Two suspects in death of child captured in Texas

By Donna Swicegood | Statesville R&L

Published: February 23, 2009

Two people sought for murder for the death of a 4-year-old in Alexander County were taken into custody in Longview, Texas Friday.

Kevin Eduardo Videa and Olga Mendez were arrested Friday by authorities in Texas, said Capt. Keith Warren of the Alexander County Sheriff's Office.

The two were charged in October 2008 with murder after the skeletal remains of a 4-year-old child were unearthed in the Little River area of Alexander County. Both had fled North Carolina before the body was located and have been on the run since, Warren said.

Investigators with the sheriff's office have been tracking Videa and Mendez through telephone tolls and other means and the Federal Bureau of Investigation assisted in locating the two.

On Friday, Warren said, the FBI and a SWAT unit comprised of officers with the Longview Police Department and Gregg County Sheriff's Office arrested the pair at a home in Longview.

They are being held in the Gregg County Detention Center pending an extradition hearing which should occur Monday or Tuesday/ Once the extradition is finalized, then Alexander County authorities plan to obtain the assistance of North Carolina Extradition Unit to return the suspects to the state.

Longview is located in Northeast Texas, near the Louisiana border.