Porfirio Duarte-Herrera
A medium-security inmate convicted of a pipe bomb explosion on the Las Vegas Strip who was discovered missing from a correctional facility Tuesday morning has been unaccounted for since Friday evening, the Department of Corrections stated in a release.
Porfirio Duarte-Herrara, 42, was found missing from the Southern Desert Correctional Center in Indian Springs around 7 a.m. Tuesday, and escape procedures were initiated about 8 a.m., according to the corrections center.
“My office later learned that upon further investigation by the NDOC the inmate has been missing since early in the weekend,” Gov. Steve Sisolak said in a separate statement. “This is unacceptable.”
Local, state and federal law enforcement officials are aiding the effort to locate Duarte-Herrera, and a retake warrant has been issued, according to the corrections department.
Duarte-Herrara has been serving a life sentence for murder with use of a deadly weapon since Feb. 18, 2010. He and co-defendant Omar Rueda-Denvers were both found guilty of killing 24-year-old Willebaldo Dorantes Antonio through the detonation of a pipe bomb on May 7, 2007, on the roof of the Luxor parking garage.
Dorantes Antonio’s girlfriend, Caren Chali, was near the explosion but was not hurt, authorities said. Prosecutors said at trial that Chali was Rueda-Denvers’ ex-girlfriend, and he wanted revenge on her and her new boyfriend.
Rueda-Denvers and Duarte-Herrara hid the bomb, which had a motion-activated trigger, in a 24-ounce Styrofoam coffee cup they placed on Dorantes Antonio’s car, authorities said.
Sisolak said his office has ordered the Department of Corrections to conduct a thorough investigation as quickly as possible, and that the department continues to work with law enforcement officials to locate Duarte-Herrara.
“This kind of security lapse cannot be permitted and those responsible will be held accountable,” Sisolak said in the statement.