Latest news with #RedRockSearchandRescue
Miami Herald
21-05-2025
- Miami Herald
Woman missing for over a year found buried in desert, CA cops say. Man arrested
The body of a woman reported missing more than a year ago has been found buried in a remote desert area, and there's been an arrest in her slaying, California deputies say. Tyna Castillo, 43, was first reported missing Feb. 3, 2024, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said in a May 20 news release. The person who reported her missing said they had not been able to reach Castillo since December 2023, despite having sent several messages, according to deputies. Deputies said they started a missing person investigation and began looking into Castillo's disappearance. Her whereabouts, though, were a mystery, deputies said. Investigators learned that Castillo was possibly killed on a residential property in Needles, according to deputies. However, as detectives worked to speak with 'witnesses and people of interest in Castillo's disappearance,' they received little cooperation, and Castillo's case went cold, deputies said. Then, in September, the sheriff's department cold case homicide team took up the investigation. Through interviewing witnesses, homicide detectives learned where Castillo's remains were located, deputies said. Deputies said they along with a number of other rescuers, including Red Rock Search and Rescue and about 100 volunteers, set out to look for Castillo. After eight searches, deputies said they found human remains buried 'in an open desert area, along the Colorado River in Needles.' The remains were positively identified as Castillo, who had been fatally shot, deputies said. Detectives continued to investigate Castillo's case and ultimately identified Jared Winer, 44, as a suspect in her death, deputies said. Castillo and Winer were 'acquaintances,' Mara Rodriguez, a sheriff's department spokeswoman, said in a May 21 email to McClatchy News. They lived on the same property but in 'different dwellings,' according to Rodriguez. The San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office issued a warrant for Winer's arrest on one count of murder, deputies said. Winer was arrested on separate charges in Arizona on May 6, the sheriff's department said. Once that case is concluded, he will be extradited to California to face charges in Castillo's killing, deputies said. In a Facebook post announcing Castillo's death, her sister said 'the world has lost a bright light, and our hearts are broken.' 'Everyone was drawn to my sister,' Castillo's sister wrote. 'She lit up every room she entered, effortlessly becoming the heart of any group. She lived boldly, without fear of judgment, and was endlessly creative, witty, loving, and determined.' A GoFundMe echoed the sentiment, saying Castillo 'stood out—not just for her sense of humor and fierce independence, but also for her talent and determination.' 'More than anything, Tyna had a remarkable ability to connect with others—rooted in her genuine acceptance of people as they were,' the GoFundMe says. Castillo is survived by her two children, according to her sister. Needles is near the Arizona border, about a 260-mile drive northeast from Los Angeles.
American Military News
23-04-2025
- American Military News
Body of missing Las Vegas veterinarian found at Lake Mead after viral video showed him mistreating horse
The body of a Las Vegas equine veterinarian missing since early April was found Friday at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, authorities confirmed Monday. The National Park Service said in a statement that a body was discovered Friday near the Boulder Islands within Lake Mead. The body was recovered and identified the next day by the Clark County coroner's office as veterinarian Shawn Frehner, 56, of Las Vegas. Authorities did not provide a cause or manner of death for Frehner, who was reported missing April 6. Frehner was identified using dental records. No further details were given. The National Park Service had been leading a multiagency search for Frehner. The search was being conducted with the Nevada Department of Wildlife and volunteers from Las Vegas-based Red Rock Search and Rescue. A missing persons report released by the Metropolitan Police on April 10 stated that Frehner left behind his wallet, keys and a cellphone inside his unoccupied truck found at the Hemenway Harbor at Lake Mead. Frehner's father, Rex Frehner, said his son did not have a history of medical or mental health conditions and 'has never made any threats to hurt himself or anyone else,' according to the missing persons report. Rex Frehner said he believed his son owned a gun, but the father was unsure whether he would have taken it with him to the lake. Rex Frehner and other relatives did not respond Monday to requests for comment. Days before the search for Shawn Frehner, a criminal complaint was filed by Pahrump resident Shawna Gonzalez, who alleged he had mistreated her horse. Nye County Sheriff Joe McGill confirmed to the Pahrump Valley Times that the Nye County Sheriff's Office had received Gonzalez's complaint of felony animal abuse and was investigating. Gonzalez said in a text message to the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Monday that she was sorry to hear of Shawn Frehner's death. 'I had no idea this would happen,' Gonzalez said. 'But I was not the one bullying. I am not sorry for standing up for my horse. I am their voice and will continue to be.' Video circulates on social media In the days after the incident, Gonzalez shared a social media post about her complaint, including video, which was later recirculated by animal rights groups showing a man purported to be Shawn Frehner interacting with her horse named Big Red and at one point kicking it in the jaw when it was on the ground. Those posts shared by Gonzalez include what purports to be a lengthy apology and explanation by Shawn Frehner of what happened. In Shawn Frehner's telling of events, he described Big Red as a wild horse that was dangerously aggressive and unresponsive to sedatives he had administered to prepare him for gelding. He said the horse had fallen after the sedatives began to take effect in a way that was affecting its breathing, and he had reached out with his foot to brush its face to startle it back into awareness, but the horse turned its head and he ended up kicking it in the chin. 'I did not blatantly haul off and kick this horse, as it appears in the video,' Shawn Frehner wrote, according to a screenshot of the post. 'That was not my intention at all. It was done simply to get the Horse in a better position so that he could breathe and get up and move, so I could again try to anesthetize.' Since the video was posted, the personal Facebook page belonging to Shawn Frehner, as well as his veterinarian business page, had been flooded with comments accusing him of animal abuse. Others stated that he should have had his veterinary license revoked because of the video. Rush to judgment? Eric Rose, a partner of the Pasadena, California-based strategic communications firm Englander Knabe &Allen, said that while video of the incident is 'unsettling,' many may have rushed to judgment before authorities could thoroughly investigate, leading to Shawn Frehner being 'engulfed in a social media firestorm.' 'In the days following a criminal complaint and the release of a disturbing video shared on Facebook, it is clear that Dr. Frehner became the target of intense scrutiny and widespread condemnation,' Rose wrote in an email. 'The court of public opinion, fueled by viral posts and amplified by animal rights activists, not surprisingly, moved faster than the formal investigation.' Gonzalez said that in addition to reporting to law enforcement, she reported Shawn Frehner to the Nevada State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners. Jennifer Pedigo, executive director of the agency, has declined to comment on a pending investigation. But a complaint was filed against Shawn Frehner in 2016 that was settled in May of the following year, according to online records. Shawn Frehner was placed into a one-year probationary period after the board found that he had failed to maintain and computerize patient records, stemming from an incident where he also dispensed prescription medication to animal owners in unlabeled plastic bags, according to a document outlining the veterinarian board's findings. It's the only mention of disciplinary action on a digital overview of his profile, which said he initially received his veterinarian license in 1998. His license was set to expire June 30, according to online records. No other complaints are listed on his file. ___ © 2025 Las Vegas Review-Journal. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
