Missing California mother found dead near hiking trail after partner threatened 3-year-old daughter: police

A missing mother in Northern California was found dead near a hiking trail in the mountains on Sunday, hours after authorities say the woman’s partner threatened their 3-year-old daughter with a knife and charged at a police officer.

The body of Lizbeth Arceo Sedano, 25, was found around 9:40 a.m. near Eureka Canyon Road and Grizzly Flat Road in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office said.

Deputies responded to the call and investigators determined the body belonged to the 25-year-old mother, who had been reported missing in Watsonville a day earlier.

Sedano’s family reported her missing after the mother’s partner, Joshua Gonzalez, called the Watsonville Police Department from outside the police station at around 9:20 p.m. Saturday and threatened to harm their 3-year-old daughter, the department said.

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A responding officer exited his patrol car and ordered Gonzalez to drop the knife. Gonzalez ignored the officer’s command, according to police, and instead charged toward the officer.

The officer then opened fire on Gonzalez, who was injured and taken to an out-of-county trauma center, where he is in stable condition, police said.

The three-year-old child was unharmed and was under the care of family members.

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The sheriff’s office said Sedano’s death “is being investigated as suspicious.”

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“Cause and manner will be determined by our Forensic Pathologist and detectives will continue to investigate this case,” the sheriff’s office said.