Sheriff: fugitive on lam nearly 40 years arrested in Fort Myers Shores
Local authorities this week apprehended a Puerto Rican escaped prisoner they say evaded arrest for nearly four decades.
According to the Lee County Sheriff's Office, Jorge Milla-Valdes, 63, escaped from a Puerto Rican prison in 1987. Jail records list a Lehigh Acres address.
The sheriff's office said Puerto Rican authorities reached out to the sheriff's office about an escaped prisoner possibly living in Lee County.
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The sheriff's office said the Puerto Rico Department of Justice believed Milla-Valdes was hiding under the name Luis Aguirre, who also had criminal history under that name to include robbery and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon in Monroe County.
Lee County jail records list a 2023 arrest under Aguirre's name with a fraudulent date of birth on charges of failure to appear for a misdemeanor offense, a moving traffic violation and a parole violation.
The arrest under Aguirre's name shows a March 16, 1963, date of birth while the latest arrest lists it as May 22, 1961.
The Lee County Sheriff's Office's Fugitive Warrants Unit obtained Milla-Valdes' original 1986 fingerprints from Puerto Rico and a set from his criminal history in Monroe County, they announced in a news release posted to their Facebook page.
Authorities said they matched the prints and confirmed that Aguirre and Milla-Valdes was the same individual who had escaped.
Two hours after the positive identification, authorities located Milla-Valdes in Fort Myers Shores.
Milla-Valdes remained in custody Saturday morning on $10,000 bond facing an out-of-county warrant.
Tomas Rodriguez is a Breaking/Live News Reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. You can reach Tomas at TRodriguez@gannett.com or 772-333-5501. Connect with him on Threads @tomasfrobeltran, Instagram @tomasfrobeltran, Facebook @tomasrodrigueznews and Bluesky @tomasfrodriguez.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Lee sheriff arrests fugitive who escaped Puerto Rico jail in 1987
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