Arrest made in 1997 DuPage murder

A 32-year-old man has been arrested and charged with the 1997 murder of a man in an unincorporated area near Downers Grove, authorities announced Friday.

Jose J. Ortiz, 39, was shot once in the chest about 6:30 a.m. on Dec. 29, 1997, as he left for work from his home on the 1000 block of Saylor Street. Ortiz was walking to his car when someone came from behind the garage and shot him, according to the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office.

Investigators issued a warrant for the arrest of Jose Alfredo Quezada Ruvalcaba, also known as “El Cholo,” in 2008, but it wasn’t until Tuesday that he was taken into custody.

Last month, a man who identified himself as Victor Lopez was arrested by authorities in Kershaw County, S.C., for driving under the influence. His fingerprints were submitted and verified and matched those of Ruvalcaba, authorities said.

DuPage sheriff officials said Ruvalcaba admitted in an interview this week that he waited for Ortiz to come out of his house, then he shot and killed him.

In a 1997 Daily Herald story, neighbors said Ortiz, who was a married father of five, often would leave before dawn and return at dusk from his factory job. Some said they had seen a car parked around the corner from Ortiz’s house on several occasions, and it appeared someone in the car was watching Ortiz’s comings and goings.

A neighbor once even called the police and confronted the stranger.

“I have a feeling it was a setup,” neighbor Beth Oliver said in 1997. “I was told people were watching his routine.”

Ruvalcaba is being held at the Kershaw County Detention Center in Camden, S.C., and will be extradited to the DuPage County Jail.