Suspect in killing of CJC market data engineer captured

The primary suspect in the killing of Sandra Villena, a 32-year-old market data engineer at CJC, was arrested in Peru in December, ending a years-long search for him.

In October 2022, Villena had been vacationing her then-boyfriend, Vicente Rosales, at a resort in Ecuador, where it is suspected that he killed her before fleeing the country. On Thursday, authorities in Lima approved the extradition order to have Rosales tried in Ecuador, where he is charged with femicide.

In 2023, WatersTechnology spoke to Villena’s family and friends about her legacy and their pursuit of justice for her. They remembered her as outgoing and bold, driven and deeply kind. In her memory, WatersTechnology created the Sandra Villena Unsung Heroine Award, now a category part of our annual Women in Technology and Data Awards series.

I think she smiles knowing that the friends she loves most are the same ones who stood up for her justice.

Carlos Martinez, friend of Sandra Villena

Villena had been a citizen of Peru and the United States, receiving an economics degree from Baruch College in New York before beginning her career at Broadridge in 2016 and then CJC in 2017.

Speaking through a translator, Santiago Escobar, the lead attorney for Villena’s family, said he and his team at Escobar Associated Lawyers will strive to ensure the criminal tribunal imposes the maximum penalty for the offense: approximately 34 years in prison.

“We are confident that the Ecuadorian judges will deliver justice in a case that has shaken not only Montañita but all of Ecuador. When we took on the case, we found that the prosecutor lacked sufficient evidence to bring a firm indictment; consequently, upon joining the prosecution, we were able to secure additional evidence that leaves no doubt regarding Vicente Michael Palomino Rosales’s involvement in the crime committed against Sandra. … We are confident that the prosecutor now possesses a solid case and that we will secure a conviction against [Rosales],” Escobar said in a statement to WatersTechnology.

International manhunt

The search for and arrest of Rosales involved a private investigator hired by Villena’s family, a concerned citizen, and leadership from Edgar Augusto Reina of the Division of Intelligence Against Transnational Crime, under the Directorate of International Affairs of the National Police of Peru.

Rosales was arrested two days before Christmas in an operation that involved cooperation from multiple international law enforcement agencies. 

In the summer of 2023, Escobar began seeking a Red Notice from Interpol, which requests that law enforcement worldwide help in efforts to locate and provisionally arrest a wanted person. After working with Ecuador’s attorney general to make the case for submitting a Red Notice request to Interpol, he received the approval for the Red Notice to be issued by the international police organization on August 4 that year.

He was next seen November 13, 2025, on the outskirts of Piura, Peru, said officer Reina through a translator. Rosales was in the process of having a distinctive tattoo removed, had gained weight, successfully applied for a new identification card, had worn hats or wigs to cover his face, and was being hidden at a property bought by his uncle since he managed to re-enter Peru, according to Reina.

Though Villena was a US citizen, the family received no help from the country’s embassy officials and intelligence agencies. Carlos Martinez, a close friend of Villena and her family, made numerous attempts to reach the Federal Bureau of Investigation, including several calls to its Miami field office. 

“I was extremely disappointed by the lack of interest expressed by US agencies and officials. I remember one agent mentioning during one of my calls that Sandra’s case was under Interpol’s jurisdiction, and help would only be available if we had precise information about his location. We did not have a lot of details about his whereabouts in the three to four months following Sandra’s passing,” Martinez said. 

In the course of reporting on Villena in 2023, the FBI did not return WatersTechnology’s requests for comment. 

At the time, WT spoke to Dorchen Leidholdt, founder of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women NGO and director of the Center for Battered Women’s Legal Services at the Sanctuary for Families in New York City, about the usual role that US authorities play when American citizens are killed abroad. 

Leidholdt said the FBI typically opens its own investigation, while the State Department provides consular assistance to the victim’s family members. A State Department official confirmed the death of a US citizen in Ecuador in October 2022 and said it was “closely monitoring local authorities’ investigations.” It is not clear whether the FBI ever assigned a case number to the matter.

Contacted again last week, an FBI spokesperson said: “Without commenting on the specific incident that you referenced, the FBI does not have jurisdiction in all matters involving the death of an American abroad.”

Data released last year by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes and UN Women shows that at least 137 women and girls were killed by intimate partners or family members every day of 2024 globally. Put another way, that’s 50,000 out 83,000 women and girls who were intentionally killed that year. Due to inconsistencies in data availability at the country level, the actual numbers are likely higher.

The Americas and Oceania also recorded high rates of intimate partner- or family-related femicide in 2024, (at 1.5 and 1.4 per 100,000 respectively), while the rates were significantly lower in Asia and Europe (at 0.7 and 0.5 per 100,000 respectively).

“We stand strong with Sandra’s family as this case moves forward to the criminal tribunal in Ecuador. We are confident that Santiago [Escobar] will fight for her and ensure the maximum penalty and full accountability are served,” Martinez said. “I think she smiles knowing that the friends she loves most are the same ones who stood up for her justice.”