A man was caught on camera dragging what allegedly appeared to be a body wrapped in fabric days before his missing wife was found dead. Thirty-three-year-old Sheylla Gutierrez was found around four days ago in Los Angeles, and her husband has since fled the country.
Gutierrez, her three children, and her husband were staying in Lancaster, where she went missing more than a week ago. Family say that during that time, her husband, 36-year-old Jossimar Cabrera, repeatedly changed his explanation for his wife’s disappearance.
Several days later, the officials discovered the missing woman’s body in the Angeles National Forest. Deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department say the remains were found down an embankment, wrapped in material similar to what appeared in surveillance footage shared by a neighbour. The video allegedly shows Cabrera dragging a large object.
Cabrera is suspected of murdering his wife, and the video is reportedly not the only suspicious thing he has done. Family members say Cabrera’s explanations for his wife’s disappearance changed repeatedly.
The victim’s sister recalled him first claiming that immigration officers had taken her away. Later, he changed his story to say that she had left with another man. Later, he reportedly gave a third version that blamed her disappearance on an accident he claimed she had been in.
Cabrera is no longer in the United States, as he fled to Peru with their three children. However, the children have since been placed in the care of Gutierrez’s mother, Helga Rocillo. The distraught grandmother is pleading with U.S. authorities to act quickly to apprehend her daughter’s killer. She expressed in Spanish that while the tragedy has left her deeply “depressed”, she remains strong for her grandchildren.
According to Rocillo, Gutierrez and Cabrera’s marriage had incidents of domestic violence. She said Gutierrez had previously reported Cabrera for domestic violence while they were in Peru together. The domestic violence apparently continued when they were in Lancaster, as she said her daughter had recently told her she planned to file a report there as well.
While the Peruvian consulate confirmed Cabrera’s arrival in Peru with the three children, authorities there were unable to detain him without a warrant at the time.
In Lancaster, friends and neighbours gathered for a vigil, holding signs that called for justice and protested against violence against women. They remembered her as a devoted mother, a loyal friend, and a hard-working woman.
The sheriff’s department has not yet determined an official cause of death as the investigation continues.
