Man wanted in connection to 2021 Edinburg murder arrested during traffic stop

HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A man wanted in connection with a deadly rural Edinburg shooting in 2021 was arrested Wednesday.

Jorge Havier Vasquez was arrested by the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office during a traffic stop.

Vasquez is accused of killing 27-year-old Santana Tapia Jaimes and had an active warrant out in connection to the case.

The Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office says that Jaimes was killed in Edinburg on March 6, 2021, while he was sitting in a Dodge Ram truck with another man, identified as Alejandro Valdez-Resendez.

Investigators say Jaimes had a gunshot wound to his chest. It is not known at this time how Jaimes was killed.

Photo courtesy of the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office

Jaimes' body was located inside the cargo area of a Ford Expedition and wrapped in trash bags at Valdez-Resendez's workplace, Garza Auto Sales. Investigators were able to track it down by using the victim's phone to this location, according to the news release.

Valdez-Resendez has a warrant out for his arrest for a charge of tampering with evidence in connection with this case and is believed to be in Mexico after allegedly disposing of the body.

Authorities say Valdez-Resendez was the last person who had the body in his truck. His truck, a Dodge Ram, was recovered with large amounts of blood in the passenger seat, according to the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office.

Vasquez is scheduled to be arraigned at 2 p.m. on Thursday.

A livestream of the arraignment will be available in this article.

Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to contact the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office at (956) 383-8114 or the Hidalgo County Crime Stoppers Hotline at (956) 668-8477.