Josephine Wentzel, a 67-year-old former detective and grandmother, spent six years chasing leads after her daughter, Krystal Mitchell, was found strangled in San Diego in June 2016. A tip photo on Aug. 26, 2022 prompted renewed scrutiny and, four days later, U.S. Marshals announced Raymond McLeod’s arrest in Sonsonate, El Salvador on Aug. 30, 2022. McLeod, 42 and a former U.S. Marine, has pleaded not guilty to a first-degree murder charge and was returned to San Diego; a preliminary hearing is scheduled for March. Wentzel has used her search to publish two books and to lobby for greater attention to the nation’s backlog of unsolved homicides.
Key takeaways
- Victim and charge: Krystal Mitchell, 30, was found dead June 10, 2016; prosecutors charged Raymond McLeod with first-degree murder.
- Capture timeline: A photo-led tip reached Wentzel Aug. 26, 2022; McLeod was detained in Sonsonate, El Salvador on Aug. 30, 2022 and returned to San Diego the next day.
- Fugitive status: McLeod was added to the U.S. Marshals Service’s 15 Most Wanted list in spring 2021, with the reward raised to $50,000.
- Allegations and defense: Court filings cite prior April 2016 Riverside County domestic-violence charges; McLeod’s attorneys say the death resulted from accidental injury during consensual BDSM activity and he has pleaded not guilty.
- Family activism: Wentzel founded Angels of Justice, authored two books — The Chase and The Capture — and helped nonprofits assist law enforcement in cold cases.
- Cross-border search: Wentzel concentrated online outreach in Central America, running targeted Facebook ads and circulating wanted flyers that she says helped surface the decisive tip.
- Institutional response: The Marshals Service credited Wentzel’s cooperation; the San Diego district attorney described her as “instrumental” in the search.
Background
The case began in early June 2016, when McLeod and Mitchell were in San Diego after meeting a few weeks earlier. Police say a bar fight on June 9 preceded Mitchell being discovered dead the following day at the apartment where they were staying; a deputy medical examiner concluded the cause of death was strangulation. San Diego authorities quickly identified McLeod as a person of interest and by June 13 had sought an arrest warrant.
McLeod left the area after Mitchell’s death, and investigators believe he traveled through Mexico; his last confirmed sighting before capture was reported in Guatemala in 2017. Earlier that spring he faced separate domestic-violence allegations in Riverside County. Those charges were not finally adjudicated, and McLeod went missing after Mitchell’s killing, prompting a multiagency, international effort to locate him.
Main event
Wentzel, who had planned to retire and travel in an RV before her daughter’s death, turned her grief into a persistent search. Frustrated by slow progress on foreign leads, she began distributing wanted posters and sharing images and case details across dozens of social-media accounts in Central America. Her outreach included a targeted Facebook ad that she set to cover a 100-mile radius near a hotel north of the Guatemala–El Salvador border.
Over several years she received thousands of tips — some credible, others fraudulent — and occasionally paid attention to lead-generators who misrepresented their information. Wentzel says one exchange produced a brochure from an English school in El Salvador that included a photo later shared with U.S. Marshals; she identified the person in that image as McLeod and alerted authorities.
The Marshals Service and Salvadoran police moved quickly on that lead. On Aug. 30, 2022, they arrested McLeod in Sonsonate, where he had been teaching English, and transported him to San Diego the next day. McLeod has pleaded not guilty; his attorneys either declined comment or did not respond to requests for statements about the capture.
Analysis & implications
Wentzel’s role highlights how grieving relatives increasingly supplement official investigations with crowdsourced intelligence and targeted social-media campaigns. Her work underscores both the potential of public participation in fugitive searches and the risks: false leads waste resources, and decentralized efforts can complicate cross-border law-enforcement coordination.
Legally, the case raises questions about admissibility and chain-of-custody for evidence that originates through informal channels. Prosecutors will need to demonstrate how information flowed from tip to identification to arrest and preserve independent verification to withstand defense challenges about how the suspect was located.
On a policy level, Wentzel’s advocacy — including urging the White House to treat unsolved homicides as a national emergency — feeds into wider debates about federal support for cold-case units and international investigative assistance. The White House spokeswoman criticized the previous administration’s record and framed the issue as central to restoring public confidence in justice; the statement reflects how criminal-justice matters can become political touchpoints.
For families of homicide victims, the case may serve as both a model and a cautionary tale: grassroots persistence can produce results, but it also places emotional and logistical burdens on those already in mourning and can strain relationships with law enforcement when priorities or tactics differ.
Comparison & data
| Year | Event | Key fact |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Krystal Mitchell killed | June 9–10, strangulation, victim aged 30 |
| 2017 | Last known sighting | Reported in Guatemala |
| 2021 | Most Wanted listing | Added to Marshals’ 15 Most Wanted; reward $50,000 |
| 2022 | Arrest | Captured Aug. 30 in Sonsonate, El Salvador; returned to San Diego Aug. 31 |
The timeline shows a six-year gap between the homicide and arrest, with a major law-enforcement designation and reward increase in 2021. That period illustrates common delays in transnational fugitive investigations when suspects move through multiple countries with differing legal cooperation frameworks.
Reactions & quotes
Family advocates and fellow victims’ relatives described Wentzel as relentless yet compassionate, crediting her with nudging agencies to revisit cold leads and sharing practical guidance with others navigating violent-loss investigations.
“She goes for it in such a way that people can’t really refuse her, because she’s so genuine and kind, but persistent.”
Pat Kuiper, advocate whose son’s cold case saw renewed attention
Those who received Wentzel’s support praised her blend of procedural knowledge and emotional empathy.
“If there are things that go on and you think, what the hell is this, I’d call her and say, you won’t believe what’s happened now.”
Rachel Glass, mother of a homicide victim assisted by Wentzel
Wentzel herself reflected on how grief reshaped her life and priorities after her daughter’s death, saying she tried to focus on family rather than bitterness as the legal process moved forward.
“Murder does this to you — it makes you somebody you’re not, if you allow it.”
Josephine Wentzel
Unconfirmed
- Whether a single Facebook ad directly produced the brochure that led to the arrest remains partially unverified; official accounts confirm a tip but do not fully detail the chain of events.
- The extent to which Wentzel’s outreach was indispensable versus complementary to Marshals and Salvadoran police operations is described differently across statements and has not been independently quantified.
Bottom line
The capture of Raymond McLeod in El Salvador closed a painful chapter for Krystal Mitchell’s family and showcased how persistent family-led efforts can interplay with formal law enforcement to resolve long-standing cases. Wentzel’s campaign combined traditional investigative instincts with modern social-media tactics to keep attention on a case that might otherwise have faded.
Looking ahead, prosecutors must build a trial case that links evidence to McLeod while defending the investigative record from challenges about how leads were developed. Meanwhile, Wentzel’s activism — from books to a nonprofit — is likely to sustain public pressure for more robust federal support for cold-case work and improved mechanisms for international cooperation.
Sources
- NBC News (national news reporting on the case and Wentzel’s role)
- U.S. Marshals Service (official agency involved in the capture; public statements and Most Wanted listing)
- San Diego County District Attorney’s Office (official filings and statement of facts regarding the murder charge)