SAN DIEGO, California — Yolanda Marodi, 53, was apprehended in Mexico on March 22, 2025, suspected of murdering her wife, Cal Fire Captain Rebecca Marodi, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office confirmed. The San Diego fire captain was found dead with multiple stab wounds in her Ramona home on February 17, ending a two-year marriage in tragedy. Police capture the suspect after a nearly five-week manhunt that crossed borders.
The incident unfolded around 8 p.m. on February 17 at the couple’s residence on the 20000 block of Rancho Villa Road. According to an arrest warrant, security footage captured Yolanda chasing Rebecca across their patio, knife in hand, after Rebecca announced she was leaving her a week prior. Rebecca’s pleas—“Yolanda! Please, I don’t want to die”—echoed before she was forced inside, where she sustained fatal wounds to her neck, chest, and abdomen. Her mother called 911 just after 9 p.m., but despite efforts by Cal Fire paramedics, the San Diego fire captain was pronounced dead at the scene.
Yolanda fled to Mexico hours later, triggering a binational search. Fuerza Estatal de Seguridad Ciudadana officers detained her near a hotel in Mexicali’s Ferrocarril neighborhood, still in pajamas, on Saturday. Police capture the suspect, who has a prior voluntary manslaughter conviction from 2004 for stabbing her then-husband, and she now faces extradition. The San Diego fire captain, 49, served over 30 years with Cal Fire, mourned widely after her death.
