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Fugitive Accused of Kidnapping, Raping 13-Year-Old Orange County Girl Arrested in Guatemala

A cross-border investigation led to his capture a week ago following the Dec. 5, 2025 Westminster abduction.

Overview

  • Brian Estuardo Verbena-Martinez, 34, of Anaheim was located in Guatemala and taken into custody last week after a multi-agency search.
  • Prosecutors say Westminster police identified him in the Dec. 5, 2025 case involving a 13-year-old who was abducted and assaulted over several hours in parking lots and at his apartment before being dropped at a friend’s home.
  • Orange County prosecutors filed felony counts including kidnapping to commit a sex offense, forcible rape, sexual penetration of a child under 14 by force, forcible oral copulation of a minor under 14, and multiple lewd acts.
  • If convicted on all charges, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
  • He is a registered sex offender from a 2019 Los Angeles County conviction, and officials credited cooperation among the FBI, DOJ, local agencies and Guatemala’s Policia Nacional Civil/Transnational Anti-Gang Task Force for the arrest.