Jesus Joel Romero

Jesus Joel Romero, a 32-year-old Hispanic man, was a resident of Point Arena, a small, remote city on the Mendocino County coast of California. His life was cut short in a violent encounter that unfolded in the final hours of a weekend in September 2023, leaving a community in shock and his case a complex, multi-year investigation.

In the pre-dawn hours of Sunday, September 24, 2023, the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office received a distressing call at 2:08 a.m. A relative of Jesus Romero reported that he had been physically assaulted hours earlier at a bar in Point Arena. Deputies immediately began a search for Romero. They did not find him at the bar, but on Ten Mile Cut Off Road, a significant distance away. He was pronounced deceased at the scene.

Investigators from the Sheriff's Office, the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office, and the California Department of Justice were summoned. The condition of Romero's body led them to believe he was the victim of a homicide. A subsequent forensic autopsy confirmed that he had died from multiple gunshot wounds. The investigation quickly pointed toward two men from the nearby town of Gualala as persons of interest.

On the evening of September 24, the same day Romero's body was found, one of the men, 23-year-old Antonio Coria Garcia, contacted sheriff's detectives and turned himself in. After an interview, detectives established probable cause and arrested him on suspicion of murder. He was booked into the Mendocino County Jail, with his bail initially set at $550,000.

The second suspect was identified two days later as 44-year-old Edgar Arteaga Coria, also from Gualala. Authorities released a description of him, noting he was approximately 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighed between 160 and 170 pounds, and had distinctive tattoos on his neck, including the name "Arteaga" on the back. Believing he had fled the county, the Sheriff's Office warned that he should be considered armed and dangerous. They also appealed to the public for any security camera footage from Old Stage Road between Ten Mile Cutoff and Highway 1 in Gualala from the night of the murder.

For more than a year, Edgar Arteaga Coria remained a fugitive. The manhunt extended far beyond Mendocino County. In January 2025, investigators received a crucial tip from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) that Coria was possibly living in the Los Angeles area under the alias Jaime Baltazar Ramirez and was a suspect in a local burglary case. This information prompted a multi-agency effort involving the FBI, which worked with the LAPD for three months to confirm his identity and pinpoint his location.

On March 19, 2025, the extensive search came to an end. Investigators in Los Angeles conducted a traffic stop and took Edgar Arteaga Coria into custody. He was positively identified and arrested on the outstanding felony homicide warrant from Mendocino County. The following day, he was transported back and booked into the Mendocino County Jail. He faced charges of murder and felony bodily injury with a firearm, with his bail set at $1,000,000. As of March 2025, both suspects were in custody, and the case was proceeding through the legal system. Anyone with information about the case is encouraged to contact the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office at 707-463-4086.