Chilling Moment Man Allegedly Dragged Dead Wife Caught on Camera

A family is begging for justice after. the man suspected of killing a young. mother allegedly took off with their. children to another country. Now that. case has jumped international borders. And what steps are police taking to make. sure Shayla Gutierrez's alleged killer. doesn't get away. I'm going to be. sitting down with a California police. officer who can offer unique insight. into this case. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse. Weber. The search for a missing mother of three. in Southern California has come to a.

tragic end. 33-year-old mother of three. Shayla Gutierrez, sometimes known as. Shayla Cabrera, was found dead in the. Angeles National Forest days after. friends reported her missing. But this. is a case that is far from over. Why? Because authorities are trying to track. down their prime suspect, her husband, 36-year-old Josear Cabrera. Now, Shayla. Cabrera and their three sons had. immigrated to the United States in 2023. from Peru. This is according to Shayla's. family, hoping for a fresh start, a.

better life than they had in their home. country. But that dream apparently. turned into a nightmare as Shayla's. loved ones alleged that domestic. violence in the couple's relationship. continued in the United States. Authorities believe that Shayla died on. August 10th at an apartment in. Lancaster. She was reported missing two. days later and police immediately. noticed several suspicious and. disturbing pieces of information. What. am I talking about? August 13th, Los. Angeles County Sheriff's deputies said.

they found footage from a nearby ring. camera that apparently showed Cabrera. dragging something heavy in a large. piece of cloth away from the apartment. complex. That video was recorded on. August 10th at around 4:00 a.m. according to NBC 4 Los Angeles. Obviously, that raised a lot of red. flags. Then, when authorities discovered. that not only Cabrera was nowhere to be. found, but that his three sons were also. missing, alarm bells went off. The.

children were logged into the missing. person system at that point. This is. according to the Los Angeles Times. Saturday, August 16th, search and rescue. teams. They find Shayla's body wrapped. up in material very similar to what we. saw on that Ring camera footage, apparently dumped over the side of an. embankment. According to reporting from. the LA Times, medical examiner hasn't. determined a cause of death yet, but we. can get an idea of what happened based. on the charge that was filed against. Cabrera in a new extradition warrant, one count of murder with allegations.

that he used a knife as a deadly weapon. Now, Shayla's family has revealed more. details about what was apparently. happening behind the scenes that may. have motivated this alleged brutal. attack because according to Shayla's. mom, there had been reports of domestic. violence in this house. Now, she spoke. with outlet Latina Noticius saying she. told me that Josear Cabrera Corno hit. her, mistreated her, and even slapped my. youngest grandchild who was 3 years old. I called my daughter, but she didn't.

answer. I spoke to Jose on Sunday and he. told me that immigration had taken my. daughter. Yeah, that's right. So, Cabrera reportedly told Helga that her. daughter had gone to an immigration. appointment and had been detained. But. Helga was suspicious, not only because. the immigration office isn't open on. Sundays, but because of a conversation. that she'd had with Shayla just one day. before. Helga told the same outlet. She. told me that he abused them, hit them. I. found out that he had slapped the baby. when he was younger. She told me, "Mom, I can't take it anymore. I'm going to.

file a complaint today, Saturday." Now, according to Helga, Cabrera was in the. room when they were talking and got. angry. Quote, he didn't say anything, but looked at her with a fierce. expression. Later, I heard him say, "Don't file a complaint. You'll hurt. me." Now, Helga again told this outlet. that she spoke with Shayla one more time. on a video call, but never saw her alive. again. And according to Shayla's sister, per reporting from ABC7, Cabrera kept. changing his story about what happened. to his wife. After saying ICE detained.

her, he then said she left with another. man. Then in a third story, apparently. said she'd had some kind of accident. It's believed that Cabrera took off with. the three children to Peru. And video. from the airport in Lima, Peru had. spread like wildfire on social media, and it shows someone following after a. man believed to be Cabrera who's being. escorted outside by Lima police. According to outlet Univision, Cabrera. was arrested on August 16th, the same. day that Shayla's body would be found, but apparently was released because.

there wasn't yet a warrant for his. extradition. According to the LA County. Sheriff's Department, the three children. were found safe. They were taken into. protective custody before being released. to Shayla's family in Peru. So, as we're. talking the law here, let me call out. real quick an expert on the law, the. legal sponsor who helped us make this. episode happen, Morgan and Morgan, America's largest injury law firm. This. is a firm with over a,000 attorneys. You. know why they have so many? Because they. win a lot. They have recovered, listen. to this, over $25 billion for more than.

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phone in just eight clicks. So, if. you're injured, you can easily start a. claim at forthepeople.com/lcsidebar. by clicking the link below or scanning. the QR code on screen. And then you go to Friday, August 22nd. The LA County District Attorney's Office. announced that it had filed an. extradition arrest warrant for Cabrera. for murder. District Attorney Nathan J. Hawkman said in a statement, "The. allegations against this man are. horrific, and we will do everything. possible to bring him back under our. jurisdiction to be held accountable.

Domestic violence creates chaos in our. communities and shatters families. My. office is committed to bringing. stability back into the lives of those. who have been victimized. According to. the DA, Cabrera could face 26 years to. life in prison if convicted. Okay, so I. want to talk about this further and I. want to bring back on someone here on. Sidebar who is an excellent voice when. it comes to these kinds of. investigations. We're joined by Kyle. Schoberg, who is a California police. sergeant and co-instructor of the patrol. survival tactics seminar and host of the. shots fired show podcast. Uh Kyle, thank.

you so much for coming on. Really. appreciate you taking the time. You. know, one of the things that we talk. about a lot when you come on is what. happens in a domestic violence. situation, in a domestic relationship, and when a person decides to leave their. partner, that can sometimes, right, be. the highest risk of violence and someone. being a target of violence. I mean, how. common is it in your experience of. seeing a domestic violence situation or. a domestic situation turning deadly? >> Yeah, first, thanks for having me,

Jesse. It is very common unfortunately. and that's why there's so many programs. and advocate programs out there to help. victims get out of domestic violence. situations. They are one of the most. volatile calls and situations that we. deal with in law enforcement. And so. you're you're talking about people's. emotions getting brought into this. And. so that's why we unfortunately see cases. like this happen quite frequently. >> What would you tell someone uh who's. looking to escape a situation like this? And what is the role of police? How much. can they actually do?

>> Well, first I would say if you're a. victim of domestic violence, go out and. speak to somebody that you can confide. with. And if you know, if it rises to. the level of, you know, someone's. placing their hands on you, you need to. contact police and get the ball rolling. for that. I mean, the laws around. domestic violence are very strict. Most. of the time in most states, they're. always going to be a mandated arrest. Now, if you do go that route, obviously. we encourage we as law enforcement. encourage victims to seek out. restraining orders and do whatever we.

can do to help them get away from their. abuser. Now, when you talk about. domestic violence, it's it's not always. physical. A lot of times you're dealing. with emotional domestic violence. And. so, that too can be very traumatizing. for victims. And most of the times in my. career, 19 years in law enforcement, when you do talk to victims of domestic. violence, a lot of the times this has. been going on for a long period of time. and they're just too afraid to speak out. or say anything to anybody. >> It's very true. Uh, unfortunately, that's very true. Um, I want to talk a. little bit more about this. investigation, per se. So, you have.

something that started as a missing. person's report. Then the homicide team. was called in when foul play was. suspected. Let's stop right there. What. are investigators on the lookout when. they're determining the direction of a. case, how it's going to go? Because. again, I can't say that's surprising. Sometimes when you have a missing. person's case, it can then turn into a. homicide investigation. Talk to me about. that. >> Yeah, you know, I think it depends on. what the missing person's case is. In. this particular case, you have a mom of. three children who's married to this. guy. She's all of a sudden vanished.

Clearly, that's not normal. And I think. when you receive a report like that, the. investigators are going to dive really. deep into that and figure out what. happened to her. Has she disappeared. before? Is this something that's. typical? And if the answer is no, then. you know something potentially bad has. has potentially happened to her. And so. I think in this case, the investigators. dove into this, started reviewing video, surveillance tapes, and unfortunately, you see what you see in the video of the. husband dragging this sheet with clearly. something large wrapped up in it through. the apartment complex. And in the law.

enforcement world, that's what we call a. clue. And that is when you see that. nothing good is going to come from that. And so I think once they saw that from. there it's okay now they need to try to. figure out where exactly is she and then. where is where is the husband. One of. the complicating factors of this is the. Angeles national forest. It is huge. right? It's more than 700,000. acres. You have multiple spots that are. designated as wilderness areas. How do.

you even know where to start a search in. an area like that? by the way. >> Yeah, I figured you're going to ask me. that and I think what it boils down to. and what most people don't understand is. where how involved technology is in law. enforcement. I mean, it's very easy to. figure out, okay, we now have a time. stamp of when he drug her body out to. more than likely his vehicle, plug in. his vehicle into license plate readers. There's cameras everywhere in cities. nowadays, entrances and exits of parks, public places. And it's not difficult to.

track somebody's movement utilizing. technology. And so, if I had to guess, I. would say they did that. They tracked. them all the way to this national park. wherever he entered this park and. started their search from there. And. using probably dogs that train to sniff. for cadaavvers, even humans that are. still alive, massive search teams that. are set up strategically. So, if if I. were a betting man, I would guess that. that's how they what led them there. >> Is it is it put a danger on law. enforcement searching certain areas? I. mean, I always wonder if that's a a.

consideration of killers or suspected. killers about placing a body in a place. where it would be tough for law. enforcement to search. Yeah, I mean those are always, you know, things that could come up. I think. hazardous situations, but we have so. many tools and resources that we can use. as law enforcement to either go track. somebody down or retrieve a body if it. was in a hazardous area. >> There's another complicating factor, too. You got a suspect fleeing to. another country. When that happens, what.

do you do? Does that throw just a huge. wrench into an investigation? Is it a. stumbling block? How difficult is that? Because there's one thing trying to. track somebody in the United States in a. state trying to see if they went to. across state lines going to another. country that I wonder how complicated. that is. >> Yeah, it could be very complicated. depending on what country it is. Here. we're fled to Peru and South America and. so I don't know that it would be. necessarily a roadblock. Is it a lot of. extra work? Yes, it is. you have to.

start securing warrants to be able to. send federal agents into Peru, have. through detain this individual, and then. be able to extradite him back to the. United States. And so, it sounds like. that process has already been worked on. or dealt with in this particular case. But in reading this article, it says. they asked police in Peru to detain him. and they would not do it because there. was no warrant. It's just going to. require a lot of extra steps. Can. >> just to put a finer point on that, if. you look at the timeline here, so Shayla. is believed to have died on August 10th. friends reported her missing on August.

12th, August 13th. Deputies review that. very creepy surveillance video. They. find uh Shayla's body on August 16th. And at this point, Cabrera is reportedly. arriving in Peru with his children. What. exactly do authorities need? What. evidence do they need to file an arrest. or extradition warrant? Do they have to. always have a body? I mean, do you know. what the complicating factors could be. in order to get someone back?

>> Yeah. So, a lot of times during a. homicide investigation, investigators. would actually it boils down to the. district attorney's office would like. that body to be able to prove this to a. jury beyond a reasonable doubt that that. person is no longer alive. Right? So, there have been cases where people do. want to disappear on their own and not. be found. So, they have to prove that. that's not what's happened here. And so. regarding that, that that would be a. circumstantial case, right? You would. have to have enough evidence to show. that you believe this person is no. longer alive. In this case, they have a.

body. And so all they need to prove is. he is tied to this homicide. That is. very damaging video evidence against. him. And then days after her death, he's. fleeing to Peru with his kids. And so. that's enough to be able to prove. I'm. sure they have an abundance of evidence. they found in the house and in talking. with family members. Um, I mean it's a. long list of things that they would. need. >> Can we talk about that for a second? So, obviously from a legal point of view, you know, me being the attorney, I'm. looking at this and saying they have. more than enough to go forward with, you.

know, charges and a trial. I I am look. even though innocent until proven guilty. I have to tell you how many times have. we talked about cases or we've seen. cases where it's like is there no. recognition that whether you Google. something right or you get caught on. surveillance tape like the idea is do. you not think about that? I mean, is. this the idea of it's a panic situation. and they're not thinking clearly, but. the amount of evidence that is. potentially uh left behind for.

prosecutors to use against a suspect. here. What could be an innocent. explanation for that video? I'm. struggling to come up with one. You. know, I will tell you, I've seen cases. before where somebody will say, "I. didn't kill this person. I either found. them dead, they overdosed, there was a. fight, it was self-defense. I did clean. up the body. I did try to get rid of. evidence. You can convict me of that, but I didn't actually murder that. person. You know, aside from that, it. just to me from an investigative point. of view, are you ever surprised how much.

digital evidence is left behind of a. crime? >> Oh, all the time. I mean, most of the. crimes we investigate, Yeah. you look. back and you you just think, really? I. mean, in today's day and age with just. with your cell phone alone, I mean, there's so much digital evidence in just. your phone. And so now you're talking. about security footage or all the. cameras and technology that's out there, you can't you can't explain that. And. and I think in a case like this, I would. venture to believe that this was a panic.

situation for him, maybe a heat of the. moment crime, and he has to get rid of. this body. And I don't clearly he is not. even thinking about leaving that digital. footprint because he's on camera. dragging her body clear as day. I'm sure. he knows those cameras are there. So I'm. sure that's why he took his quick trip. to Peru. >> What do you make of Cabrera's alleged. multiple stories about what happened to. Shayla? If a suspect lies multiple. times, how do investigators know when.

they're actually being honest about. something? >> Yeah, that's a that's a great point. uh. you know, in today's world when you're. investigating, let's say, a homicide, right? Necessarily, we don't want the. perpetrator or the suspect to to even. tell us the truth, right? We want to. know if they're a trutht teller or a. liar. And so, when you're sitting. somebody down and you're interviewing. them, you want them to just share their. story. Now, you already know based on. the evidence that you've collected what. the story more than likely is. And so,

when you sit somebody down, you ask them. what happened. They're going to spew. their guts out if they decide to talk. And based on what they say, you can. circle back and say, "Okay, well, what. about this based on this video footage. that we have of you?" Now, that person's. either going to go down the rabbit hole. of lying again or telling the truth. And. so, when you go to court, it's easy to. prove that, hey, look, this person's. lying. Why are they lying? Here's the. evidence to show that that's clearly not. what happened. And so it's not doesn't.

necessarily come down to we need. somebody to confess to a crime like. that. We just need to be able to show. are you telling the truth or are you. lying. >> By the way, Kyle, before we got on, you. had mentioned something to me about. there's something for people aside from. how horrible this case is, there's. something important for people to. remember about it, something to take. away from it. What is that? I look at. this case and my biggest takeaway is if. you have a family member or a friend who. you have not seen or been in contact. with for a period of time that's out of. the ordinary, you need to report that. person missing immediately. Don't wait.

24, 48 hours, whatever you see in the. movies that that tells you that that's. how long you have to wait. You can. report somebody missing immediately and. law enforcement are mandated to take. that report and they are required to. start looking into it for every missing. person's case. So, my best advice is is. just that if if you something's not. right, report it to the police. immediately. >> And I will say this, if you find. yourself in a dangerous situation at. home, we want to make sure that you know. that there are resources out there that.

can help you. You can call the National. Domestic Violence Line for free. confidential at 1800799. SAFE. That's 1800799-7233. and it's available 24 hours in English. and Spanish. Kyle Schoberg, thank you so. much for taking the time. It was good. seeing you. >> Thank you, Jesse. I appreciate you guys. >> And that is all we have for you right. now here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank. you so much for joining us. And as. always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you. should get your podcasts. I'm Jesse. Weber. I'll speak to you next time.

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