Mountain Home man accused of his wife’s murder, extradited from Texas, held on $2M bond
A Mountain Home man who was charged with failing to report his wife’s death last month has now been charged with her murder and extradited to Idaho from Texas, where he was arrested.
Daniel Ruiz-Ortiz is in the custody of the Elmore County Sheriff’s Office and remains in the Elmore County Jail on a $2 million bond, according to a news release posted on the city of Mountain Home’s Facebook page on Monday afternoon. He’s accused of killing his estranged wife, Samantha Ruiz, whose body was found at a residence on Bramble Court in Mountain Home on July 28.
Ruiz-Ortiz was arrested in Pecos, Texas, shortly after Ruiz’s body was found. At the time, he was only charged with failure to report a death. His three children were with him when he was stopped by Reeves County sheriff’s deputies. They have since been placed with family members.
On July 29, an autopsy concluded Ruiz was murdered. The cause and manner of her death have not been made public.
Last month, police reported that they found Ruiz’s body after conducting a welfare check when relatives said they hadn’t heard from the family for several days. At the time, the Mountain Home Police Department said it believed the situation could be “a result of domestic violence involving an estranged husband.”
