TACOMA – Following up on a murder that happened in our area earlier this year, a 23-year-old Renton man made his first appearance Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma on a charge of second degree murder for the February beating death of a 21-year-old woman who’s body was found in Olympic National Forest.
The victim, a resident of California, went to Seattle to meet up with Alejandro Rojas. The two then traveled to Sequim on February 10.
According to the criminal complaint, Rojas was having a relationship with the victim which he was hiding from his wife and family.
A friend of the victim reported her missing to law enforcement when she didn’t contact them after February 10. The victim’s body was found off a logging road in Olympic National Forest on February 14. There were signs she had been beaten and stabbed.
Law enforcement reviewed surveillance video at a Sequim convenience store and determined the woman and a man, later identified as Rojas, had visited the store.
While being interviewed by law enforcement, Rojas made a number of conflicting statements about his relationship with the victim and what had happened. He was booked into Clallam County Corrections where he remained until being taken into federal custody.
Because the murder occurred on federal land in the Olympic National Forest, the case is being prosecuted in federal court, and is being investigated by the FBI and the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office.