Exclusive: FBI captures longtime fugitive in Honduras in connection with 2000 killing of Philadelphia girl

EXCLUSIVE: A fugitive previously on the FBI's Most Wanted list for the kidnapping and murder of a 5-year-old Philadelphia girl has been arrested in Honduras. 

Alexis Flores was taken into custody on Wednesday, the FBI told Fox News Digital. He was wanted for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution (UFAP) in relation to the killing, the FBI said. 

"After more than 25 years on the run, this arrest shows that time and distance do not shield violent offenders from justice," FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "Thanks to relentless work by our international partners and FBI personnel, a fugitive accused of an unthinkable crime against a child is now in custody and on a path back to the United States."

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The girl was reported missing on July 29, 2000, and was later found strangled to death in a nearby apartment days later. 

On March 22, 2007, an arrest warrant was obtained by authorities after Flores was charged with murder and other felonies.  On the same date, a federal arrest warrant was issued after Flores was charged with UFAP.

Flores was listed on the FBI's Most Wanted list from 2007 through March 2025.  He was removed based on overall program review by the bureau's Criminal Investigative Division in an ongoing process to ensure the list remains agile and current. 

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The FBI has made a series of arrests of fugitives on its Most Wanted list in recent months. 

In January, the agency announced the arrest of Alejandro Rosales Castillo, who had been among the Top Ten Most Wanted Fugitives since 2017. He had been wanted in the 2016 murder of his former co-worker, 23-year-old "Sandy" Ly Le, in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Also in January, former Canadian Olympic snowboarder and FBI Ten Most Wanted fugitive Ryan Wedding was captured in Mexico.

Wedding, who was suspected of drug trafficking, is believed to have been hiding in Mexico for more than a decade in an effort to elude U.S. authorities. 

Since the start of the Trump administration, the FBI has captured six of the bureau's most-wanted fugitives, Patel said last week. 

"We will continue to pursue those who harm our most vulnerable, no matter where they hide," he said.