Feliciano Valencia-Santiago Arrested in Connection with Sunnyvale Murder

Police have arrested a Santa Clara man in connection with the murder of Maria Orozco, whose body was found earlier this month in a garbage bag in Sunnyvale, about a mile from the border of Cupertino.

Feliciano Valencia-Santiago, 47, was arrested at about 7:50 p.m. Friday as he was riding a bicycle in the area of El Camino Real and Halford Avenue in Santa Clara.

Detectives tracked him down after receiving numerous leads.

Orozco's body was found on June 5 in a large, loosely cinched garbage bag near some bushes in the 800 block of Ticonderoga Drive, according to the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety.

Detectives believe Orozco, a 46-year-old San Jose resident, was murdered in a house in the 800 block of Revere Drive in Sunnyvale, less than a mile from where her body was found. The house has been vacant since a fire broke out there in December, police said.

The Santa Clara County medical examiner's office determined that the cause of Orozco's death was trauma to the head.

Valencia-Santiago was booked into Santa Clara County Jail on a homicide charge.

The California Department of Justice assisted in the investigation.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety at 408-730-7110. Those who wish to remain anonymous can provide information by sending an email to SVTIP@tipnow.org.

--By Bay City News Service