Prosecutor: Video ties father, son to slaying of Las Vegas woman

A man wanted in the death of a 22-year-old woman whose body was found in rural Clark County and the suspect’s father were indicted by a grand jury on Friday.

Surveillance video showed Erick Rangel-Ibarra, 25, and his father, Jose Rangel, 45, dragging Lesly Palacio’s lifeless body from the younger man’s home on Aug. 29 and placing it into a pickup truck, Chief Deputy District Attorney John Giordani said.

As Rangel left the home, his father stayed and cleaned up, while the younger man called a friend, asking for gas and saying, “I killed a b—-h and I can’t be seen on video surveillance buying gas.”

Palacio’s body was found in Moapa Valley near Valley of Fire State Park in September, according to court records.

Palacio was last seen by family when she went to get drinks with Rangel-Ibarra on the day she was killed.

After the killing, the prosecutor said, the two men fled to Mexico. Jose Rangel later returned and surrendered to U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents at a border crossing in San Diego on Jan. 19, telling authorities that he had been with his son but they had split up.

Within two weeks of Palacio’s disappearance, police identified Rangel-Ibarra as a suspect in her killing, though her cause and manner of death had not been determined as of Friday. Rangel-Ibarra and his father had been reported missing the same day as Palacio.

Investigators found “several spots of blood” inside Rangel-Ibarra’s bedroom, Giordani said.

Chief Judge Linda Bell issued an arrest warrant for Rangel-Ibarra while ordering his father held on $100,000 bail.

Rangel-Ibarra faces a murder charge, while he and his father each face a charge of destroying or concealing evidence.

Police have said Rangel-Ibarra was last seen in a white 2004 Ford F-150 pickup with a Nevada plate of LVN84A.

Rangel-Ibarra is about 5 feet, 6 inches tall, weighs about 173 pounds, and has brown eyes and black hair. He has a tattoo on his ear of California, a tattoo on his chest of a skull, and a tattoo on his left wrist of a “Dragon Ball Z image,” police said.

Anyone with information on the case may contact Metro at 702-828-3521 or, to remain anonymous, Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555.

An earlier version of this article incorrectly described the scene where the victim’s remains were found.

Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.