Suspects in Fatal M Streets Hit-and-Run Caught in Florida, Thanks to a Forgotten Cell Phone

U.S. Marshals on Friday arrested two suspects in the M Streets hit-and-run that killed 13-year-old Ethan Vasquez and critically injured his mother last week. Dagoberto Castanon, 25, and Rogelio Avila, 24 were discovered hiding in a Fort Myers, Florida, trailer park three days after they allegedly ran a stop sign...

By Eric Nicholson

April 21, 2014

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U.S. Marshals on Friday arrested two suspects in the M Streets hit-and-run that killed 13-year-old Ethan Vasquez and critically injured his mother last week.

Dagoberto Castanon, 25, and Rogelio Avila, 24 were discovered hiding in a Fort Myers, Florida, trailer park three days after they allegedly ran a stop sign in a stolen minivan and broadsided the Vasquezes' Nissan Versa.

They are being held in the Lee County Jail on murder charges. Dallas detectives will travel there this week to begin the extradition process.

Police didn't say on Friday how, exactly, they managed to to track the men to the Sunshine State, but finding out their identity was remarkably simple. All cops had to do was check the cell phone they'd left behind in the stolen minivan when they fled.

According to an arrest affidavit, the cell phone led to Castanon's girlfriend. She told police that Castanon arrived home on Tuesday with cuts to the top of his head, telling her he and Avila had been in a crash and that he wasn't sure if the people in the other car had survived.

The girlfriend said she took Castanon to a drug store to get bandages, then dropped him off at Avila's. She didn't hear from him again.

Send your story tips to the author, Eric Nicholson.

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