Updated on: March 17, 2026 / 2:15 AM EDT / CBS Sacramento
Authorities have arrested a suspect in the cold-case disappearance of California teenager Victoria Marquina. Joshua Anthony Martinez, who was first arrested in connection with the Amador County girl’s disappearance in October 2019 and later released, has been rearrested, the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office confirmed Monday.
According to the jail booking log, Martinez is charged with murder and several alleged sex crimes involving a minor. He was indicted in San Joaquin County court and is being held without bail.
San Joaquin County District Attorney Ron Freitas, speaking outside the courthouse, said he met Marquina’s mother soon after taking office and that the case has weighed heavily on him. “I met Victoria’s mom shortly after taking office and she told me her heartbreak and not knowing where her daughter was and not having the person that killed her being held accountable,” Freitas said. “And it’s weighed heavily on me and it’s one of the things that I’ve thought about almost every single day since taking office.”
The Amador County District Attorney’s Office said Martinez, who was 21 at the time of Marquina’s disappearance, was in an unlawful dating relationship with the 16-year-old and had previously admitted to authorities that he dropped her off in Sutter Creek. Prosecutors have said Martinez fled to Mexico shortly after Marquina vanished and was later extradited back to the U.S. before his initial arrest.
Marquina’s body has not been found, but her vehicle and cellphone were located in San Joaquin County soon after she disappeared. Her mother, Blance Valencia, told CBS News Sacramento she imagined what her daughter’s life might have been: “I think that by now she would be graduated, received, and would be a fulfilled woman. She had many dreams. Many dreams. Unfortunately, someone cut us off. But I still have faith, I still have hope that she will return home.”
At the time of Martinez’s first arrest, the sheriff’s office said it had circumstantial evidence indicating he killed Marquina. Valencia urged anyone with information to come forward: “If you know something, if you heard something, if you know where my daughter is, please communicate.”
In 2025, the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office formed a new cold case task force to focus on cases like Marquina’s. Earlier this year the Amador County DA authorized prosecutions in San Joaquin County under jurisdictional laws allowing multi-county cases to be tried there. The matter was presented to a Stockton criminal grand jury, which returned a true bill of indictment.