Police nab suspect in homicide of student

A lot of blood was found in an El Dorado motel room where the suspect had been staying.

EL DORADO, Kan. (AP) — A man suspected in the slaying of a college student who led a secret life as an Internet porn performer was arrested Wednesday in Mexico, authorities said.

Israel Mireles, 24, was arrested on a Butler County homicide warrant in Melchor Muzquiz, Mexico, southwest of Texas. He was being held there pending extradition, U.S. Deputy Marshal Logan Kline said.

Emily Sander, 18, was last seen alive Nov. 23 when she left an El Dorado bar with a man police identified as Mireles.

The disappearance of the Butler Community College student drew nationwide attention after the discovery that she also led a secret life as an Internet pornography model named Zoey Zane.

Her body was found six days later, about 50 miles east of El Dorado, as police traced the route they believed Mireles took to pick up his 16-year-old girlfriend, Victoria Martens, in Baxter Springs.

Mireles became the focus of the investigation after police found large quantities of blood in an El Dorado motel room where he had been staying. Authorities have said that a bedspread that was missing from that motel room was found close to Sander’s body.

Police have not released details about the cause of Sander’s death, but say her Internet activity had no connection to her disappearance.

Kline said he could not comment on the status of Martens, who was seven months pregnant when she left with Mireles.

Sue Martens, Martens’ grandmother in Baxter Springs, said Wednesday that authorities didn’t find her granddaughter, but that she heard from the teen’s mother that she is OK.

“She’s alive and all right, but they didn’t get her,” Sue Martens said. She said she didn’t know how or when Victoria would be returning to Kansas.

Mireles was born in Mexico, where he still has relatives, and has been living in the U.S. legally. A rental car he was driving was found Nov. 27 in Texas, where he also has relatives.