Story highlights In 1996, ValuJet 592 nosedived into the Everglades, killing all aboard

The FBI continues to seek a mechanic who may have played a role in the crash

(CNN) The FBI is offering $10,000 for information leading to the capture of a contract airline mechanic who may have played a role in the deadly 1996 crash of a ValuJet airliner in the Florida Everglades. The airplane was carrying 104 passengers and five crew members when it plunged into the Florida Everglades while trying to return to Miami International Airport, killing everyone on board and leaving a crater in the swampland. Here are a few facts about Valenzuela-Reyes and the crime he is suspected of committing:

1) Valenzuela-Reyes, 48, a maintenance contractor who used to work for the now defunct SabreTech, was charged with placing packaged oxygen generators in the plane’s cargo area without putting safety caps on them. The agency's Miami office also has released age-progression photos of the fugitive, Mauro Ociel Valenzuela-Reyes, who fled while facing federal criminal charges in 1999 in connection with work he conducted on the jet before its fated flight. Oxygen generators in the DC-9’s cargo hold were missing their required safety caps, and caught fire after the plane took off, causing the crash that killed all 110 passengers and crew members. Valenzuela-Reyes' ex-wife and children have lived in Atlanta, and he also has family in Santiago, Chile, where he may be living under a false identify and where new FBI posters are being distributed, the agency said. “We’ve tried over the years to find him,” said Fruge, who has been a special agent for 29 years and hopes to close this case while it’s under her watch. “He fled before trial,” said FBI Miami Special Agent Jacqueline Fruge, who has been the primary agent on the case since it began. I’ve lived and breathed it for many, many years.”

The agency hopes the new reward and poster, showing age progression images of what Valenzuela-Reyes would look like today, may lead to a tip to bring him to justice.
The FBI offers a US$10,000 reward for information leading to the capture of mechanic Mauro Ociel Valenzuela-Reyes, who is accused of triggering the 1996 disaster by mispackaging oxygen cylinders that caught fire in the DC-9's hold. He fled justice in 1999.