Wheat Ridge police arrested two teenagers Tuesday who are wanted in the stabbing death of the wife of a federal prosecutor from western Missouri.
One of the teenagers is the son of Pamela Marquez, who was found stabbed to death in her Grain Valley, Mo., home Saturday.
The two were arrested at 11 a.m. at a restaurant at the Rodeway Inn and Suites in Wheat Ridge after a man at a truck stop across the street recognized them, police spokeswoman Lisa Stigall said.
The two teens, whose names weren’t released because they are juveniles, are being held at the Mount View Youth Service Center in Lakewood, Stigall said.
Pamela Marquez was stabbed to death in the bedroom area of her home, said Grain Valley Police Chief Aaron Ambrose.
In the knife attack, the woman’s husband, Joseph Marquez, suffered a cut to his face. He is an assistant U.S. attorney in the Western District of Missouri and a former Jackson County assistant prosecutor.
“Thank goodness they were picked up,” Ambrose said Tuesday afternoon. “We’re working on getting them back.”
The motive for the murder is unclear, Ambrose said. A car was stolen, but no other family possessions were taken.
An Arvada man who often drinks coffee at the truck stop at Interstate 70 and Ward Road spoke with the teens about cars on Monday evening, Stigall said.
The boys asked the man for a ride, but he declined, she said.
The man, who has not been identified, recognized their pictures in a newspaper article Tuesday while at the same truck stop, Stigall said.
While he was reading the article, he saw the boys walking toward the Rodeway Inn, she said. He called police and the boys were arrested while they were eating breakfast.
On Sunday, a Burlington convenience store clerk overheard two teens saying they were heading to Denver. Burlington Police Chief Randy Millburn said it was likely they were picked up by another driver.
On Monday, police found an abandoned car on Interstate 70 about 5 miles west of the Kansas state line that they believe was stolen after Marquez was killed.
Pamela Marquez worked in the Blue Springs, Mo., school district for nine years in a before- and after-school program for elementary students. For the last four years, she had coordinated the program at Thomas Ultican Elementary School in Blue Springs, where she was well-liked by her co-workers.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-820-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
