NATIONWIDE — Another woman remains behind bars related in connection with the death of 23-year-old Marisela Botello Valadez. On Saturday, jail records showed that Lisa Jo Dykes, 57, was booked into the Orange County Jail in Florida on charges of capital murder.

What You Need To Know

  • Marisela Botello Valadez was last seen October 5. Her body was found last week in a wooded area in Dallas County, according to police

  • Two women, Lisa Jo Dykes and Nina Tamar Marano, have been arrested in connection with her murder in Florida, court records show

  • A third suspect, Charles Beltran, remains at-large 

Two days prior, 49-year-old Nina Tamar Marano was arrested in Miami for murder and taken to the Miami-Dade County Jail. After waving an extradition hearing, Marano is still in jail and not expected to appear in court for another two weeks, per court records.

According to the Miami Herald, local authorities provided no details surrounding the arrests of either woman. But both are being held on fugitive warrants out of Texas.  

After months of looking for Valadez, authorities’ search came to an end last week. Valadez’s body was discovered Wednesday in Wilmer in a wooded area near East Belt Line and Post Oak roads in Dallas County.

Spectrum News 1 previously reported that Valadez, who was last seen October 5, had traveled to Dallas from Seattle to visit a friend on October 2. During an investigation, police learned that she went back to her friend’s residence and to businesses in Deep Ellum. Surveillance footage showed her leaving Select Start, a bar in the 2800 block of Elm Street, with a man.

Initially, police listed Valadez as a “want to locate” case, but after her social media accounts and activity from her cellphone and bank accounts went dark, it was upgraded to a missing person.

Last November, during a news conference, Lt. Eric Roman, of Youth Operations and Missing Persons, said Charles Beltran was the last person to be seen with her. Like Valadez, Beltran hasn’t been seen since October 5.

In December, authorities said his vehicle, an Audi A6, was recovered in New York and a strand of hair was found inside the trunk, which is being tested to determine if it belongs to Valadez.

According to the arrest affidavit, cellphone records placed Valadez, Beltran, Marano, and Dykes at a Mesquite home shared by Beltran and Dykes on the day of her disappearance. It went on to say that phone records showed that Dykes and Marano left the home the same day, and headed to a wooded area near Hutchins, which is close to multiple bodies of water, and then returned to the home.

During a search of the home, police discovered that blood was cleaned from the carpet. However, stains of red and brown found underneath were later determined to be a DNA match for Valadez, police said.

Following Valadez’s disappearance, police said Beltran, Dykes, and Marano left their jobs and homes and refused to talk to authorities showing a “pattern of avoidance and attempted concealment of evidence.”

Beltran is still at-large.

A reward of up to $5,000 leading to an arrest and indictment in the case is available through Crime Stoppers. Call (214) 373-8477 to make an anonymous tip.

Anyone with information about Beltran’s whereabouts should contact Detective Christine Ramirez at 214-671-3668 or christine.ramirez@dallascityhall.com and reference case No. 177834-2020.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story used Botella instead of Botello. It has been corrected.