Around 4:16 in the morning on March 9, Francisco Núñez, who was a gang member, mysteriously disappeared, but five days later he was found dead in some bushes.
Officers Simi and Quezada, of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) at the Lancaster Station, were the ones who had initial contact with a group of individuals who were gathered in the 44000 block of Division Street.
Supposedly, three individuals were there to vandalize or steal a car, which was owned by Eric Guzmán, one of the two arrested, along with Robert García, the third individual, Francisco Núñez, disappeared that night until his body was found five days later. later, on March 14.
In the early morning of March 9, everyone ran when the patrols arrived. In Eric’s car were three guns that belonged to Francisco Núñez, a 38-year-old gang member and father of eight children.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s report indicates that case number 2024-04452 remains open.
The mysterious death
Francisco’s mysterious death is also already being investigated by the Federal Department of Justice (DOJ).
According to Francisco’s relatives, his body was a few meters away from the same place where he disappeared at dawn on the 9th.
That morning Eric Guzmán and Robert García were the only ones arrested.
Garcia was charged with being in possession of a firearm and remains incarcerated. Meanwhile, Guzmán was released on bail, but was arrested once again on April 22 by federal authorities. Upon leaving the court, Eric Guzmán was apprehended by FBI agents.
FBI spokesperson Laura Eimiller confirmed to La Opinión that Guzmán was recaptured on April 19. He faces federal charges for possession of ammunition.
Suspected beating or murder
There is no record of Francisco. No one knows where he was for five days until he was found dead a few meters from the place where he was with his friends on March 9.
“Until now we don’t know what happened to him. That’s the mystery,” said Wanette Cullors, founder and program director of Cancel the Contract Antelope Valley, a community-led grassroots campaign addressing police violence, racism and reimagining. attention to communities.
“The family believes that it is more likely that they did something to Francisco and that it got out of hand,” he added. “People don’t want to believe that the sheriff did anything wrong to them, but yes, they can, mainly families who have been injured or killed by police believe it.”
“Francis is dead”
“From jail, Robert called several days later and asked if Francisco had been arrested on March 9,” stated Cindy Núñez, sister of Francisco Núñez. “They answered him, “Francis is dead.”
“What do you mean he’s dead? What Francisco needed was to be taken to a doctor,” Robert García asked from prison.
Before his public defender, García had refuted that he was charged with weapons possession.
“Whether you want it or not, the gun is going to be yours,” the sheriffs presumably told García.
The inmate’s response, according to the people Robert called, was: “You’re going to have to prove that my fingerprints are on some weapon.”
The charge was dropped, but García remains imprisoned.
After that call, sources close to the case of the mysterious disappearance of Francisco Núñez told La Opinión that Robert García was sent to the “hole”, a place of solitary confinement, in the Central Prison for Men in Los County. Angels.
In their criminal past, Francisco Núñez and Verónica García were arrested in January 2014 for selling drugs near Joshua Elementary School in Lancaster.
As a teenager, Núñez became involved in a gang, arrested for violating his probation and for being in possession of a firearm and domestic violence.
“Their sentences were never more than one or two years,” said his sister Cindy Núñez. “He was never arrested for robbery.”
Who decides the life and death of a person?
Although Robert García and Eric Guzmán were arrested, nothing was known for five days about the whereabouts of Francisco Núñez, whose inert body “appeared” a short distance from where the chase began.
Authorities confirmed to La Opinión that there is no arrest record in Núñez’s name and maintain that there was no “foul play” in Francisco’s death.
“Yes, my brother was a gang member, but who can decide in this life who lives or who dies?” questioned Cindy Núñez.
Find the body of Francisco Núñez
“On Thursday, March 14, 2024, officers from the Lancaster Station responded to the 44000 block of Division Street, in the City of Lancaster, regarding a call of a man down.”
“Upon arrival, officers located an adult male lying on a dirt lot. The man had obvious signs of being lifeless and was declared dead at the scene at 9:13 a.m.
The man was identified as Francisco Núñez, from Lancaster, 38 years old.
“Homicide investigators along with an investigator from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office were notified and responded to the scene,” adds the LASD statement on its Nixle account.
“A preliminary investigation at the scene revealed no signs of foul play (violence resulting in death), nor were any signs of apparent trauma found on Mr. Nunez’s body,” the LASD message states.
“On Tuesday, March 19, 2024, the autopsy was performed on Mr. Núñez. The medical examiner found no obvious signs of trauma in the [cuerpo del] Mr. Nunez. The cause of death has been deferred pending receipt of toxicology results.”
The case is being handled as “a death investigation.”
Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau: 323-890-5500.
If you prefer to provide information anonymously, you can call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
Responses to Opinion
La Opinión sent a series of questions to LASD Lancaster station captains Andrew D. Meyer and Joseph F Fender, who forwarded them to detectives Paul Bartlett, Leopoldo Sánchez and Mike R. Rivas
The answers below are from Lt. David Vizcarra, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau
Is there a record of the arrest of Francisco Núñez by the Sheriff’s Department on the night of March 8-9?
A: “Homicide investigators have not found any arrest record on those dates indicated if they refer to March 8 and 9, 2024.”
If Francisco was not arrested, where would he have been after that night when there was a Sheriff’s chase for Francisco Núñez and two other individuals?
A: “Unknown.”
Who reported that Francisco’s body was under the bushes on March 14?
A: “This information is not being released at this time as this is an ongoing investigation.”
How is it possible that no one has seen Francisco’s body for five days in the area where he was found dead? Do you have a possible explanation for this?
A: “The timeline for how long Mr. Núñez’s body was in the place where it was discovered is unknown.”
For how many days was Francisco’s body covered by the bushes where his body was found?
A: “Unknown.”
Do you think there was foul play?
A: “To date, in the death investigation being conducted by homicide investigators, no signs of foul play have been discovered.”
Did you find or see any bruises or marks of violence on Francisco’s torso or hands?
A: Neither the field investigator nor the forensic examiner found evidence of foul play.”
Tomorrow: Forensic investigator comments that the rigidity of Francisco Núñez’s body indicated that it was “moved” twice; There were marks of injuries on his abdomen, bruises from rubber bullets on one hand and probable signs that he was handcuffed before dying; The authorities said that he did not have any injuries, but photographs of the deceased’s body indicate otherwise.