YAMHILL COUNTY, Ore. (KPTV) - A man has been sentenced to life in prison for a 2016 murder that happened in Yamhill County.

On Friday, Victor Melcher-Villalba pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 25 years before being considered for parole.

On October 2, 2016, the body of 37-year-old Lilia Cosco-Ortiz, of Vancouver, Wash., was found in a blueberry field in Dayton by a passerby. Cosco-Ortiz’s autopsy revealed she was murdered.

The investigation led police to Oregon, Washington and California.

In Jan. 2017, Melcher-Villalba was indicted by a Yamhill County Grand Jury on one count of murder and a warrant for his arrest was issued. Police learned he may have left for Mexico and the FBI secured a federal arrest warrant for unlawful fli

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