A 44-year-old man from San Bernardino County is being extradited from an Arizona jail back to Southern California where he’s accused of a 2023 murder of a 43-year-old woman, officials announced.
Investigators with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department’s Colorado River Station received reports in Feb. 2024 that the victim, Tyna Castillo, a resident of Needles, had not been seen or heard from since Dec. 2023 and opened a missing persons case, according to an SBSD news release.
Detectives received information during the investigation that Castillo was possibly murdered on a residential property in Needles.
“Detectives contacted witnesses and people of interest in Castillo’s disappearance and received poor cooperation,” officials said. “The case went cold, and Castillo was not located.”
SBSD’s Cold Case Homicide Team took over the investigation in Sept. 2024 and learned the possible location of the 43-year-old woman’s remains.
After eight failed attempts to locate her remains, detectives, with the help of search and rescue teams, cadaver dogs and 100 volunteers, found Castillo buried in a shallow grave in an open desert area along the Colorado River in Needles.
Further investigation led to Needles resident Jared Winer, who detectives claim killed Castillo by shooting her.
Authorities did not provide any details on the relationship between Castillo and Winer, nor did they provide a possible motive for homicide.
Police in Bullhead City, Arizona, approximately 23 miles from Needles, arrested Winer and booked him at the Mohave County Jail on unrelated charges. SBSD detectives learned of the arrest and obtained a murder warrant for the 44-year-old.
He is expected to be extradited back to California on the murder charge after the disposition of his outstanding charges in Arizona, officials said, though they did not provide an exact date.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact SBSD Det. Justin Carty or Sgt. Justin Giles at the Specialized Investigations Division at 909-890-4904. Those wishing to remain anonymous can call the WeTip Hotline at 800-78CRIME or leave tips online at www.wetip.com.
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