Tragic Discovery: Teen Found Dead in Orchard After Work as Ex-Boyfriend Linked to Disturbing Evidence

A California jury has delivered a guilty verdict for Vicente Jasso, the former boyfriend of a teenage girl who vanished after her shift at an AutoZone, only to be discovered dead in an orchard days later. Jasso, who was 23 when apprehended for the murder of Melanie Camacho in 2023, was convicted on Wednesday of murder with special circumstances, including kidnapping and robbery. This decision was confirmed by court records accessed by Law&Crime.

Jasso’s conviction, handed down by a Madera County jury, carries the grave consequence of life imprisonment. The case has drawn significant attention, marking a tragic end to the life of a young woman whose disappearance and death shook the community.

In connection with the case, Jose Lopez-Hernandez, a friend of Jasso, was implicated as an accessory after the fact. He received a three-year prison sentence in February 2025 following his guilty plea to the felony charge. Lopez-Hernandez has subsequently been released from custody.

Details surrounding Camacho’s disappearance began unfolding when she was last seen leaving her workplace at an AutoZone on Gateway Drive in Madera. According to a police statement, her departure was at approximately 10:15 p.m. on November 24, 2023. The mystery deepened with her final communication, a text sent to her mother around 11 p.m., indicating plans to meet a friend after work.

Concern grew as Camacho failed to return home, leading her mother to report her missing early the next morning, at about 6:45 a.m. Despite the community’s hopes, the tragic discovery in an orchard a few days later confirmed the worst fears.

Surveillance footage and witness interviews pinpointed Camacho, 19, leaving her job at AutoZone in her 2014 white Nissan Altima, which was spotted on the roadway near her job around 10:30 p.m., just a half hour before her mother received the text from her saying she planned to meet “with a friend.”

“Detectives spoke with the friend [Camacho] told her mom she’d be meeting, who reported they never met after work, but rather Melanie planned to meet with an ‘ex’ to either give or receive something,” the police statement said.

Police reported that Jasso and Camacho dated for a few months but had broken up days before Thanksgiving 2023. Jasso has a criminal background that includes a history of domestic abuse dating back to 2016, Fresno ABC affiliate KFSN reported.

Within two hours of Camacho’s mother reporting her missing, police received a call about a car on fire in the area. It was Camacho’s.

Witnesses told police they saw a blue Ford Mustang with a black hood being driven around the same area where her car was found. Queuing up surveillance footage, police said they were able to determine that the Mustang belonged to Lopez-Hernandez.

Lopez-Hernandez was brought in for questioning that night and police executed a search warrant on his home shortly afterward.

The warrant led them to the orchard where Camacho was found, located near a rural highway.

By then, police said they had made Jasso their primary suspect.

Officers spotted him around 7 a.m. the following day driving around Madera in a minivan. California Highway Patrol attempted to stop him and a chase got underway, with Jasso traveling at speeds in excess of 110 miles per hour, according to The Fresno Bee.

Police said that they saw Jasso tossing some of Camacho’s belongings, including her driver’s license, from his car window during the chase.

Jasso was finally stopped thanks to a spike strip that blew out his tires. He managed to escape on foot briefly and hid in a residential neighborhood but was ultimately captured with the help of a police helicopter.

Police have said that Jasso has a criminal history dating back to 2016, with prior arrests for witness intimidation, domestic violence, evading, and reckless driving. He’s due to be sentenced for Camacho’s murder on April 16.