Family seeks help in finding suspects in death of Lesly Palacio
Seven days after a 22-year-old Las Vegas woman was found dead in the desert, the family has asked the community to help find the men suspected in her death.
Family members lit candles spelling out “Lesly” with a heart on the sidewalk corner outside their home on Wednesday night before a press conference. They held up posters and asked for the two men — Erick Rangel-Ibarra, 25, and his father, Jose Rangel, 45 — to be found.
Aracely Palacio, the mother of Lesly Palacio, stood between her cousin and the family’s lawyer, Ofelia Markarian.
Markarian said the family is grateful to the Metropolitan Police Department for its assistance in the investigation, but the family is asking for the public’s support.
“We do not know who the next victim is going to be,” she said.
Lesly Palacio was found dead near Valley of Fire State Park on Sept. 9, 11 days after she was last seen outside the Longhorn hotel-casino, less than 2 miles from her mother’s home.
A warrant was issued for Rangel-Ibarra on charges of open murder and destroying/concealing evidence. Rangel is sought on charges of destroying/concealing evidence and harboring, concealing or aiding a felony offender.
Palacio’s family said previously that Rangel-Ibarra was a family friend and that he went to get drinks with Lesly Palacio on the night she was last seen, Aug. 29.
“I’m very thankful to Metro for finding my daughter,” Aracely Palacio said in Spanish amid tears. “I need the police to help me please … I need justice for my daughter.”
The Clark County coroner’s office has not released Palacio’s cause and manner of death.
“We ask for Metro and all law enforcement to help us because these suspects are out there, and they pose a major threat to the community,” Markarian said.
The family is planning a protest to raise awareness about the death outside the Longhorn at 5 p.m. Friday.
Anyone with information on the suspects is asked to call Metro’s homicide section at 702-828-3521 or Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555 to remain anonymous.
Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.
