Vermilion Parish Sheriff's deputies have updated the case of the body found in a canal near Kaplan last month.
Vermilion Parish Sheriff Mike Couvillon says the body has been identified as a homeless man who had been living in Lafayette who died in a shooting. Warrants were issued for two Lafayette men accused of the murder, and they've now been arrested and booked.
The body was found on April 26 by a farmer, floating in a canal south of West Liberty Farm Road.
The autopsy determined he died of gunshot wounds, and he was identified as Hector Velasquez Vargas, 55, who detectives learned had been living near Lafayette.
With the help of Crimefighters of Louisiana and the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office Real Time Crime Center, Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Detectives were able to identify two supsects in the case: Gabriel Alavarez Montoya, 30, Pablo Andrade Fernandez, 64, both of Lafayette.
On Monday, detectives got warrants for both men, accusing them of second-degree murder and obstruction of justice. With the assistance of the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division and Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office SWAT Team, both suspects were located and taken into custody without incident.
They were booked into the Lafayette Parish jail, but will be transfered to the Vermilion Parish Correctional Center.
Sheriff Mike Couvillon would like to thank Sheriff Mark Garber and the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office, along with Crimefighters of Louisiana for their assistance with the current investigation.
