Pablo Pinto Mata

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department (CA)

Missing From:

Valinda, California

Reward:

up to $1,000

via Los Angeles Regional Crime Stoppers

Not from STC, Conditions and restrictions apply

Summary:

Pablo Pinto Mata is wanted for the homicide of 40-year-old Maria Delrefugio Chavez, and for several child sex crimes.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Offense:

Maria was reported as a missing person in 2009. She had sent a text to a friend saying that she was in trouble and might be in danger. She was never heard from again. In 2015, investigators determined that Pablo allegedly murdered Maria and buried her remains in the backyard of a home. A search of that backyard did find Maria’s remains. At the time that Maria’s remains were discovered, Pablo had also been charged with several sex crimes. The allegations included the molestation of his own step-daughter, and the rape of a 16-year-old girl during a “healing ritual”. In 2015, the criminal complaint consisting of Pablo’s sex crime charges was amended to include the PC 187 (murder) charge for Maria’s homicide. It is believed that Pablo fled to El Salvador and a federal Unlawful Flight To Avoid Prosecution (UFAP) warrant was also issued. As of this posting, Pablo’s case in Los Angeles County’s court records case has no disposition and no updates to the proceedings or custody status since the charges were amended in 2015. The UFAP warrant is also still active in PACER. This unfortunately confirms that Pablo is still at large.

Additional Details:

Anyone with information on Pablo’s whereabouts should contact Los Angeles Regional Crime Stoppers at https://www.lacrimestoppers.org/how-it-works Pablo should be considered extremely dangerous. Please consider sharing this so that there can be justice and answers in this horrific case.

Case Last Updated:

May 06, 2025