Orlando Tercero, 22, was arrested Tuesday afternoon, four days after the body of Haley Anderson was found by Binghamton Police conducting a wellness check.
The man suspected of killing his 22-year-old ex-girlfriend near SUNY Binghamton, where she was studying nursing, has been arrested in Nicaragua after fleeing the U.S., police said.
Orlando Tercero, 22, was arrested Tuesday afternoon, four days after the body of Haley Anderson, of Westbury, N.Y., was found by Binghamton police officers conducting a wellness check.
Anderson’s body was found at a home near the campus, which was later determined to be Tercero’s residence, police said.
She was last seen alive by her roommates at 4 a.m. Thursday, officials said.
An autopsy determined Anderson’s death was a homicide, but police have not released any further details surrounding the killing.
How and where Tercero was arrested is not immediately clear, but he will be held in a prison in El Chipote, about 40 miles away from Managua, the country’s capital, local news stations reported.
Tercero was initially sought as a person of interest and later declared a suspect when officials discovered he had fled the U.S. on a flight to Nicaragua.
Tercero, who was also a student at the nursing school, apparently holds dual citizenship in both the U.S. and Nicaragua, The Associated Press reported. It is unclear whether Tercero has retained an attorney.
Prosecutors in Broome County, where Anderson’s body was discovered, plan to seek a grand jury indictment against Tercero.
“Though we cannot bring Haley Anderson back, we will fight for justice,” District Attorney Steve Cornwell wrote on his official Facebook page.
Once an indictment is brought against Tercero, a warrant for his arrest will be filed and the U.S. State Department can then make an extradition request with Nicaragua.
There is no formal extradition treaty between the two countries, but Nicaragua has fulfilled such requests in the past.
In 2013, Nicaragua extradited Eric Toth, who had been on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List for producing child pornography. Toth was not a citizen of Nicaragua.
While away at school, Anderson worked as a barista at a café in Binghamton, and as a teacher’s assistant, according to her LinkedIn profile.
"Anyone who knew Haley Anderson knew how her energy lit up every room she walked into, whether it was our lives as her friends or the lives of her patients when she volunteered as a nursing student," a loved one wrote on a GoFundMe page created to offset funeral costs. “Haley's laughter was infectious and her child-like spirit touched all the people around her.”
Others also commented on Anderson’s generosity.
“Thanks Haley for all you gave to us," one person wrote.
Another said: "I hope that in this time of sadness and grieving that her family is able to find some solace knowing how many lives and people that Haley inspired. Without her even knowing it."
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