A five-week manhunt for the suspected killer of a 49-year-old Cal Fire/Riverside captain came to an end this weekend in Mexico, according to multiple media reports.
Capt. Rebecca “Becky” Marodi, who had most recently been assigned to French Valley Cal Fire Station, was found by her mother on Feb. 17 suffering from multiple stab wounds in the neck, chest and back.
First responders were dispatched to the 20200 block of Rancho Villa Road in Ramona just before 9 p.m. where despite life-saving measures, the 49-year-old succumbed to her injuries and was declared dead at the scene.
Days later, investigators issued an arrest warrant for Marodi’s estranged wife, Yolanda Marodi, saying the 53-year-old suspect had been captured on a doorbell camera chasing Rebecca in the moments leading up to her death.
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A procession is held for Fire Capt. Rebecca Marodi after she was found fatally stabbed in her Ramona, California, home on Feb. 17, 2025. Authorities are investigating her death as a homicide. (KSWB/KUSI) -
Yolanda Marodi held in custody in Baja California, Mexico. (Secretaria De Seguridad Ciudadana de Baja California) -
Yolanda Olenjniczak is pictured in an undated photo. Olenjniczak has been identified as a suspect in the fatal stabbing of Cal Fire Capt. Rebecca Marodi. (San Diego County Sheriff’s Office)
In the filing, investigators said the grisly domestic violence broke out at around 8 p.m., less than an hour before San Diego County Sheriff’s deputies were first called by Rebecca’s mother.
An hour and fifteen minutes after the alleged attack, Homeland Security, according to reporting from The O.C. Register, logged Yoland crossing the border into Mexico. The following day, investigators said Yolanda messaged a “known associate” saying, “Rebecca came home and told me she was leaving me. We had a big fight, and I hurt her. I’m sorry.”
The 53-year-old previously served 13 years for voluntary manslaughter under the name Yolanda Olejniczak for the death of her then husband Jim Olejniczak in 2000 in Riverside County.
On Feb. 22, law enforcement agents in Mexico captured Yolanda in the Ferrocarril neighborhood of Mexicali near a hotel. She was then transferred to the custody of U.S. Marshals at a U.S. port of entry where she will be processed and, later, booked on suspicion of murder, San Diego County Sheriff’s officials said in a news release.
