Her daughter’s alleged killer was on the US Marshals Service’s ‘Most Wanted’ list. She then spent 6 years tracking him down and helped authorities catch him in El Salvador.

Josephine Wentzel, a retired detective, was determined to find the man she believed killed her daughter. “I would wake up at 3:30 in the morning, start my searches, go to bed late at night, and start getting emotional,” Wentzel recently told Insider. “I felt that I had to fight every year to keep the story alive.

” Her daughter, 30-year-old Krystal Mitchell of Phoenix, Arizona, was found murdered in a San Diego, California apartment in June 2016, according to the US Marshals Service . Local police determined that Mitchell was last seen with a man, identified as Raymond McLeod. Mitchell and McLeod briefly dated but weren’t in an official relationship, Wentzel said.

The duo traveled to San Diego, Mitchell’s favorite go-to city, for a weekend getaway. Wentzel never met McLeod and didn’t know what he looked like, so she asked her daughter to send her pictures of him before the trip. Soon after, those very pictures would be used for his wanted poster as authorities zeroed in on McLeod as the prime suspect.

Losing Mitchell was earth-shattering for Wentzel and her grandchildren, she said, calling her a bright light in their lives. “It just wrecked my life. It was a very difficult, heartbreaking, horrible time for all of us,” Wentzel said.

Nearly seven months after Mitchell’s death, the San Diego Police Department contacted US Marshals to assist them with the case to locate McLeod. Authorities were under the belief the ex-Marine, who was eventually charged with murder, fled to Mexico. He was placed on the agency’s 15 Most Wanted list as “Armed and Dangerous.

” At the time, officials noted that the bodybuilder had a “history of domestic violence” and was “an avid drinker. ” Frustrated with the progression of the manhunt, Wentzel decided to take action. She attended a three-day open-source training that was designed for law enforcement agencies and was able to make connections with private investigators.

She started to use digital tools to track information and use social media platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp to distribute McLeod’s poster virtually — even reaching out to people in Mexico and throughout Central America. “I put a geo fence around each section that I think he might be at. He loved the gyms, so I tried to look for places like that where backpackers might pass through,” Wentzel said.

“He was going hostel to hostel, so I notified all the hostels in Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Costa Rica, Guatemala, all the way down to Panama. ” And over the years, the tips relating to his whereabouts kept pouring in, and she would update authorities on her findings. “There was a time when I felt like taking a sledgehammer to all of the glass in my house, every window, every mirror, anything, I was just going to go crazy because I found out that I was getting tips faster than the Embassy can keep up with,” she said.

“That became very frustrating. ” Last year, the Marshals upped the ante and offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to McLeod’s detainment. It was a tip from a source in El Salvador who saw his poster that led to his capture in August.

According to officials, he was working as a teacher in the city of Sonsonate. US Marshals Director Ronald Davis acknowledged Wentzel’s efforts and said in a statement that she “has worked so diligently with law enforcement these past years to see this day of justice arrive. ” Wentzel was dedicated to finding McLeod to bring closure to her grandchildren and to avoid her daughter’s file falling to the bottom of the pile.

“My faith and the drive was that I knew that I was getting older, time’s flying by, and my grandkids were getting older. I wanted them to sleep at night knowing that this guy’s behind bars,” she said. “I spoke over my daughter’s grave, and promised her that I would bring him to justice.

Now, what they do from here, that’s between God and the court system, and God helps the court system. ” For Mitchell’s family, the chapter of this tragedy is almost at a close, but for many others, they don’t receive the answers about the suspect behind their loved one’s death. An expert told CBS News that in 2020 some murder cases remain unsolved.

This is why, in 2018, during her search for her daughter, Wentzel started an organization called Angels of Justice to help other families — regardless of their financial standing — facing roadblocks in their cases. “Our mission is to empower, assist, educate, train, advocate, and encourage families dealing with murder or missing loved ones,” the organization’s mission says. “We hope to bridge the gap and facilitate better communications between families and LE.

” McLeod was deported to San Diego and pleaded not guilty during his court appearance last month. Wentzel said she tried to make eye contact with him, but he refused to look at her. “I wanted him to look me in the eyes because I was there representing my daughter,” Wentzel said.

“It was very important to have this moment. Even equally important, I was glad that they credited the efforts to me or the success of my efforts. ” She continued, “His first question is, ‘How did you find me?’ Just knowing that I outsmarted him, as a woman, an older woman, and it’s Crystal’s mother…I wanted him to receive that message.

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