AURORA MURDER SUSPECT SOUGHT

Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is asking for the public’s help in locating and apprehending JOSE RAMIREZ, age 31, who is a former resident of Aurora, Illinois. RAMIREZ is wanted for the April 1995 shooting death of a fellow Aurora man and the wounding of another.

RAMIREZ has been the subject of a nationwide manhunt, coordinated by the Chicago FBI, since May of this year, when he was charged in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago with Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution (UFAP) which is a felony offense. According to the complaint, the murder victim, Rogelio Hernandez, was shot at close range as he was using a pay telephone on the corner of Liberty and Beach Streets in Aurora. A companion of Hernandez was wounded during the incident but survived. The complaint identifies RAMIREZ as the shooter and indicates that he opened fire on the two men after a brief verbal exchange.

RAMIREZ is one of 30 individuals who were charged by Kane County authorities in June of 2007 as part of a joint investigative effort between the Aurora and Montgomery Police Departments, the Kane County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI called operation “First Degree Burn”. This joint investigation targeted a string of unrelated and previously unsolved homicides in and around Aurora and led to the solution of 22 “cold cases” dating back over 20 years. RAMIREZ is the lone defendant from this investigation who remains at large.

RAMIREZ is described as a Hispanic/male, 31 years of age, 5’ 6” tall, 130 pounds, medium build, with black hair and brown eyes. RAMIREZ uses several aliases, including Jose Reyes, Jose Soto, Baldomer Reyes and Rogelio Elizondo. He is also known on the street as “Indio”. RAMIREZ, who is a Mexican national, has a tattoo on his right arm and has an extensive criminal record. Given the nature of the crime he is alleged to have committed, RAMIREZ should be considered Armed and Dangerous.

The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt and that all defendants in a criminal case are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Additional copies of the attached wanted flyer are available from the Chicago FBI’s press office at (312) 829-1199.

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