A Marine veteran accused of killing his girlfriend from Phoenix in 2016 has been arrested in El Salvador.
"This devastated our family. I mean, we're broken but we're not destroyed," says Josephine Wentzel, victim's mother.
Josephine Wentzel has been fighting six long years, for the day her daughter's accused killer is apprehended.
"I don't care how long they take to prosecute this case, as long as he's locked up in jail, I'm satisfied," says Wentzel.
30-year-old Krystal Mitchell was a mother of two, she working as a property manager in Phoenix when she met Raymond McLeod in 2016. He was a former U.S. Marine who was looking for an apartment. They had only been dating a few short weeks when they decided to take a weekend trip to San Diego. It was there, at a friend's home, where prosecutors say Krystal was found strangled.
"They contacted me and said, 'we're not looking for a suspect, we are looking for her murderer," says Wentzel.
McLeod was nowhere to be found up until Monday, that is when the U.S. Marshals Service was able to track him down in El Salvador, after receiving a public tip that he was working as an English teacher.
Krystal's mother helped make the identification.
"When he told me about it, I looked at the picture again, and I said, 'oh my gosh, it's him. It is him. This is him," says Wentzel.
Court documents show McLeod pleaded guilty in 2009 to a misdemeanor aggravated assault charge out of Phoenix. That was on top of violating a restraining order. The charge was later dismissed as part of a plea deal where McLeod had to successfully complete a domestic violence counseling program.
Just three months before meeting Krystal, McLeod was out on bond on a felony charge for inflicting injury on his spouse in Riverside, California. That case is also still active.
"While the marshals did their job and caught the guy, I hope to God that the court system does not fail my daughter... I'm there to make sure they don't," says Wentzel.
U.S. Marshals say McLeod will be brought to San Diego to face the murder charges against him.
Krystal's mother is also on her way to San Diego, where law enforcement is expected to hold a press conference on Thursday. Josephine has been an integral part in her daughter's investigation.
