Northlake police close 16-year-old murder case after fugitive’s death in Mexico

NORTHLAKE, Ill. (WGN) — Police in Northlake announced the closure of a more than a decade-old cold case, upon learning that a fugitive sought in the July 2009 murder of a 17-year-old boy has since died.

According to Northlake police, agents with the FBI’s Chicago Violent Crimes Task Force confirmed the death of Oscar Ocampo, wanted in connection with Eric Navarro’s death.

Authorities say Ocampo died in October 2021.

Law enforcement officials believe Ocampo likely fled Illinois after being charged in Cook County Circuit Court with first-degree murder. Police reports suggested that Ocampo planned to escape to Mexico to avoid apprehension.

On Wednesday, Northlake Police Chief Ken Beres confirmed that Ocampo was killed in Mexico, thus closing the 16-year-old open homicide case of Navarro.

“Without the vast law enforcement assistance by the Chicago Police Department and the FBI, this case would have remained open, and the Navarro family may have never had closure,” Beres said.

The Chicago Tribune reported that Navarro was beaten and strangled to death in a Northlake-area apartment in the 5800 block of North Avenue the evening of July 7, 2009. The suspects then hid his body, moved it to a garbage bin in Chicago, and later set it on fire.

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According to the newspaper, Navarro was lured to a Northlake apartment and slain over a $15 debt.