Missing Calif. Woman Is Found Dead in Forest — Husband Flees to Peru as Chilling Dragging Footage Surfaces By Madison E. Goldberg

A 33-year-old woman who was reported missing in California was found dead in a forest on Aug. 16. Her husband is the lead suspect in her death and was allegedly seen dragging a “large object” from the apartment they shared with their three children.

Crescenta Valley, Altadena, and Montrose Mountain Search and Rescue teams found the body of Sheylla Gutierrez over the side of an embankment in Angeles National Forest at approximately 10:00 a.m. local time, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. She is survived by her three children.

Gutierrez was pronounced dead at the scene and a cause of death will be determined by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Gutierrez went missing from Lancaster, Calif., on Aug. 12. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office believes that her husband, 36-year-old Jossimar Cabrera, who is suspected of killing her, has fled to Peru. Their three children were found safe in Peru and taken into protective custody on Aug. 16.

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On Aug. 13, during their investigation, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office found video surveillance appearing to show Cabrera dragging a large object from the Lancaster Boulevard apartment complex where Gutierrez, her husband and their children lived. ABC7 and NBC Los Angeles obtained the footage.

Gutierrez’s mother, Helga Rocillo, is now calling upon U.S. authorities to help locate Cabrera.

“I’m very depressed, but I have to be strong for my grandchildren,” Rocillo told ABC 7 from Peru in Spanish.

She also told Latina Noticias that her daughter planned on filing a criminal report against her husband due to alleged psychological and physical abuse.

“She told me that Jossimar Cabrera Cornejo hit her, mistreated her, and even slapped my youngest grandchild, who is 3 years old,” Rocillo told the outlet, per The Los Angeles Times.

Several members of Gutierrez’s family claim that Cabrera gave mismatched accounts of his wife’s whereabouts throughout her disappearance, per ABC 7.

Gutierrez’s sister claimed that Cabrera told her family that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had taken her. He allegedly later claimed that his wife had left him for another man. In a third story, he said she had suffered an accident, but declined to share details, per ABC 7.

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The Peruvian consulate in Los Angeles confirmed Cabrera arrived in Peru with the couple’s three children, per Univision 34. The consulate said Peruvian authorities could not detain him because there was no warrant for his arrest.

Neighbors told NBC News Los Angeles that Gutierrez had confided in them that her husband was physically abusive prior to her disappearance.

“I never had any interaction with the husband. He always seemed, like, mad all the time,” Mario Sanchez told the station.

Gutierrez’s parents told the station they spoke to their daughter on Aug. 9, when she said she was going to take her children and leave her husband.

The case will be sent to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, which will then determine if murder charges can be filed against Cabrera and “obtaining the necessary documents to secure his return to the United States,” per the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office.

PEOPLE has reached out to the LAPD for further details.