LOS ANGELES — Officials looking for the husband of a woman found dead in California’s Angeles National Forest last week believe he may have fled to Peru.
Sheylla Cabrera, 33, of Lancaster, north of Los Angeles, was reported missing on Aug. 12 to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
In the investigation, deputies found video surveillance footage of her husband, 36-year-old Jossimar Cabrera, “dragging a large object in a large piece of material” from their apartment complex, where they lived where their three young sons, the sheriff’s department said Tuesday.
Officials believed foul play was involved in Cabrera’s disappearance, and Jossimar Cabrera was named a person of interest in the case.
The Mexican and Peruvian consulates were alerted regarding Cabrera, and investigators later learned he had fled the U.S. On Saturday, the three Cabrera children were found safe and taken into protective custody in Peru, the sheriff’s department said.
Meanwhile, a search was launched for Cabrera in Angeles National Forest.
On Saturday morning, the Montrose Mountain Search and Rescue team reported spotting “an object similar to the material that was seen being taken away by the person of interest over the side of an embankment” in the forest, the sheriff’s department said.
That material was found to contain Sheylla Cabrera’s body, it said.
The Los Angles County Medical Examiner’s Office will determine the official cause of death.
NBC Los Angeles obtained camera footage that showed a man struggling to carry something large and bulky wrapped in a blanket across the apartment complex.
Neighbors told the station that they had reported Sheylla Cabrera missing and that she had confided in them that her husband was physically abusive.
Neighbors canvassed the apartment complex and found that surveillance video mentioned by law enforcement. The footage was recorded around 4 a.m. on Aug. 10, they said.
“I never had any interaction with the husband. He always seemed like mad all the time,” Mario Sanchez told the station.
Sheylla Cabrera’s parents told the station they spoke to their daughter on Aug. 9, and she had told them she was going to take her children and leave her husband.
News outlet RPP Noticias in Peru spoke to Jossimar Cabrera’s lawyer who said that it was not his client in the video, claimed the video was edited, and that it was not dated or time-stamped.
The sheriff’s department said it will present a case to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office to consider filing murder charges against Cabrera and to secure his return to the U.S.
The DA’s office said the case will be presented to prosecutors on Thursday for filing consideration.
“Jossimar Cabrera is currently believed to be in Peru, pending further investigation needed to bring him to justice,” the sheriff’s department said.
