Post by Scumhunter on Jun 17, 2014 9:10:04 GMT -5
(Above photo credit: amw.com archives)
Fugitive Profile as of August 15th, 2014 (based on 2013 amw.com archive):
Aliases: Juan DeLarosa, Bobby Vinton, Felipe De Jesus DeLarosa, Juan Reyes DeLarosa, Juan Pasqual DeLarosa, Felipe De Jesus DeLarosa, Roberto Moreno, Juan DeLarosa Reyes, Raul Cruz Salinas, Roy Cruz Salinas, Raul S Cruz, Juan Pasqual DeLarosa Reyes, Juan Reyes, Raul Salinas, Raul Cruz Salinas, Jr.
Sex: Male
Race: Hispanic
Current Age: 42-44
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 135
Hair (Color, Description, Facial Hair): Black
Eyes: Brown
Scars and Tattoos: Scar on his abdomen, Scar on left arm, Scar on upper left arm
Traits and Habits: Talented Horse Exercise Rider, Polite - especially to women, Professional, Unpredictable Drunk, Drinks Bud Light, Generous with his money
Location information: Could be working on any horse farm in America. Sometimes spoke of having ties to Aiken, S.C.
Last Seen: Borden , IN, Wheeler Horse Farm, Scene of the Crime
Other Possible Locations: Mexico, National, Any horse farm in the United States
Last Known Locations: Borden , IN, Wheeler Farm, a Southern Indiana horse farm, where he rented an apartment
Who to call if you've seen him: No police line found in any articles. Try Crime Stoppers USA by clicking on this link: www.tipsubmit.com/WebTips.aspx?AgencyID=512
A Horse Whisperer With A Talent For Getting Into Trouble
Just over the bridge from Louisville, Ky., in the shadow of Churchill Downs’s iconic green spires, the landscape is dotted with the picturesque farms of the sprawling Indiana horse country.
The little brother of Kentucky's horse racing legacy, owners of Indiana farms jockey for the best talent, and hope to rear the next great racehorse.
On Wheeler Farm, in Borden, Ind., Raul Cruz had proven himself as a talented and fearless exercise rider with a magic touch when it comes to dealing with horses.
Cruz, an illegal immigrant, had no fear when it came to horses, making him a sought-after rider in the industry. Insiders told America's Most Wanted that he often made between $500 and $600 a week.
While he had a talent with horses, cops say he had another talent as well: a knack for getting in trouble with the law.
Cruz’s rap sheet spans several years, racking up criminal charges at least six states. From Idaho to Iowa, Oklahoma, Texas, Ohio and Kentucky, if Cruz was in town, the local police department usually knew about it.
Cruz did his best to stay one step ahead of law enforcement, though, using more than 12 aliases, dates of birth and Social Security numbers. Acquaintances told AMW that Cruz, who was born Juan P. Delarosa, can be a Jekyll and Hyde character with a violent temper when he drinks.
Cops Find Few Clues To Identify Victim Of Deadly Beating
On May 25, 2005, Doug Ham, Cruz's neighbor and a trainer on Wheeler Farm, awoke to a strange sound outside of his bedroom window. At first, he shrugged it off, thinking it was some of the animals on the farm,
He went about his morning, feeding the animals and checking the stables. As he was walking back to his house, Doug noticed that his dog was barking more than usual. That’s when he saw a man laying in the field behind his house.
Doug assumed that it was his rowdy neighbor, Raul Cruz, in a drunken stupor, but when he took a closer look, he found a much more ominous scene.
A man was writhing in the grass behind the house. The ground was covered in blood, and the badly-beaten man was bleeding from his ears, eyes and mouth.
The weapon he had been beaten with was in plain view: it was a white bedpost, torn from a bed which had been put out with the trash. Doug tried to calm the young man and called for help.
An air ambulance arrived, but the victim died before he could be taken to the hospital. The man was beaten beyond recognition, and except for three tattoos, cops had little with which to identify him. No one at Wheeler Farm knew who the young man was, and police had a real murder mystery on their hands.
Who was their victim, who was the murderer, and what could have prompted such a brutal attack on such a beautiful farm?
As the medical examiner worked to get a positive ID on the victim, she knew the victim’s tattoos would be very important.
The victim had a dragon tattooed on his leg, a wind catcher inked onto his shoulder, and a woman’s name written on his back.
While the medical examiner and local cops worked to identify the victim, a local family was increasingly concerned for their loved one, who had gone missing.
Cops' Clue: It Was Cruz, With A Bedpost, On Wheeler Farm
Ronald Miller was a lost, troubled soul who, like Raul Cruz, found solace in his work with horses. Ronald had fallen on hard times, but his family says he was ecstatic when he landed a job as a groom at nearby Glenwood Farms.
It was there that Ronald also met Raul Cruz.
When Ronald didn’t return home from work May 25, 2005, his family was worried, and filed a missing persons report with the local police. Cops made a tragic connection; the tattoos Ronald’s brother described matched the tattoos on the unidentified body from Wheeler Farm.
The Millers' worst fear had come true: Ronald had been murdered.
Police now knew the identity of their victim, but they still didn’t know who the killer was.
Because the murder scene was just steps away from Raul Cruz’s apartment, police wanted to question him, but the talented horse rider with a criminal past was nowhere to be found. When police obtained a search warrant, they found an apartment full of personal possessions.
Raul Cruz, they found, had left Wheeler Farm on the night of Ronald Miller’s murder in a hurry.
As the investigation continued, police discovered more disturbing information. Patrons at the local hangout, Hoosier’s bar, told cops that a few days before the murder, a rowdy Cruz complained that he had been robbed.
Cruz told anyone who would listen that his prescription pain and diet pills had been stolen, as well as some money and loose coins. Cruz also asked his neighbor, Doug Ham, if he’d seen anything or anyone suspicious near his apartment.
Doug told Raul that he hadn’t, but Cruz wasn’t satisfied, and he told Doug that if he ever caught the thief who had taken his things, Cruz would smash their face in.
Police have no evidence that Ronald Miller stole anything from Cruz, but their investigation coalesced into one clear conclusion: Raul Cruz, they say, killed Ronald Miller with a bedpost on Wheeler Farm.
From interviews they conducted, police believe that Cruz fled immediately after the murder, and may have made his way to Chicago. When he was first on the run, Cruz told a few acquaintances that he too had been injured in a fight and possibly suffered a broken arm.
Finding Cruz might be as hard as finding a needle in a haystack.
Experts told AMW that it is easy to get “lost” in the world of horse racing. According to friends, Cruz talked about traveling to Minnesota or Aiken, S.C.
When he was living at Wheeler Farm, Cruz had a punching bag hanging off of a tree out back, and he sometimes went a few rounds with it, so it's possible that he still spars with a bag.
Cruz favors Bud Light, doesn’t smoke, and speaks English very well. He sometimes complained of a back injury, and might also complain of an arm injury.
He has scars on his abdomen and left arm. Cruz has most likely created a new name for himself, so now more than ever, police need the help of AMW tipsters to help crack this cold case.
If you know anything about the murder of Ronald Miller, call our Hotline at 1-800-CRIME-TV.
Thoughts? Cruz was aired on September 12th, 2009 and April 10th, 2010 on AMW on Fox. It was a 2-parter, and before we get into that debate of 2-parters versus airing more cases in an episode this was during the last two year era on Fox where virtually every case seemed to be a 2 or 3-parter. Normally I would say Mexico but the fact that Cruz had a specific niche of interest- in horses- makes me think he could still be in the U.S. on a farm somewhere.
Admin Note: If you have any news-related updated information on this case, please contact us here: amwfans.com/thread/1662/website-contact-form
