $50,000 for information leading to his capture.
He was wanted for the murder of his 30-year-old new girlfriend Krystal Mitchell in June 2016 at the condo they were renting while travelling to see his buddies in San Diego.
McLeod, who according to police had a violent past, fled, passing via Mexico on his way to Central America.
In 2017 he was seen in Guatemala, and the following year he was seen in Belize.
Marshals made a request for assistance but cautioned that he was “armed and dangerous” and that he was “an ardent body builder and a heavy drinker.”
Marshal Steve Stafford of the Southern District of California said they would never quit up when he was named to the Top 15 list in 2021.
He said, “Time will never stop the Marshals’ pursuit of McLeod as a wanted fugitive.”
If anything, it strengthens our resolve. Up until he is prosecuted, we won’t stop at nothing.
In order to assist in the search for Mitchell’s accused murderer, Mitchell’s mother, a former detective named Josephine Wentzel, came out of retirement. She congratulated Frankie Sanchez, the head of the local U.S. Marshals Task Force, and his colleague Francisco Barajas for their “great job.”
Since first meeting Francisca Barajas, she has had complete faith that this day would come and he will be the one to capture him. “I have had faith and trust in them,” she added.
He is my idol, I told him. We have a lifelong relationship.