A man accused of murdering his wife and abandoning her body in a forest in Southern California earlier this month has been detained in Peru. He will be extradited back to the U.S. to face a murder charge, according to Los Angeles authorities on Wednesday.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department was notified by the Peruvian Consulate General that Jossimar Cabrera, age 36, turned himself in to officials in Lima, Peru’s capital.
Sheylla Cabrera’s remains were discovered on August 16 at the base of a slope in Angeles National Forest, near Lancaster, LA County, where she and her husband lived with their three young sons. She was first reported missing on August 12.
Investigators found surveillance video showing Jossimar Cabrera transporting a hefty item wrapped “in a large piece of material” from their residential building. The material surrounding the victim’s body matched what was seen in the footage, as reported by the sheriff’s department.
Last week, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office charged Jossimar Cabrera with murder. It was not clear on Wednesday whether he had legal representation.
The suspect had escaped to Peru with the couple’s three sons. On social media, Peru’s foreign ministry announced on August 16 that the children were sent back to Los Angeles via Mexico City to be with their mother’s relatives.
“It will take several months in order to extradite Cabrera to the United States, but with a current order in place, he will be kept in Peruvian custody pending his extradition,” a sheriff’s department statement said.
The coroner’s office will determine Sheylla Cabrera’s cause of death.
