A missing young woman was found dead in the Santa Cruz Mountains over the weekend, just hours after police shot a man they say threatened the couple’s 3-year-old daughter with a knife.
The saga unfolded Saturday night when a man identified by police as Joshua Gonzalez showed up outside the Watsonville Police Department with his 3-year-old daughter, authorities wrote ia Facebook posts.
Gonzalez, authorities said, called the dispatch center and said “he was armed with a knife and was going to hurt” the child.
An officer on patrol came upon Gonzalez and ordered him to drop the knife. Authorities allege Gonzalez “ignored his commands and attacked the officer, who returned fire,” according to the Facebook post.
Gonzalez was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was listed in stable condition. The girl was unharmed and cared for by relatives.
A missing person’s report was issued shortly after police and family members were unable to contact the girl’s mother, 25-year-old Lizbeth Arceo Sedano.
The next morning, 10 miles or so north of Watsonville, deputies from the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to the Santa Cruz Mountains after someone discovered a body near Eureka Canyon and Grizzly Flat roads, the office wrote in a Facebook post.
Homicide detectives were dispatched to the scene and identified the body as Sedano’s.
“Her death is being investigated as suspicious,” sheriff’s officials said, adding that the cause and manner of death will be determined by a medical examiner.