by NC Wanted Staff

Posted: Feb. 1, 2010
Updated: Feb. 1, 2010

Durham Police sent a dispatch at 8:49p.m. Monday , February 1, 2010 announcing the arrest of Raven Abaroa at his home in Idaho. Abaroa had recently been living near his estranged second wife, Vanessa Pond, in Utah. NC Wanted will provide more information as it becomes available.

Below is the Durham PD dispatch---

Durham police investigators have arrested Raven Abaroa and charged him with murder in the April 2005 death of his wife, Janet Abaroa.

Abaroa, 30, of South 8th Street in Montpelier, Idaho was arrested today at his home without incident. He was placed in the Caribou County (Idaho) Jail without bond. He is being held for extradition to North Carolina. The arrest was a joint operation by the Durham Police Department, the FBI Task Force, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), the Montpelier (Idaho) Police Department, the East Idaho STAR (Special Tactics and Response) Team and the Bear Lake County (Idaho) Sheriff's Department.

“This arrest is the result of hard and tenacious work by our investigators and a strong partnership with the FBI and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI). Investigators continued to follow leads and never gave up,” said Durham Police Chief Jose L. Lopez Sr. Due to promotions and transfers, the case has been assigned to four investigators – Cpl. Bennie Bradley, Cpl. Steve Vaughan, Investigator Charles Sole and Sgt. Sheldon Perkins – over the past five years.

“Although an arrest has been made, the case is still ongoing and investigators continue to gather information and conduct interviews,” Lopez said. The chief said he can’t comment further on the case because the investigation is still ongoing and has not yet been adjudicated.

“We do not give up on our homicides. We continue to follow up until all leads are exhausted and then we check out any new leads we receive,” Lopez said.

Janet Abaroa, 25, was stabbed to death inside her home at 2606 Ferrand Drive on Tuesday, April 26, 2005. The Abaroas’ 6-month-old son, Kaiden, was uninjured. There were no obvious signs of a break-in, but a laptop computer was missing from the house.

In the hours before her death, Janet Abaroa, who was in the early stages of pregnancy, picked up her child at day care and went with her husband to drop her car off for repairs. The Abaroas met with a church member at their home that evening before Raven Abaroa left the house around 8:30 p.m. in a gray Dodge Durango to play in an indoor soccer game in Morrisville. Raven Abaroa told officers he found his wife when he returned home from the game around 11 p.m.

Anyone with further information on this case is asked to contact Investigator Sole at (919) 560-4440, ext. 29350 or by email at Charles.Sole@durhamnc.gov or Sgt. Perkins at (919) 560-4440, ext. 29326 or by email at Sheldon.Perkins@durhamnc.gov