A man who escaped from a Puerto Rican prison almost 40 years ago has been arrested in southwestern Florida, authorities said. The fugitive, Jorge Milla-Valdes, was living in Fort Myers under the name Luis Aguirre, according to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.ย
Deputies caught Milla-Valdes by analyzing his fingerprints, the sheriff’s office said Friday in a social media post. They compared an original set of prints taken in Puerto Rico in 1986, the year before Milla-Valdes fled incarceration, with another set collected by authorities in South Florida’s Monroe County, near the Everglades, where “Luis Aguirre” apparently had a criminal history. His record in Monroe County included robbery and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, according to the Lee County sheriff.
The analysis confirmed both prints were a match within 15 minutes, the office said. The Puerto Rico Department of Justice had previously tipped off Lee County law enforcement to the escaped prisoner’s possible whereabouts in Fort Myers, as well as his believed alias. That helped members of the sheriff’s fugitive warrants unit find what they believed to be Milla-Valdes’ residence in the neighborhood Fort Myers Shores.
Milla-Valdes admitted to breaking out of prison and adopting a different name in body camera footage recorded as he was being taken into custody, which the sheriff also shared on social media. Asked by an officer whether he used to go by “Jorge,” Milla-Valdes, while handcuffed, said, “Yeah, years ago. About 40 years ago.” He acknowledged that was around the time he escaped from jail in Puerto Rico, and the officer informed him Puerto Rican authorities had put out a warrant for his arrest.
Puerto Rico authorities reached out to the Lee County Sheriffโs Office about an escaped prisoner possibly living in Lee county.
Jorge Milla-Valdes escaped from a Puerto Rican prison in 1987. The Puerto Rico Department of Justice believed Milla-Valdes was hiding under the name Luis Aguirre, and additionally had criminal history under that name to include Robbery, and Aggravated Battery with a Deadly Weapon in Monroe County.
The LCSO Fugitive Warrants Unit immediately began searching for Milla-Valdes and obtained the original 1986 fingerprints from Puerto Rico, and a set from his criminal history in Monroe County.
Latent Fingerprints Supervisor Tina Carver expedited the fingerprint comparison. 15-minutes later -and using finger prints that were taken over 40 years ago- Supervisor Carver was able to match the prints, and confirm that Aguirre and Milla-Valdes was the same individual who had escaped.
The positive identification was relayed to the Fugitive Warrants Unit, and two hours later Milla-Valdes was located in Ft. Myers Shores and taken into custody.
โThanks to the hard work and determination of my Fugitive Warrants Unit and Latent Fingerprints Supervisor Tina Carver, a positive fingerprint identification was made within MINUTES. My teamโs skill is unmatched at every level; even if your crimes donโt start here in Lee County, I promise, they WILL end here.โ โ Sheriff Carmine Marceno
“My team’s skill is unmatched at every level; even if your crimes don’t start here in Lee County, I promise, they WILL end here,” Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said in a statement.
Emily Mae Czachor is a news editor at CBSNews.com. She typically covers breaking news, extreme weather and issues involving social and criminal justice. Emily Mae previously wrote for outlets like the Los Angeles Times, BuzzFeed and Newsweek.
