DUI manslaughter fugitive found in Mexico was on the run for over 19 years after mother of 2 dies in Hialeah: Police

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — A mother was on her way to participate in a religious retreat when a drunk woman, who was driving a Hertz rental blue Toyota Solara to a bar, ran a flashing red light and struck and killed her in 2006, in Miami-Dade County, according to police.

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Gloria Marcia Hall, a mother of two, was 40 when she died in a crashed green 1992 Mazda B2200 pickup truck at about 4:25 a.m., on Aug. 12, 2006, at the intersection of West 68 Street and 16 Avenue, in Hialeah, records show.

Miami Police Department Cmdr. Joaquin Freire, Hall’s brother, described her as “a caring friend, a beautiful sister, a spectacular daughter,” and “a loving mother” of two girls -- “who miss her terribly.”

Leydis Menéndez Abdala, the drunk driver, was injured, police said. She had been airlifted and hospitalized when there was a toxicology test result on Sept. 9, 2006, showing the alcohol in her blood was more than twice the legal limit during the fatal crash, records show.

“As an officer, I’ve encountered horrible accident scenes, but nothing I have witnessed could ever prepare me for what I witnessed that morning in August that took my sister’s life,” Freire wrote in a statement after Menéndez Abdala vanished, according to police.

A judge issued an arrest warrant on Sept. 20, 2006. Freire didn’t give up on advocating for his family to find Menéndez Abdala, who was the subject of an America’s Most Wanted segment on March 10, 2007.

“I passed the accident scene on my way home from work and did not realize it was my sister until I got a knock at the door. My sister’s death has literally destroyed my family and has left a huge void in my heart,” Freire wrote in a letter that was featured on the AMW segment.

Menéndez Abdala, a wanted DUI manslaughter suspect, had been on the run for more than 19 years when US Marshals escorted her from Mexico to Miami-Dade, where correctional deputies booked her at about 2:55 a.m. on Saturday at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, records show.

Law enforcement agencies warned Menéndez Abdala, who was born in Cuba, changed her hair color often and sometimes used green or blue eye contacts. The fugitive flyers also reported that she wore “a lot of make-up to cover distinct, dark skin pigmentation underneath her eyes.”

There were three arrest warrants issued during the search for the fugitive, records show. About four years ago, Miami-Dade prosecutors closed the cold case and filed a new one.

In February 2022, prosecutors filed a “no action” update on the case. A Hialeah detective worked on the cold case, found a witness who verified Menéndez Abdala was the driver at fault, and verified the toxicology report, records show. A judge issued a second arrest warrant in August 2022.

Records show a mistake on Menéndez Abdala’s date of birth prompted the arrest warrant to be reissued in February 2023. Miami-Dade County Crime Stoppers increased the reward for information in the case to $25,000 in September 2023.

According to the arrest warrant in the case, the U.S. Marshals Service learned on Aug. 25 that Mexican authorities were set to deport Menéndez Abdala, 52, back to Cuba.

When she appeared in bond court on Sunday, Freire told the judge that Menéndez Abdala had been in a relationship with a Hialeah Police Department officer, and she might have learned about the toxicology report before she fled.

Menéndez Abdala had a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement hold. Assistant State Attorney Laura Adams requested her pre-trial detention without bond on Monday, records show.

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