The Benton County Sheriff’s Office announced Thursday that it has apprehended two suspects in connection with a shooting incident that occurred last weekend.
Julia Dell Yepez, 20, of Salem, was arrested Tuesday in Salem on multiple charges, including attempted murder. Alexa Montano Corral, 20, of Salem, was taken into custody Thursday.
Investigators believe the suspects used the Chispa dating app to lure the victim into meeting with the intent of stealing from him, BCSO reported. Yepez and Corral are also suspects in a nearby county involving similar criminal activity.
BCSO was dispatched to the scene of the incident when a 911 call came in at 5:30 a.m. May 17 with information that someone had been shot in a vehicle near Highway 99W and Lakeside Drive south of Corvallis.
Initial reports indicated that a short Hispanic female with long hair and wearing a long-sleeve black shirt shot a male in the vehicle. She was last seen fleeing the scene on foot with another Hispanic female, heading south of Lakeside Drive and north of the city of Monroe.
The man involved in the incident is recovering from non-life-threatening gunshot wounds, BCSO said.
BCSO urges the public to exercise caution when meeting individuals from dating apps — always meet in public and “never isolate yourself until you are certain of the other person’s intentions.”
Investigators are asking anyone that has had contact with either individual for the sake of online dating to contact BCSO via email at BentonCoSheriff@bentoncountyor.gov or anonymously by calling 541-573-8477 (TIPS).
BCSO thanks several agencies for their assistance with the investigation — Salem Police Department, Corvallis Police Department, Philomath Police Department, Corvallis Fire Department, Linn County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Marshal’s Office.