Denver police are renewing their search for a man accused of fatally stabbing and beating a 42-year-old woman inside a home near Denver International Airport nearly four years ago, featuring him in a fresh round of public appeals this week. Juan Antonio Solis Valenzuela, now 26, remains wanted on a first-degree murder warrant tied to the October 2022 death of Patricia Anchondo, and investigators say he has not been located despite the case staying open for years.
According to 9News, Denver police identified Anchondo as the victim after officers were dispatched around 3 p.m. on Sunday, October 16, 2022, to a residence in the 18700 block of East 58th Avenue, in Denver's DIA neighborhood just east of Tower Road. She was pronounced dead inside the home after suffering multiple sharp and blunt force injuries, the station reported. Court documents cited by the outlet show the arrest warrant charges Solis Valenzuela with first-degree murder after deliberation, language that points to prosecutors alleging an intentional, premeditated killing rather than a spontaneous act.
A Warrant That Carries Life Without Parole
If convicted, Solis Valenzuela would face a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Colorado Revised Statutes § 18-3-102 classifies first-degree murder as a Class 1 felony, and the state formally abolished the death penalty in 2020, leaving life without parole as the maximum possible punishment, per Justia Law.
The Denver Police Department featured Solis Valenzuela in a Mug Shot Monday post this week, describing him as 26 years old and born July 25, 2000. The department lists him at 5 feet 10 inches tall and 181 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. That description differs from bulletins issued in late 2022, which described him as 6 feet tall and weighing 180 to 200 pounds — a discrepancy that can occur as fugitive records are updated over the course of a long-running search, the station's report notes.
How Denver Handles Its Wanted-Suspect Appeals
Mug Shot Monday is part of a routine crowdsourcing effort the department runs on social media, posting mug shots and wanted bulletins to generate public tips on open warrants. Denver police say the post seeking Solis Valenzuela will come down once his booking is confirmed, a standard practice the department uses across its wanted-suspect campaigns.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-STOP (7867) or submit a tip online through the organization's tip form. The nonprofit offers anonymous tipsters a cash reward of up to $2,000 for information leading to an arrest, according to the City of Golden. Tipsters are assigned code numbers so they can collect a reward without revealing their identity. Since its founding in 1981, Metro Denver Crime Stoppers has processed more than 70,000 anonymous tips, leading to 3,396 arrests, 5,855 cleared cases, and over $1.35 million in approved rewards, per the organization's own figures.
A Cold Case Amid Shifting Homicide Numbers
Anchondo's killing happened during one of Denver's more violent recent years. The city recorded 52 homicides in 2022, followed by 43 in 2023 and a jump to 70 in 2024, according to CBS News. That count then fell sharply, with Denver logging 37 homicides in 2025 — a 48% drop from the year before and among the city's lowest annual tallies since 1990. Police leadership has attributed the decline to faster medical intervention, improved lighting, and community safety partnerships.
Even as overall violence has eased, warrants from Denver's higher-homicide years remain active priorities for investigators and Metro Denver Crime Stoppers alike. Solis Valenzuela's case is one of those still unresolved nearly four years after Anchondo's death, with police continuing to ask the public for any information that could lead to his arrest.
