Fugitive connected to Hildebran human remains case arrested in Florida

A little over four years ago, a small home in Hildebran on Curley’s Fish Camp Road was surrounded by Burke County Sheriff’s Office deputies, North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) investigators, and personnel from Catawba County, digging around the property as they executed a search warrant. Investigators found suspected human remains during the search.

On Oct. 8, 2026, authorities extradited Mark Anthony Ortiz, 27, of Hildebran, from Naples, Fla. in connection to the remains of Anthony Jaworsky, who had been reported missing to the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office on July 21, 2021.

Information gathered during the investigation of the missing person report led investigators to the Hildebran area.

The Burke County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) obtained warrants charging Ortiz with felony concealment of death on July 12, 2022. The Catawba County Sheriff’s Office charged him with felony obstruction of justice when they found the remains, but Ortiz wasn’t indicted until Feb. 20, 2024, on the Catawba charges.

In June 2026, the Collier County Sheriff’s Office located Ortiz in Naples, arresting him on charges of being a fugitive from North Carolina, resisting an officer, and fraud —giving false identification of Edwin Manuel Ortiz — before eventually extraditing him back to North Carolina, according to court documents.

Catawba County served the outstanding warrants for Ortiz on Oct. 8, and the BCSO is consulting with the district attorney’s office regarding potential additional charges.

Ortiz received secured bonds across both counties, a combined $750,000. His first appearance in Catawba County court was on Oct. 12, and his first appearance in Burke County court is Oct. 22.

At his first appearance in Catawba County, the court appointed Va Ly Yang as Ortiz’s attorney. His next appearance in Catawba will be on Dec. 2.

—JC