AUSTIN, Texas: Authorities in the United States are seeking the extradition of a Peru resident accused of being drunk when she caused a fatal car wreck 11 years ago while studying at the University of Texas.

Evelyn Mezzich, 29, who now lives in Lima, Peru, faces a charge of intoxication manslaughter stemming from the November 1996 death of her then-roommate Lindsay Brashier.

Mezzich, who posted a US $10,000 bail, disappeared about a year into her court proceedings, authorities said.

"This is not about revenge," said Brashier's mother, Marilyn Datz of Houston, who has campaigned to bring attention to the case.

"Her life just needs to be interrupted," Datz said. "She needs a wake-up call."

Today in Americas
In Iowa, evangelicals give Huckabee a boostEfforts increase to enfranchise U.S. citizens abroadChavez says Venezuela will have no relationship with Colombian presidentThe FBI notified Texas prosecutors in 2001 that Mezzich was in Peru, but extradition efforts stalled because a treaty between the U.S. and Peru did not cover the crime she was accused of.

But the extradition rules were expanded after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Mezzich was born in Canada and has citizenship in Peru, the country of her parents' birth, prosecutors said.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Mezzich was driving on Nov. 10, 1996, when she crashed into a pole. Brashier, Mezzich's roommate, was pronounced dead at the scene. Another roommate, Tatiana Sartori of Brazil, was paralyzed.

Travis County Assistant District Attorney Claire Dawson-Brown said an evidence packet will be sent by the end of the year to the U.S. Justice Department, which will then work with Peruvian authorities to have Mezzich arrested.