DNA From ICE Arrest Leads to Charges in 2012 LaBelle Rape and Kidnapping of 14-Year-Old Girl

A 38-year-old man has been charged with sexual battery and kidnapping in the February 2012 attack on a 14-year-old girl in LaBelle, after a DNA sample collected when federal immigration officers arrested him in August matched evidence from the case, according to the Hendry County Sheriff's Office.

Eliseo Garcia-Zunun was booked into the Hendry County Jail and is being held without bond, the sheriff's office said. The case had gone unsolved for more than 14 years. Garcia-Zunun has not been convicted of any crime, and the charges are accusations that prosecutors must prove in court.

The 2012 attack

Hendry County deputies were called on Feb. 7, 2012, after the girl reported that an unknown man grabbed her near her home in LaBelle, threw her to the ground and dragged her into the residence, where she was raped, according to the sheriff's office account reported by FOX 13 and FOX 35. Investigators developed a DNA profile from the case, but the attacker was not identified, and the case went cold.

The sheriff's office has not released additional details about the original investigation. The victim has not been publicly identified, and The Florida Press does not identify victims of sexual crimes.

How an immigration arrest reopened the case

On Aug. 8, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers apprehended Garcia-Zunun in Hendry County, according to the sheriff's office. Authorities identified him as being in the country illegally, collected a DNA sample and transferred him to California while he awaited deportation.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement processed the sample. On Sept. 16, FDLE notified the Hendry County Sheriff's Office that the DNA obtained from Garcia-Zunun in August matched the profile from the unsolved 2012 kidnapping and sexual battery, which had been stored in the national DNA database, according to the sheriff's office.

Detectives then obtained an arrest warrant and traveled to Fresno, California. Working with ICE officials, they took custody of Garcia-Zunun and brought him back to Hendry County, where he was booked on the state charges.

The timeline, as described by the sheriff's office:

Why immigration arrests now produce DNA samples

Immigration arrests can produce DNA samples because of a federal rule that took effect in 2020. That year, the Justice Department finalized a regulation under the DNA Fingerprint Act of 2005 directing the Department of Homeland Security to collect DNA from certain noncitizens it detains, removing an earlier exemption for immigration detainees. Samples collected under the rule are sent to the FBI's Combined DNA Index System, known as CODIS, the same network that stores profiles from crime scenes and from people arrested or convicted in state cases.

Florida law reaches the same population. Section 943.325 of the Florida Statutes, which governs the statewide DNA database run by FDLE, lists people held in custody and subject to a federal immigration detainer among the qualifying offenders who must give a sample, along with anyone convicted of a felony and, under a schedule completed in 2019, anyone arrested for a felony in Florida. FDLE participates in CODIS, so profiles collected in Florida can be compared against crime scene evidence from across the country. The sheriff's office has not said under which authority the August sample was taken.

When a new profile enters the system, it is compared against unsolved crime scene profiles, including years-old evidence from cold cases like the LaBelle attack. The state statute limits use of the samples to law enforcement identification and to identifying missing persons and human remains, and bars their use for medical or genetic testing. Immigrant advocates criticized the federal rule when it was adopted, raising privacy concerns about collecting DNA from people held only on civil immigration grounds.

Florida's push on immigration enforcement

The arrest comes as Florida law enforcement agencies have sharply expanded their work with ICE. In early 2025, all 67 Florida sheriffs signed 287(g) agreements with ICE, which allow deputies to carry out certain federal immigration enforcement tasks, after state lawmakers required county jails to sign on. Gov. Ron DeSantis has said the agreements would bring street-level immigration enforcement across the state. Under the task force model the sheriffs adopted, deputies' immigration authority extends beyond jails to patrol work. Between April 2025 and January 2026, state law enforcement agencies arrested more than 10,400 people in the country illegally as part of the state's Operation Tidal Wave, according to Governing.

The sheriff's office described the August arrest as an ICE operation in Hendry County. It has not said whether its own deputies took part in that operation or what led officers to Garcia-Zunun.

No time limit on the sexual battery charge

Florida law sets no deadline for prosecuting sexual battery against young children. Under Section 775.15 of the Florida Statutes, a prosecution for sexual battery may be commenced at any time when the victim was younger than 16 at the time of the offense, a provision added in 2010 that applies to any case not already time-barred by July 1 of that year. A separate subsection allows prosecution at any time for first-degree felony sexual battery when the victim was under 18.

Kidnapping is a first-degree felony under Florida law, punishable by up to life in prison. The sheriff's office has not released the charging documents, and it is not yet clear which specific degree of sexual battery prosecutors will pursue.

What's next

Authorities have not released court dates or said whether Garcia-Zunun has an attorney. The case will proceed in Hendry County, where prosecutors with the State Attorney's Office for the 20th Judicial Circuit will decide on formal charges. He remains in the Hendry County Jail without bond.

Because Garcia-Zunun was in ICE custody awaiting deportation before he was returned to Florida, his immigration case could resume once the state prosecution concludes. The sheriff's office has not said what arrangements were made with federal authorities on that point.