Elusive Suspect Hit With Murder Count : Crime: Police continue effort to find gang member accused of abducting and killing former girlfriend.

A gang member was charged Thursday with the Christmas Eve slaying of his former girlfriend in Van Nuys, but Ruben Dario Garcia continued to elude an intensive police effort to capture him, authorities said.

Garcia was charged with one count of murder in the death of Anna Alfaro, 22, who was fatally shot after being abducted from the front of her family’s home in the 7000 block of Hazeltine Avenue. Authorities said Garcia, 20, is a transient who has lived in the San Fernando Valley as well as downtown Los Angeles.

Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Dver said additional charges detailing special circumstances, such as kidnaping or lying in wait, could be added after Garcia’s capture, making him eligible for the death penalty.

Los Angeles police stepped up efforts to find Garcia by raiding 11 homes of fellow gang members early Thursday and later watching for him at a memorial service for Alfaro. Police also said they will continue keeping Alfaro’s family under protection because of Garcia’s threats to kill them.

A memorial service for Alfaro on Thursday evening at the San Fernando Mortuary was attended by several friends and relatives. Family members said the body of the slain woman will be returned to her native El Salvador for burial.

The body lay in a white steel casket in the white gown she had planned to wear at her wedding to fiance Luis Diaz next year. Her mother, Gloria, fainted at the side of the casket after the service began and was revived by family members.

Before the service, police officers donned bullet-proof vests and placed a sign out front instructing mourners to enter through a rear door.

Some of those at the service said they were nervous about the prospect that Garcia might turn up. Authorities allege that Garcia killed Alfaro in a jealous rage and that he has made several threats against other members of her family.

“He just may be crazy enough to come here,” said mourner Jose Alvarenga, 27, who said he had known Garcia for years. “He always has been crazy.”

But police said there was no sighting of Garcia at the memorial Thursday evening.

An anonymous tip that Garcia was hiding in an apartment in East Los Angeles also did not pan out. Police went to the apartment in the afternoon and found the man there was Garcia’s brother, who closely resembles him.

Predawn raids on 11 homes and hangouts of members of Garcia’s gang in the Van Nuys and North Hollywood areas also failed to lead to the suspect’s capture, police said.

Detectives interviewed several gang members and learned that Garcia was still in the area as of Wednesday night when he contacted at least two friends and asked them to drive him to Tijuana, Detective Jim Vojtecky said.

The friends turned the request down and it was not known if Garcia had found another ride out of the country, Vojtecky said. There were no plans to relax measures to protect the Alfaro family, he said.