Woman missing for over a year found buried in desert, CA cops say. Man arrested
The body of a woman reported missing more than a year ago has been found buried in a remote desert area, and there’s been an arrest in her slaying, California deputies say.
Tyna Castillo, 43, was first reported missing Feb. 3, 2024, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said in a May 20 news release.
The person who reported her missing said they had not been able to reach Castillo since December 2023, despite having sent several messages, according to deputies.
Deputies said they started a missing person investigation and began looking into Castillo’s disappearance.
Her whereabouts, though, were a mystery, deputies said.
Investigators learned that Castillo was possibly killed on a residential property in Needles, according to deputies.
However, as detectives worked to speak with “witnesses and people of interest in Castillo’s disappearance,” they received little cooperation, and Castillo’s case went cold, deputies said.
Then, in September, the sheriff’s department cold case homicide team took up the investigation.
Through interviewing witnesses, homicide detectives learned where Castillo’s remains were located, deputies said.
Deputies said they along with a number of other rescuers, including Red Rock Search and Rescue and about 100 volunteers, set out to look for Castillo.
After eight searches, deputies said they found human remains buried “in an open desert area, along the Colorado River in Needles.”
The remains were positively identified as Castillo, who had been fatally shot, deputies said.
Detectives continued to investigate Castillo’s case and ultimately identified Jared Winer, 44, as a suspect in her death, deputies said.
Castillo and Winer were “acquaintances,” Mara Rodriguez, a sheriff’s department spokeswoman, said in a May 21 email to McClatchy News.
They lived on the same property but in “different dwellings,” according to Rodriguez.
The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office issued a warrant for Winer’s arrest on one count of murder, deputies said.
Winer was arrested on separate charges in Arizona on May 6, the sheriff’s department said. Once that case is concluded, he will be extradited to California to face charges in Castillo’s killing, deputies said.
In a Facebook post announcing Castillo’s death, her sister said “the world has lost a bright light, and our hearts are broken.”
“Everyone was drawn to my sister,” Castillo’s sister wrote. “She lit up every room she entered, effortlessly becoming the heart of any group. She lived boldly, without fear of judgment, and was endlessly creative, witty, loving, and determined.”
A GoFundMe echoed the sentiment, saying Castillo “stood out—not just for her sense of humor and fierce independence, but also for her talent and determination.”
“More than anything, Tyna had a remarkable ability to connect with others—rooted in her genuine acceptance of people as they were,” the GoFundMe says.
Castillo is survived by her two children, according to her sister.
Needles is near the Arizona border, about a 260-mile drive northeast from Los Angeles.
This story was originally published May 21, 2025 at 12:07 PM with the headline "Woman missing for over a year found buried in desert, CA cops say. Man arrested."
