GoFundMe Tips Leads to Justice in Evin Paulos Cold Case
A GoFundMe Tip from Mexico Leads to Arrest
GoFundMe Tip Cracks 8-Year-Old Cold Case: Arizona Murder Suspect Arrested After Online Breakthrough
An eight-year-old cold case murder in Phoenix, Arizona, has been cracked wide open thanks to an unlikely source: a tip sent through a GoFundMe page created by the victim’s family. The breakthrough led to the arrest of 34-year-old Michael Anthony Arredondo, who had been living freely in Mexico for nearly a decade after allegedly stabbing his friend and neighbor more than 30 times in 2017.
The Crime That Shocked Phoenix
On June 3, 2017, 25-year-old Evin Paulos, an Iraqi refugee who had built a new life in Arizona, was found dead on the side of a desert road, his body discovered “under a bush and left to rot in the Arizona heat,” according to his family’s GoFundMe page. The young man had been stabbed over 30 times in what investigators described as an extremely violent attack.
Paulos and Arredondo were traveling together when a fight erupted inside their vehicle. The altercation spilled onto the street, where Arredondo allegedly unleashed a brutal attack on his friend before fleeing the scene, leaving Paulos to die on the roadside.
The Investigation Goes Cold
Within days of the murder, authorities learned that Arredondo had fled to California before crossing the border into Mexico. Despite extensive efforts, the case went cold as the suspect evaded capture south of the border for eight long years.
“It wasn’t like we forgot about it,” Detective Dominick Roestenberg of the Phoenix Police Department explained at a recent press conference. “We just didn’t have any new leads.”
For Paulos’ family, the lack of answers was agonizing. “It’s like being stuck in a room,” his sister Eviein Paulos described. “It’s black. You have no answers, nowhere to go, no nothing. It’s just feeling empty.”
An Unlikely Breakthrough
The case took an unexpected turn when a Mexican citizen, who had somehow learned about Paulos’ murder through the family’s GoFundMe page, decided to reach out with crucial information. The tipster claimed to know Arredondo’s whereabouts in Mexico.
Initially skeptical, Eviein Paulos asked the stranger for proof. “Please, I don’t know if this is a scam or not. Can you send me some kind of evidence, send me a picture?” she recalled asking. The response confirmed her hopes: it was indeed Arredondo, living what appeared to be a normal life while justice waited across the border.
“Was it a little angel that sent him through, to give us a little bit of relief?” Eviein wondered, still unsure exactly how the Good Samaritan connected the dots between the old GoFundMe campaign and the fugitive.
Justice After Eight Years
Working with Mexican authorities, the Phoenix Police Department, U.S. Marshals Service, and Maricopa County Attorney’s Office coordinated Arredondo’s arrest and extradition back to the United States. He was taken into custody on October 15, 2025, and is now facing second-degree murder charges with bond set at $1.5 million.
Following his arrest, Arredondo reportedly admitted to stabbing Paulos, though investigators say he struggled to explain his motive for the vicious attack.
“There had to be some rage involved,” Detective Roestenberg noted. “He wasn’t really able to explain why.”
A Family’s Long Wait for Closure
For the Paulos family, the arrest brings a measure of peace after nearly a decade of uncertainty, even as questions remain about what triggered the fatal confrontation.
“We know the who, the where, the how,” Eviein said. “We just don’t know the why.”
Evin Paulos is remembered by his family as a generous, one-of-a-kind young man who would do anything for those he cared about. His sister wears his ring on a necklace every day, a faded tribute that reads “In our hearts, always and forever” on the back.
“It hasn’t been happy for a very long time, and this is something that’s very good for us,” Eviein shared. “We can kinda close it and move on.”
The Power of Digital Persistence
This remarkable case demonstrates how digital footprints can extend far beyond their original purpose. The GoFundMe page, initially created to help with funeral expenses, became an unlikely tool for justice eight years later.
“I think it sends a strong message out to the community that even with the passage of time, we’re still looking for you, we’re still hunting you down,” Roestenberg emphasized. “Justice is going to take its course.”
The arrest of Michael Anthony Arredondo serves as a testament to the persistence of law enforcement and the unexpected ways that technology can help solve cold cases. For the Paulos family, the digital age brought them the answers they had been seeking for eight difficult years.
As this case moves through the courts, investigators hope it will encourage others with information about cold cases to come forward, whether through traditional channels or the digital platforms that connect us all.
If you have information about cold cases or unsolved crimes, contact your local law enforcement agency or submit tips through appropriate channels. Sometimes, even the smallest detail can break a case wide open.