A months-long seek for a lacking Oakley girl took a heart-wrenching flip for her household when authorities stated that they believed she had been murdered — and that the prime suspect, her ex-boyfriend, had been shot and killed after they tried to arrest him.
The disappearance of Alexis Gabe, labeled as a missing-persons case since January, is now thought-about a murder, Oakley Police Chief Paul Beard stated throughout a information convention Thursday. Gabe, 24, was an EKG technician in Contra Costa County.
Authorities imagine Marshall Curtis Jones III, 27, is the “lone suspect” in her disappearance and dying, Beard stated. Authorities haven't situated Gabe’s stays and didn't provide an estimate of when or how she might have died.
The “totality of digital and forensic proof” and “lack of any proof that Alexis Gabe is alive” led police to start treating the case as a murder, Beard stated.
“We might look forward to finding sure issues that might point out she was nonetheless alive, monetary” and in any other case, Beard stated. “There hasn’t been something. … I’m sorry that is the tip end result.”
Members of the Pacific Northwest Violent Offenders Process Pressure shot Jones as they moved in to arrest him Wednesday in Kent, Wash., in line with a press release issued Thursday morning by Oakley police. The assertion stated Jones charged at officers with a knife. Officers from the Seattle Police Division, Snohomish County Sheriff’s Workplace and the U.S. Marshals Service had been on the scene.
“We didn’t need him lifeless,” Gabe’s father, Gwyn Gabe, stated Thursday. “We needed him arrested to pay for his sins. We needed to fulfill with him face-to-face and ask, ‘Why?’ Ask him, ‘The place is Alexis?’ ”
Gwyn Gabe and Beard stated the seek for Alexis Gabe’s physique will proceed and that a $100,000 reward supplied by the town for info resulting in her whereabouts stays in place.
“She is going to stay alive in our hearts,” Gwyn Gabe stated.
He added that Jones was “our daughter’s first real love.” They had been collectively three years, he stated, and Jones “turned part of the household.”
Police had on Wednesday issued an arrest warrant for Jones within the killing of Alexis Gabe, authorities stated. Contra Costa District Legal professional Diana Becton stated in a press release Thursday that her workplace had charged Jones with homicide final week.
Gabe hasn’t been seen since Jan. 26 when she visited Jones at his house in Antioch. Town had supplied a reward for info resulting in her return that grew to $100,000.
Police had stated since Gabe’s disappearance that they believed she didn't go lacking accidentally or selection. Investigators searched Jones’ house twice.
Antioch police obtained a warrant in late April for a wiretap on Jones’ cell phone. “Telephone intercept recordings, surveillance footage, cell information, and DNA proof” had been all a part of a referral from police within the case, searching for the homicide cost, in line with the DA’s workplace.
Authorities averted publicly asserting Jones’ standing as a suspect to keep away from alerting him to the case they had been constructing, in line with chief Assistant District Legal professional Simon O’Connell. He had already fled to Washington and purchased a brand new telephone to keep away from detection, O’Connell added.
Members of the family discovered her automotive in Oakley, a few mile from Jones’ house, the day after she was final seen. Investigators discovered Gabe’s cell-phone case at an undisclosed location in Antioch final month.
Authorities stated Jones went to Washington as a result of he had a “group of associates” in that space. Proof constructed over the previous 30 days, in line with O’Connell, introduced in regards to the perception by authorities that Gabe was lifeless and led to the arrest warrant and cost.
“Mr. Jones is our solely suspect within the murder of Alexis Gabe,” Beard stated. “Nevertheless, we do imagine he’s had assist alongside the best way.” Authorities haven't but named anybody else as a potential confederate within the case.
O’Connell added: “(Jones) did all he may to attenuate his contact with everybody” after the disappearance.
Beard stated authorities haven't established a motive for the killing. He as soon as once more pleaded with the general public and particularly associates of Jones to return ahead with details about the place Gabe’s stays is perhaps.
Employees author George Kelly contributed to this report.