EAGLE PASS, Texas — Eagle Pass Police Department officers assigned to the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force arrested an El Paso woman at the Camino Real Port of Entry on Thursday. Authorities say the suspect, 29-year-old Melanie Christine Cuellar, had been sought in connection with a deadly 2025 hit-and-run accident.
A warrant was issued by police in El Paso, Texas, after authorities located a vehicle belonging to Cuellar that is believed to have struck 77-year-old Maria Lopez in South-Central El Paso in July 2025. According to police, the victim was a pedestrian attempting to cross Alameda Avenue when she was struck and killed.
According to a report by KTSM News, Cuellar was identified as the main suspect in the fatal crash and had been featured as a “Most Wanted” fugitive on the station’s platform in August 2025. According to the El Paso Police Department, Cuellar, the suspected driver of a light-colored SUV, failed to stop and struck the victim, who died at the scene. Authorities said the driver fled the scene and failed to render aid.
The family of the victim solicited assistance to cover funeral expenses in a “GoFundMe” campaign at the time of the accident, noting she left behind two children and three grandchildren.
The victim’s family issued a plea for help from the public in locating the suspect on social media at the time, to no avail. Viviana Lopez appeared in a video posted to Instagram at the time, saying, “We just buried my mother. I say buried, because she is not at rest. She will rest when we catch the driver. She’s hiding, and I need your help to find her; she has been on the run.”
Cuellar was finally located and apprehended after more than a year on the run by a network of law enforcement agencies assisting the United States Marshals Service (USMS) through the agency’s task force system. The USMS currently leads 58 local fugitive task forces across the country. Funding for these task forces, which allow local and state law enforcement agencies to help locate and arrest fugitives, comes from initiatives such as the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), and Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) task forces.
Cuellar is being held at the Tom Bowles Detention Center in Eagle Pass on the active warrant for Collision Involving Death. According to authorities, she will remain in custody pending extradition proceedings to El Paso to face charges contained in the warrant.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Before his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.
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