Yaser Abdel Said has been arrested for the murders of his two daughters after 12 years on the run.
What We Know:
- An arrest warrant for Said has been out since 2008. He was added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list in 2014. The 63-year-old was arrested on Wednesday in Justin, Texas. Two relatives were also arrested.
- Said has been wanted for the January 1, 2008 murders of his daughters Amina, 18, and Sarah, 17. According to the FBI, Said took his daughters for a ride in his taxicab, telling them that they were getting something to eat. He drove them to Irving, Texas, where he fatally shot them multiple times. Sarah Said called 911 and the police found the two bodies in their father’s taxi.
- “The FBI-led Dallas Violent Crimes Task Force has worked tirelessly to find Yaser Abdel Said,” said special agent Matthew DeSarno. “These experienced investigators never gave up on their quest to find him and pledged to never forget the young victims in this case.”
- The victims’ mother, Patricia Owens, told local media “Now the girls can rest in peace”. She described the last 12 years as a nightmare for her family. “My daughters were loving, caring, smart, loved everybody, would help anybody,” she said. “They were two of the most awesome kids in the world, and they did not deserve what happened to them.”
- Sarah and Amina were students at Lewisville High School. They had previously accused their father of sexually and physically abusing them in 1998. It was reported that Said made death threats towards the girls when he learned they had boyfriends. Just a week before the killings, the sisters, their mothers, and their boyfriends fled the state. They returned home on New Year’s Eve, a day before the murders.
Islam Said, the suspect’s son, and Yassim Said, the suspect’s brother, have also been arrested and face charges for harboring a fugitive.
