Authorities have confirmed that the body found this morning by ranchers about 50 feet off the side of the road of Highway 152 is 52-year-old Martha Gutierrez, according to Jaime Rios of the California Highway Patrol.
Police confirmed around 11:30 a.m. that the body is that of Martha, who police believe was shot and killed by her son Abel Gutierrez March 14. Police believe that Abel, a 27-year-old Iraq war veteran, shot and killed Martha in his car then dumped her body. He also shot and killed his 11-year-old sister Lucero Luna and then turned the gun on himself last Wednesday at the Redwood Apartment complex near Mantelli Drive in Gilroy where the family lived.
While the cause of death is still under investigation, it has been said that Martha had a gunshot wound to the head.
Family of Martha arrived at the crime scene around 11:40 a.m. Kristll Gutierrez, 20 of Gilroy, who is Martha’s niece (her brother’s daughter) said the family is “relieved they found the body.
“Abel should have gotten more help,” she said.
“Cops have been coming to the house so many times. They would stay 10 to 15 minutes and they would just leave,” she said.
GPD Sgt. Chad Gallacinao, who is at the scene, said GPD only responded to the home on Kern Avenue on once occasion Feb. 29. He said they contacted Community Veterans Project in Palo Alto, who then contacted Veterans Affairs. The interaction with police ended there, Gallacinao said, “they at least mailed him something,” he said.
Dozens of local police – including San Benito County Sheriff’s Office whose jurisdiction the body is within – are at the scene which is directly across the street from the Cedar House Restaurant and Bakery about a mile from the Pacheco Pass (Highway 156).
Crime scene investigators arrived around 12:30 p.m. and police were overheard telling locals who live near the remote area to “come back in five hours” while the investigation continues.
Authorities have taped off the area near a red mailbox along a residential area, visible through a short wire fence from the other side of the two-lane highway. Rios said the ranchers discovered the body this morning at 9:40 a.m. and called 911. CHP responded to the call and confirmed is was in fact a dead woman.
At the end of a scheduled press conference around 10:30 a.m. for the missing teen Sierra LaMar in Morgan Hill, Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith announced that a body has been found near Highway 152 (Pacheco Pass) and Highway 156 just north of Hollister, near the Cedar House Restaurant and Bakery.
Smith said they did not find the body looking for 15-year-old Sierra LaMar who has been missing since last Friday. The searches were unrelated.
Gilroy police announced Sunday that they had exhausted all leads in finding Martha’s body and suspended the search.
More details to come.
