Camron Lee, a 40-year-old Sacramento man charged with murder, was apprehended in Baja California, Mexico, on May 17 after nearly two years on the run, and the two young children he allegedly took with him have been returned to their family in California.
The FBI Sacramento Field Office, the Sacramento Police Department, and the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office jointly announced the capture on May 19. Lee was found in Primo Tapia, a coastal community south of Tijuana, along with his daughter Athena, 5, and his son Mateo, 4. Both children were reunified with their maternal grandmother, the mother of the woman Lee is accused of killing.
The case traces back to July 8, 2024, when the Sacramento Police Department's Communications Center received a call for service at a residence on Didcot Circle in Sacramento. Officers who responded found Lee's partner, Angelica Bravo, dead inside the home. The children had not been seen since that day.
A trail of charges, and a long disappearance
Within weeks, on July 26, 2024, Lee was charged with four counts of possession of an assault weapon. By August 20, a federal arrest warrant for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution was issued by the United States District Court in the Eastern District of California. The warrant was designed to aid in locating Lee and recovering the children, who had vanished with him.
The Sacramento County Coroner later concluded that homicidal violence could not be ruled out as a potential cause of Bravo's death. That finding led to a murder charge filed against Lee in Sacramento County Superior Court on March 5, 2025.
Lee had been gone for months by then.
On December 23, 2025, the FBI Sacramento Field Office announced rewards for information leading to Lee's identification, arrest, and conviction, as well as the recovery of Athena and Mateo. The bureau described a "nearly six-month campaign", bilingual and disseminated across social media platforms serving communities throughout North America, aimed at generating the one lead investigators needed.
One tip made the difference
FBI Sacramento Special Agent in Charge Sid Patel credited the bureau's reward program and a single tipster with breaking the case open.
"Today's announcement highlights the impact of the FBI's reward program. A single tip brought a fugitive to justice for his alleged crime and reunited a family."
Patel added that the apprehension reflected the FBI's "strong partnership with domestic and international law enforcement to ensure fugitives have nowhere to hide." He thanked both the Bravo family for trusting law enforcement and the anonymous tipster for trusting the FBI.
The list of agencies involved in the operation is long. Mexico's Office of the Attorney General, Mexico's National Institute of Immigration, and elements of the Mexican military all participated. On the American side, the FBI Law Enforcement Attaché Office in Mexico City, the U.S. Consulate General in Tijuana, American Citizen Services, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the U.S. Department of Justice Office of International Affairs all played roles in securing Lee's arrest and getting the children home.
Sacramento officials speak for Angelica Bravo's family
Sacramento Police Chief Zachary Bales framed the arrest as accountability long delayed but finally delivered. His statement was direct:
"Today marks another step forward in the pursuit of justice for Angelica Bravo, her family, and all those impacted by her murder in July 2024. Through the tenacious efforts of the men and women of the Sacramento Police Department, and in close partnership with the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mr. Lee will now be held accountable for his actions."
Bales said the case "sends a clear message that violence will not be tolerated in our community, and those who harm others will be pursued with determination and resolve."
Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho struck a similar note, emphasizing the nearly two-year wait Bravo's family endured.
"Since July 8, 2024, Angelica Bravo's family has been waiting for justice. With the dedicated partnership of the Sacramento Police Department and the FBI, we can announce that Camron Lee is in custody and will face charges for her murder. I'm further glad to announce that the children have now been reunified with Ms. Bravo's family, bringing them profound relief."
Ho called the arrest "a powerful reminder that no matter how much time passes, our resolve to pursue justice and protect our community never fades."
What happens next
Lee's return to the United States is being funded through the federal government's "Project Welcome Home," a program that provides funding to assist in the transportation of federal fugitives back to American soil. The FBI press release notes that all charges against Lee are allegations and that he is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
Several questions remain unanswered. The FBI did not disclose the amount of the reward offered last December, nor did it specify which agency physically took Lee into custody in Primo Tapia. The coroner's finding, that homicidal violence "could not be ruled out" as a cause of death, leaves room for further forensic detail that may emerge at trial. Lee's precise extradition or transfer status following his arrest in Mexico was not addressed in the announcement.
What is clear is the scope of the effort required. A man charged with murder fled the country with two small children and stayed hidden for nearly two years. It took a bilingual public-awareness campaign, an FBI reward, coordination between at least ten American and Mexican agencies, and one anonymous tip to bring him back.
A family's long wait
The heart of this case is not the interagency coordination, impressive as it was. It is a woman named Angelica Bravo, found dead in her Sacramento home on a July day in 2024, and two children, ages three and two at the time, who disappeared with the man now charged with their mother's murder. Those children spent nearly two years in a foreign country, separated from the family that was grieving for them.
They are home now. And the man accused of taking them, and of far worse, is in custody.
Justice delayed is not always justice denied. But nearly two years is a long time for a grandmother to wait to hold her grandchildren again. The system worked. It just took every tool in the toolbox, and one person willing to pick up the phone.
