A Pennsylvania man accused of killing his girlfriend after she decided to end their relationship and then fleeing to Honduras has been arrested. The man allegedly posed as the woman in text messages before authorities took him into custody several months after her death, according to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office.
Darwin David Espinal-Del Cid, 27, was arrested Aug. 17, 2026, in Pespire, Honduras, after an international manhunt. Honduran agents with the Technical Agency for Criminal Investigation, working with the FBI, took him into custody.
Espinal-Del Cid remains held in Tegucigalpa while he awaits extradition to Bucks County, according to prosecutors. He faces charges of criminal homicide, possession of an instrument of crime, theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception, and abuse of a corpse.
The investigation began months earlier.
The case began with the March death of 23-year-old Maria Bernarda Popol Garcia, who lived with Espinal-Del Cid in Telford, Pennsylvania. According to the DA’s office, Popol Garcia had been preparing to leave the relationship. On March 6, she told a co-worker that she planned to move out and began taking her belongings to another apartment.
The man wanted for brutally stabbing and killing his girlfriend in Telford earlier this year was tracked down and taken into custody in Honduras over the weekend.https://t.co/rnvMYbwKoF
— KYW Newsradio – NOW ON 103.9 FM! (@KYWNewsradio) August 17, 2026
Prosecutors allege that Popol Garcia and Espinal-Del Cid argued while traveling in a rideshare vehicle shortly before midnight. The couple then returned to their North Main Street apartment, where she planned to collect more belongings, according to the DA’s account.
Neighbors reported hearing a loud argument inside the apartment during the early morning hours of March 7. Prosecutors identified that argument as the last known time Popol Garcia was alive.
Authorities allege Espinal-Del Cid attacked Popol Garcia with an edged weapon and slashed her throat. Investigators say he then moved her body into a bedroom closet, wrapped it in a blanket, and covered it with clothing.
An autopsy determined that Popol Garcia died from injuries caused by an edged cutting weapon. Authorities classified the death as a homicide, the DA’s office said. The investigation did not begin until March 13.
At that time, Popol Garcia’s family reported her missing to police in Palisades Park, New Jersey. Her relatives told investigators that she lived in Telford with Espinal-Del Cid.
Telford Borough police went to the couple’s residence but received no answer. Officers returned the following day and found Popol Garcia’s body inside a bedroom closet, according to prosecutors.
Espinal-Del Cid is accused of stealing the victim’s phone and cash.
Investigators allege Espinal-Del Cid took Popol Garcia’s Android phone and $400 in cash after her death. The DA’s office also alleges that he used her phone to send text messages while posing as Popol Garcia, creating the appearance that she remained alive.
Financial and flight records showed that Espinal-Del Cid purchased a one-way ticket to Honduras and left the United States on March 9, according to prosecutors. The arrest followed cooperation among U.S. and Honduran authorities. “Distance will not offer refuge” to those accused of violence in the community, Bucks County District Attorney Joe Khan told the press.
