August 17, 2026
Provided Image/Bucks County DA's Office
Darwin Espinal-Del Cid, 27, has been arrested in Honduras in connection with the killing of Maria Popol Garcia, 23, in Bucks County in March. Popol Garcia, above, was stabbed and left to die in a closet at her Telford apartment before Espinal-Del Cid fled the country, prosecutors said.
A man who allegedly fled the country after killing his ex-girlfriend in Telford has been arrested in Honduras and will soon be extradited to the United States, the Bucks County District Attorney's Office said Monday.
The investigation began March 13 when the family of Maria Popol Garcia, 23, reported her missing on her birthday. Popol Garcia was a Guatemalan citizen who worked at a local grocery store in Telford. Her body was found March 15 inside a closet at an apartment she shared with her boyfriend, Darwin Espinal-Del Cid, 27, authorities said.
Popol Garcia was last seen alive just before midnight on March 6. While taking a rideshare home with Espinal-Del Cid, investigators said Popol Garcia ended their relationship.
When the pair got home, Espinal-Del Cid allegedly used a sharp object to stab Popol Garcia in the neck. He then wrapped her body in a blanket and stuffed her in the closet, leaving her to die from asphyxiation, prosecutors said. Popol Garcia's body was found by a resident at the building on the 100 block of Main Street in Telford.
"This case is a sobering reminder of the danger of domestic violence," Bucks County District Attorney Joe Khan said at a news conference.
Espinal-Del Cid, a Honduran national, allegedly fled Bucks County after the stabbing. He took Popol Garcia's cellphone with him to mislead her family by sending new text messages after her death, authorities said. Financial and flight records show Espinal-Del Cid bought a one-way ticket to Honduras, and he fled the country on March 9.
"He attempted to throw everyone off into thinking that Maria was still alive," Khan said. "He impersonated her using her phone, and so his ruse worked for at least a few days."
Espinal-Del Cid traveled south in the U.S. before making his way to his home country, investigators said. He lived in Honduras for several months while Bucks County authorities and the FBI worked with investigators in Honduras and the Guatemalan consulate.
"This defendant was on the run for many months, and eventually, while he was down there, (he) admitted to having killed Maria," Khan said. "... This was a place where he thought he would be safe, that he could outrun the law."
Khan said police still have not recovered a weapon. Authorities hope the public can assist with the investigation by providing new tips now that Espinal-Del Cid has been identified. Cellphone data was used to track Espinal Del-Cid's movements, but prosecutors declined to say where in Honduras he was taken into custody.
Espinal-Del Cid, is currently being held in Tegucigalpa. When he returns to Bucks County, he will face charges of criminal homicide, possession of an instrument of crime, theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception and abuse of a corpse.
Police are still working to piece together Espinal Del-Cid's actions following Popol Garcia's death.
"While he thought he was smarter than everyone else, the law was catching up to him, and we want the public's help if they have information about his activities or his whereabouts or the things that he said or did during the time period," Khan said.
