Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Suspect Extradited From Mexico Appears in Sacramento Court in 2017 River Homicide

The return of Jose Guadalupe Lopez Nunez turns a yearslong international manhunt into active U.S. prosecution with a pretrial hearing set later this month.

Overview

  • Jose Guadalupe Lopez Nunez, 49, is in U.S. custody in Sacramento and faces a murder charge in the death of his former girlfriend Emelina Quintero-Ramos.
  • Authorities say an angler found Quintero-Ramos's body in the Sacramento River near Isleton on Sept. 4, 2017, and investigators believe Lopez Nunez hid her body in the river.
  • Lopez Nunez was captured near Mezquital del Oro in Zacatecas, Mexico after a tip on Aug. 31, 2025 and was extradited to Sacramento on July 2, 2026.
  • He is listed as ineligible for bail and made his first Sacramento court appearance in early July, with the next hearing scheduled for July 23, 2026.
  • The case grew from local warrants in October 2017 to an international search that involved the FBI, Interpol, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Sacramento law enforcement, and prosecutors say the extradition advances the path to trial and potential answers for the victim’s family.