Sheylla Gutierrez: Lancaster Mother Found Dead; Husband Flees to Peru with Children as Investigation Unfolds

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the death of a 33-year-old mother, whose body was recently found in the Angeles National Forest. 

This chilling discovery ends a search that had been ongoing for more than a week.

The prime suspect, her husband, is now believed to have fled the country to Peru with the couple’s three young children, as reported by ABC7 News

The victim has been identified as 33-year-old Sheylla Gutierrez. 

She was reported missing by worried family and friends after her husband, 36-year-old Jossimar Cabrera, gave conflicting explanations about where she was.. 

According to investigators, Cabrera first claimed that ICE had taken her, but after intensive questioning he changed his story.

He said that she had left with another man, and later he claimed she had been in an accident.

However, the criminal investigation took a disturbing turn when a neighbor’s surveillance camera provided a key piece of evidence. 

The video, shared with authorities, appears to show Cabrera dragging a large object wrapped in fabric. 

Days later, on April 29, detectives discovered Gutierrez’s body wrapped in similar material off an embankment in the forest.

“I'm very depressed, but I have to be strong for my grandchildren,” Gutierrez’s mother, Helga Rocillo, said in a statement from Peru.

Jossimar Cabrera dragging a suspicious item

Sheylla Gutierrez 

The Peruvian consulate has reportedy confirmed that Cabrera arrived in Peru with the children. 

However, they stated that local authorities could not detain him at the time due to the absence of an active U.S. warrant for his arrest.

This tragedy has also exposed a history of alleged domestic abuse. 

Rocillo shared that her daughter had previously reported Cabrera for abuse while they were living in Peru and was preparing to file another report in Lancaster shortly before she disappeared.

“Because she didn't have family here in the U.S., we are her voice in this moment, and that is what we ask for,” a close friend of Gutierrez said at a community vigil, where mourners held signs reading “Justice for Sheylla.”

The couple’s three children are now in the care of their maternal grandmother. 

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is continuing its investigation while coordinating with federal and international partners on a possible extradition for Cabrera. 

Meanwhile, the cause of Gutierrez’s death has not yet been made public, and authorities believe that this information will play an important role in the extradition process.

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