Murder suspect brought back from Mexico

Cold Case
By Paul Garrod
Staff Writer

PAW PAW – After nearly three decades, a suspect in a 1995 cold case was located by Van Buren County authorities and the FBI and returned to Van Buren County from Mexico, where he had taken up residence, according to Van Buren County Sheriff Daniel Abbott.
Abbott announced on Wednesday, Oct. 5, during a press conference that Juan Luis Solis-Reyna, 52, was arrested in May for the alleged murder of Jose Cruz Armijo-Arreguin, 30, on April 24, 1995, in Decatur Township. He was extradited back to Michigan Friday, Sept. 30. He was accused of dumping the victim’s body in a parking area of a grape vineyard in the 37000 block of 92nd Avenue, Decatur Township, Abbott said.
Abbott said the first phone call that day was received at 6:27 a.m. from a pay phone booth in Lawton. The caller advised central dispatch that she wanted to report a murder, and knew where the body was, according to Abbott. He said deputies went to Lawton and followed the caller and other witnesses driving the van, where the body was located and dumped in a parking area of a grape vineyard. Abbott said it was also discovered that thee van they were driving was a crime scene.
It was at that time that the Major Crimes Task Force was initiated. Abbott said Solis-Reyna, then 25, “was quickly identified as a suspect.” Both men were acquaintances and knew each other, according to Abbott.
Abbott said Solis-Reyna then fled to Mexico almost immediately after the homicide took place. He had abandoned a vehicle along I-55 in Missouri, within days of the homicide.
Investigators were unable to track Solis-Reyna based on tips for several years, “but to no avail” until the case re-opened in February of 2019, according to Abbott. FBI agents found him living with family in Monterey, Mexico.
Abbott said the ironic thing about the case was that it happened on a shift they were all on in 1995. Abbott was a deputy, as well as then-deputies David Walker and Sharon Van Dam, were all involved. Walker, is now a lieutenant detective, in charge of the sheriff’s office detective unit. Van Dam is also now a detective.
“This case means a lot to all of us,” said Abbott.
Abbott said the victim’s daughter, who was just seven-years-old at the time of the killing, and other family members were expected to be in the courtroom later Wednesday, where Solis-Reyna was then arraigned on three charges, open murder, felony firearms, flight to avoid prosecution.
“She just broke down crying, just excited and happy that we didn’t let it go by the wayside,” Abbott said.
Abbott commended everyone’s “hard work in this case and working so well together.”