A 40-year-old man who was added to Massachusetts’ list of most-wanted fugitives last month over an alleged rape in Deerfield nearly a year ago was captured April 7 after a Florida hotel clerk recognized him from a State Police wanted poster.
Deputies with the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office responded to the Travelodge Suites by Wyndham Kissimmee Orange after the hotel notified them that Jeffrey Cancel-Muniz was a guest there, according to Massachusetts State Police spokesman David Procopio.
Cancel-Muniz is a Level 3 sex offender wanted by the Deerfield Police Department on charges of aggravated rape causing serious bodily injury, rape, kidnapping and strangulation. The alleged assault occurred in May 2020. A native of Puerto Rico with ties throughout western Massachusetts, Cancel-Muniz reportedly has been the subject of 11 civil restraining orders in Massachusetts and has multiple convictions for violating protection orders.
According to Procopio, troopers assigned to the Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section determined Cancel-Muniz had fled the state and followed up on several leads from across the country. On April 2, the troopers received a tip to their hotline (1-800-KAPTURE) that Cancel-Muniz might be in Kissimmee, Florida.
Based on that tip, troopers and the U.S. Marshals Service worked to determine a specific location in Kissimmee. While that investigation was ongoing, the Travelodge Suites desk clerk had an issue with Cancel-Muniz, a guest at the hotel, and subsequently searched his name online.
According to Procopio, the hotel notified authorities after internet search results included the Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section’s “Wanted” poster and other information about Cancel-Muniz that had been provided to news media.
Deputies responded to the hotel just after midnight, verified the warrants against Cancel-Muniz, and arrested him as a fugitive from justice, according to Procopio.
Cancel-Muniz is expected to make a virtual appearance in a Florida court Thursday, and Massachusetts authorities will arrange for him to be extradited to answer to the Deerfield charges.
