Nine unsolved killings in Y-S since 2015
There are nine unresolved homicide cases in Yuba-Sutter – just in the past two years.
Cases such as Matthew Gonzalez, 15, a student at Feather River Academy who had dreams of being a Honker baseball player.
“He really wanted to play for Yuba City High School; he wanted Coach Stassi to coach him,” his mother, Carina Mendoza, said Friday.
Matthew, who loved fireworks and making people laugh, was killed Feb. 4, 2016, when he was shot while on his way home from a store with a friend in Yuba City.
On the first anniversary of his murder, Mendoza and a group of family and friends gathered at the cemetery to light candles, tell stories, and honor Matthew’s love of fireworks by lighting off a couple.
But what they didn’t have was answers – his murder remains unsolved.
“He’s not here. I can’t hear his voice. I can’t see the smile on his face,” Mendoza said. “It’s a daily thing for me.”
While so far this year YubaSutter has had no known homicides, there are several either unsolved or unresolved through the courts from the last two years.
Following is a look at those cases:
Feb. 4 in Yuba City: Matthew Gonzalez, 15, was shot by an unknown gunman from a passing car while walking home from a store with a friend on Market Street and Ainsley Avenue. Unsolved.
Feb. 10 in south Sutter
County: Tomas (Guzman) Oliveros, 40. Unsolved. The case has hit a wall; Sutter County Undersheriff Jeff Pierce said the leads have been exhausted at this time.
Sept. 18 in Yuba City: Yulver Flores, 27, and Bernardo Flores, 19, were gunned down in front of the Gum Tree Mobile Home Park in the 1000 block of Garden Highway. Unsolved.
Oct. 20 in Yuba City: Rodrigo Cuevas, 35, died of gunshot wounds suffered Oct. 11 while he sat in his vehicle on McKeehan Drive off Miles Avenue. Unsolved.
Yuba City Police spokesperson Shawna Pavey said none of the three Yuba City cases is considered “cold.”
“We would never call a case a cold case until every lead is exhausted,” Pavey said Wednesday. “All three of those different cases... are actively being investigated.”
She also said the reluctance of witnesses in what may be considered a gang case is common.
“But (it) does not impact the tenacity of detectives to solve gangrelated homicides,” Pavey said.
Feb. 3 in Sutter County: John Doe, unknown. Unsolved. An adult human torso was found in a garbage bag by farmworkers on a road adjacent to an irrigation ditch off the 7000 block of Pelger Road, norhtwest of Robbins. At the time, no identifying information was found during the autopsy. An initial analysis by a Chico State University-based anthropologist found the remains appear to have been in decay for six to nine months.
Sutter County Undersheriff Jeff Pierce said the case is still being investigated. The department is waiting for a forensic medical group to do some additional work.
April 27 in Marysville: Michael McDaniel, 59, was found beaten to death in what appeared to be a marijuana robbery at his home in the 2200 block of Greely Drive in the early morning hours. Unsolved. Last November, his family offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the people responsible for his death.
May 29 in Linda: Juan Rodriguez, 33, was found buried in a shallow grave on Country Club Road, after a brush fire cleared the area. Sheriff’s deputies arrested wife Monica Rodriguez, who filed a missing persons report months earlier. The cases against her, and her sister and cousin (the latter two were originally accused of being accessories) were dropped.
In an email Thursday, Yuba County District Attorney Pat
Tips into these cases can be made anonymously through each appropriate department: Yuba City: 822-2026 or online. Marysville: 749-3911 or online.
Yuba County: 749-7777 or online.
Sutter County: 822-7307 or on the sheriff’s website or through the Sutter County Sheriff app.
McGrath said the case had none of the advantages from a “typical” homicide case, and in a sense, the case has gone cold.
“As television crime shows like to say, the first 48 hours are critical in these investigations,” McGrath said.
He said usually there will be a relatively fresh crime scene, and officers have the opportunity to process the scene for evidence. Witnesses are contacted when the events are fresh in their minds and they are willing to cooperate, and the circumstances surrounding the crime can be pieced together in relatively short order.
“The information which led to the recovery of Mr. Rodriguez’s body came from confidential sources, and ultimately those sources were not available to us for the prosecution of the case,” McGrath said. “Both the sheriff’s