Body found in river identified through DNA as suspect in beheading

Corpse found floating in California river with mysterious ‘sheepdog’ tattoo is identified as suspect on the run from police over his girlfriend’s beheading murder

  • Body positively identified via DNA Tuesday as 33-year-old Jacob Gonzales was found floating in Feather River in Yuba City, California, in April 2018
  • Gonzales was only suspect in the murder of his girlfriend, 26-year-old Katherine Cunningham 
  • Cunningham was beheaded with a samurai sword in February 2018 on Camano Island, Washington
  • Gonzales was initially classified as ‘John Doe’ because there was no identification on his body 
  • Detectives shared with the public photos of the deceased man’s ‘sheepdog’ and ‘faith’ tattoos to help identify him 
  • Police found no signs of foul play in Gonzales’ death by drowning   

A body with a mysterious ‘sheepdog’ tattoo found floating in a California river a year ago has been positively identified via DNA as belonging to a man charged in the killing and decapitation of his girlfriend on Washington’s Camano Island.

The Island County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday that the body of 33-year-old Jacob Gonzales was found in the Feather River in northern California in April 2018.

Police in March 2018 found the headless body of Gonzales’ girlfriend, 26-year-old Air Force reservist Katherine Cunningham, on an undeveloped parcel of land near a gun- and ammo-filled bunker on Camano Island.

Katherine Cunningham

Police in California in April 2018 found the body of a man that on Tuesday was positively identified through DNA as 33-year-old murder suspect Jacob Gonzales (left). He was charged in July with decapitating 26-year-old Katherine Cunningham (right) in Washington state  

Authorities in California had previously released photos of the dead man's tattoos, including sheepdog

Authorities in California had previously released photos of the dead man’s tattoos, including sheepdog

Authorities said Gonzales lived with Cunningham in a trailer. He was charged with murder in July after investigators said they found the suspected murder weapon, a blood-stained samurai sword, with his DNA evidence on the hilt.

Court documents say Cunningham likely died on February 14 or 15. Her body was found more than two weeks later by a couple looking to buy the property.

The woman’s remains were stuffed inside a sleeping bag wrapped in a tarp in a red wagon.

Not far from the crime scene, police discovered an underground bunker stocked with rifles and more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition.  

Documents say Gonzales stole Cunningham’s Honda Civic and fled, with the car found abandoned in Yreka, California on February 19.

On April 7 of that year, the Sutter County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a body that had been found by a fisherman in the river in Yuba City, California, located nearly 800 miles south of Camano Island. 

With no identification, the body, which was initially mistaken for that of a woman because it was dressed in female clothing, was classified as a ‘John Doe.’

Gonzales and Cunningham had been living in a trailer on Camano Island, Washington, until February 2018 when the woman was beheaded with a samurai sword

Gonzales and Cunningham had been living in a trailer on Camano Island, Washington, until February 2018 when the woman was beheaded with a samurai sword 

Gonzales died from drowning

Cunningham was decapitated

Police found Gonzales’ DNA on the hilt of the sword and issued a warrant for his arrest in connection to his girlfriend’s killing. They said he died from drowning 

Detectives with the sheriff’s office would later determine that the man died from drowning. They have found no evidence to suggest foul play. 

Sutter County appealed to public for help with identification by posting photographs of ‘John Doe’s’ tattoos, including a dog or wolf with a banner that read ‘sheepdog’ and another spelling out the word ‘faith’ in elaborate script. 

In November 2018, tips concerning the deceased man’s body art led detectives to believe that ‘John Doe’ was Gonzales. 

The anonymous caller said the sheepdog was a popular image among servicemen symbolizing protection, and the letters ‘AF’ etched inside the animal’s ear likely stood for ‘Air Force.’  

Cunningham’s family members had posted a photo of Gonzales’ sheepdog on the inside of his left forearm on a Facebook page titled ‘Justice 4 Katherine.’  

Samples from his body were sent to a DNA laboratory in California for positive identification, which was finally made on Tuesday.  

‘My hope was to interrogate him and provide answers to Katherine’s family,’ Island County Sheriff’s Office Detective Ed Wallace told the Redding Record Searchlight of Gonzales. ‘He cheated the family of answers.’

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk