Man Wanted for 2004 Pryor Creek Murder Is Now One of Oklahoma Attorney General's Most Wanted Fugitives | News

PRYOR CREEK, Okla. – A man wanted in a nearly 20-year-old murder case is now one of the Oklahoma Attorney General's most wanted fugitives.

The Attorney General's Office worked with U.S. Marshals and state, local and regional law enforcement agencies to compile the list.

Now Pryor police hope this will be a step toward finally putting their suspect behind bars.

FOX23 sat down with one of the lead investigators on the case.

Former Deputy Chief Derek Melton worked as a detective on this case nearly 20 years ago, but the images from that day still haunt him.

He hopes that with this list justice can finally be served.

“You don’t forget the bigger picture. You don't forget the family you interviewed through tears. You don't forget the father crying over his daughter's death, and you don't forget finding a young lady brutally murdered. “You are a home in your community,” Melton said.

On October 23, 2004, Pryor police responded to an unimaginable tragedy on a quiet street in Pryor Creek.

“I went into the house and found the young lady. She had died. You know, we checked the pulse and there was none. In fact, she had been gone for a while,” Melton said.

Police said Alfonso Mondragon brutally murdered his ex-girlfriend Shelley Huffman.

Witnesses said he was abusive throughout their relationship.

“Mondragon had hit her in the head and killed her. There was blood and so he had tried to flee the scene, but before he did so he changed into clean clothes. But he didn't know what to do with the bloody clothes so he threw them in the attic,” Melton said.

Melton was the one who found these clothes, but Mondragon himself was never found.

Melton and other investigators believe he fled to Mexico and possibly the Mexico City area.

Now, all these years later, Melton said he is confident of seeing Mondragon's name on the attorney general's new most wanted list.

“I'm grateful that this case isn't sitting in a file somewhere, in peace, but there is some activity. There's some work going on, there's some consideration being given to arresting this guy and bringing him to justice,” Melton said.

Melton said justice must be served for both the family, the community and the detectives who worked the case and the case must be closed.

“Maybe, just maybe, we can shed some light and find out where Mondragon is, locate him, have him arrested and imprisoned. That's where he belongs. He is an animal. He needs to be locked up. That's him.” “A violent animal. I just hope he doesn’t do this to another innocent person again,” Melton said.

The Attorney General's Office is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading directly to his arrest.

If you have information about Mondragon's whereabouts or information that could lead to his arrest, you can email the Attorney General's hotline at [email protected].

Click here to view the Attorney General's Most Wanted list.