Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder and assault. Reader discretion is advised.
ID’s See No Evil takes a look at Dioneth Lopez’s murder by Alejandro Rojas with whom she was having a secret affair. The all-new episode titled “Nowhere Girl” will air on the network this Wednesday, January 17, 2024, at 9 p.m. ET.
A synopsis for the upcoming episode reads, “In 2020, 21-year-old Dioneth Lopez goes missing while on a trip to visit friends; her body turns up in the woodlands of Washington State; she is treated as a Jane Doe until detectives find surveillance footage that pieces together her final hour.”
The Seattle Times reported that Lopez, of California, traveled to Seattle to visit Alejandro Rojas, a 23-year-old married man in February 2020. She was having a secret affair with Rojas. Not long after, Lopez’s family reached out to Rojas to learn about her whereabouts but he offered them conflicting information. One of the 21-year-old’s friends then reported her missing.
On February 14, authorities found Lopez’s body in the Olympic National Forest. She had been beaten and stabbed. Moreover, they also located a broken and bloody tequila bottle, box cutter, and knife near the body. Eventually, Rojas pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received a 16-year prison sentence, per The Spokesman-Review.
How was Dioneth Lopez’s murder case solved & who was the killer?
According to the United States Attorney’s Office, one of Dioneth Lopez’s friends reported her missing. Her family and friends grew concerned when she traveled to Seattle from California on February 10, 2020, and failed to get in touch with them after that day. They reportedly contacted Alejandro Rojas, with whom she was secretly having an affair and had traveled to meet him. But, Rojas gave them conflicting information about Lopez’s whereabouts.
Four days later, on February 14, Clallam County sheriff’s deputies found Lopez’s body in the Olympic National Forest. All signs suggested that the killer had beaten and stabbed the victim to death. Deputies also found a broken and bloody tequila bottle, box cutter, and knife near the body.
The Seattle Times reported that the medical examiner’s office ruled her death to be a homicide. They further confirmed that the 21-year-old’s cause of death was multiple blunt and sharp force injuries.
During a subsequent investigation, law enforcement officials reviewed surveillance footage from a Sequim convenience store. Using this footage, they determined that Lopez and Rojas visited the store on February 10. They then tracked the duo’s cell phones to the area and were about to trace both phones back to Rojas’ home.
The outlet further mentioned that officers interviewed Alejandro Rojas on February 19. When questioned by authorities, he initially told them that he drove Lopez to Sequim. He alleged that she was going on a hike with friends and that he left her at the park. He then made contrasting statements about his relationship with Dioneth Lopez. But later, admitted that the victim had no such hiking plans, per People Magazine.
Per People’s report, Rojas eventually “acknowledged that he and [Lopez] had been having a ‘thing’ for about two years.” He also mentioned “that they went to the wooded area in the national forest where [Lopez] threatened to kill his wife and child.” The 23-year-old further alleged that the victim attempted to stab him with a knife.
Rojas’ version of the events made the incident seem like he acted in self-defense. The suspect claimed that once Lopez tried to attack him, he grabbed a tequila bottle from his truck and hit her on the head before driving away. The man also suggested that she was still breathing when he left.
Since Dioneth Lopez’s murder occurred in the Olympic National Forest, which is federal land, a federal court prosecuted Alejandro Rojas. He was facing a second-degree murder charge. In December 2021, the accused pleaded guilty to the charge and received a prison sentence of 200 months.
See No Evil’s episode on Dioneth Lopez’s murder airs this January 17, 2024, on ID.
