Lewis County Sirens.com

This was updated at 3:12 p.m.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A California man has been arrested in a 1986 shooting death in Centralia, following a tip developed by a “cold case” detective, the Centralia Police Department announced.

Efren J. Triana, 23, was shot outside a tavern at the 100 block of West Main Street in Centralia early on Oct. 25, 1986, according to police.

U.S. Marshals located the suspect, Carlos Vidal Gutierrez, 54, in Aromas, California, and took him into custody today, according to police.

Centralia Police Officer John Panco said Gutierrez was a suspect from the beginning.

“We’ve been tracking him off and on for quite a while, well since 1986,” Panco said. “One of the retired detectives opened the case and was able to track down a tip.”

Retired detective Tracy Wiese handled the case.

The tavern was called La Adalitas, Panco said.

“There was some kind of (disagreement) or something, I don’t know all the details at this point,” Panco said. “Mr. Gutierrez shot Mr. Triana several times. I don’t know exactly how many.”

Triana lived in Rochester, according to Panco.

Panco expected it could take some time to get Gutierrez extradited to Lewis County.

There will be more information coming, Panco said.

“We’re just happy we located this … murder cases stay open until we find the suspect, and it took 25 years for this, but it looks like we have,” he said.

Aromas is in San Benito County in central California not far from the coast.

Gutierrez was booked into the nearby county jail, according to police.

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This news story was corrected to reflect the victim’s town of residence.

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