Arthur Lopez Jr.
Real Name: Arthur Lopez Jr.
Aliases: Red Ryder, Junior
Wanted For: Murder, Distribution of Cocaine
Missing Since: December 1999
Case
Details: In the 1990s, the Lopez family operated a drug ring that distributed large quantities of marijuana and cocaine on the southside of Milwaukee. The drug ring was a highly lucrative and dangerous family business. The gang owned seven properties in a two-mile radius with high security systems for ideal drug-dealing locations. Allegedly, the gang's principal enforcer and hit man was twenty-year-old Arthur Lopez, Jr.
Former rival Carlos Hernandez was once a member of the Latin Kings but had left the gang and turned his life around. He started a youth basketball organization and got a job with a city organization helping to keep children out of gangs. Part of it was to try to mediate the problems between the rival gangs in the city. The Lopez gang went to Carlos about a territorial dispute with the Latin Kings.
Authorities believe that Carlos was unable to resolve the issue, so Arthur Lopez and several relatives surrounded the building where he worked. When he left work at around 4:30pm on January 25, 1999, authorities say that Lopez put a mask on and rode his bike to Carlos' car. He then shot him eight times, killing him instantly.
Though police had little evidence linking Arthur to the murder, he was later arrested for driving without a license. His father, Arthur Arturo Sr., went to the police station and demanded that they release him, or he would kill all of the police officers there. Arturo was convicted for threatening a police officer and was sentenced to eighteen months in prison. While there, he made several phone calls to Arthur and other relatives about the drug ring. The calls were recorded by the police and a case was beginning to be made against the Lopez gang.
Meanwhile, Latin Kings member Maximillano Castillo and his girlfriend, Vanessa Rivas, were walking home from the grocery store on August 11, 1999, when a car began following them, driven by Arthur. As they arrived home, thy couple were shot several times by Arthur and his accomplice, Luis Acevedo. Both Vanessa, an innocent victim who had just celebrated her fifteenth birthday, and Maximillano were killed.
Within a few months, arrest warrants were placed for several Lopez gang members because of Arturo's phone calls and eyewitnesses. On December 15, 1999, eight members of the Lopez gang were arrested, but Arthur is still at large.
Extra Notes:
- This case first aired on the August 14, 2001 episode.
- Lopez was also profiled on America's Most Wanted.
Results: Captured. While on the run, Arthur taunted U.S. investigators, calling them and claiming that he would never be caught. In November 2010, he was arrested in Mexico after an anonymous tip lead authorities to Monterrey, where he surrendered to the U.S. consulate. He was using the alias "Roberto Gonzalez-Orozco". In 2012, he was sentenced to forty years in prison as part of a plea deal. He will not be eligible for parole until 2045.
Links:
- Arthur Lopez Jr. on Unsolved.com
- Arthur Lopez Jr. on the AMW website
- WANTED: Arthur Lopez Jr. for Triple Murder, Drug Trafficking - December 15, 2008
- Milwaukee fugitive wanted in 3 homicides arrested in Mexico
- Fugitive who taunted U.S. captured in Mexico - November 17, 2010
- Plea deal leads to 40-year sentence for south side gang member - June 26, 2012
- How Arthur Lopez Jr. eluded authorities for a decade - January 13, 2022