The Grandmother’s Six-Year Manhunt That Helped Capture Her Daughter’s Alleged Killer

Josephine Wentzel spent six relentless years pursuing leads across borders in the search for the man authorities say killed her daughter, Krystal Mitchell. The long hunt — fueled by family determination, crowdsourced tips and targeted social media campaigns — culminated in the arrest of Raymond McLeod in El Salvador in August 2022.

From Tragedy to a Relentless Search

According to court filings, McLeod, a 42-year-old former U.S. Marine, was implicated after a June 9, 2016, bar confrontation in San Diego in which he allegedly grabbed Mitchell by the throat. Mitchell was found dead the next day in the apartment where they had been staying; a deputy medical examiner determined she had been strangled.

Fugitive, Tips and Frustration

McLeod disappeared after Mitchell’s death and was later named a person of interest; a murder arrest warrant was filed June 13, 2016. The U.S. Marshals eventually added him to their list of 15 most wanted fugitives and increased the reward for information leading to his arrest from about $5,000 to $50,000 in spring 2021. Officials said his last known location was Guatemala in 2017.

Krystal Mitchell. (Courtesy Josephine Wentzel)

How Wentzel Helped

Frustrated by slow progress overseas, Wentzel — a 67-year-old grandmother and former police detective — turned to grassroots methods. She created wanted posters, circulated them across dozens of Facebook groups and pages, and monitored tips arriving by phone, WhatsApp and social media. She reviewed local videos, targeted Facebook ads (setting a 100-mile radius around suspected locations), and followed up on reports pointing to Central America.

“I just freaked out like, oh, my gosh, it’s him,” Wentzel recalled after receiving a message with a photo in August 2022. “I didn’t even want to think it because someone might hear my thoughts and warn him to flee.”

Wentzel says a sequence of tips tied to the Guatemala/El Salvador border area and a brochure from a Salvadoran English school ultimately produced the photo that convinced her and was shared with U.S. Marshals. McLeod was arrested in Sonsonate, El Salvador, on Aug. 30, 2022, and flown to San Diego the next day.

Legal Status And Context

McLeod pleaded not guilty and awaits trial on a first-degree murder charge. His attorneys have argued in filings that Mitchell’s death was an accidental outcome of “rough, consensual sex gone wrong.” Court records also show an earlier April 2016 Riverside County charge alleging corporal injury to a spouse; that matter was not adjudicated before McLeod vanished.

Raymond McLeod. (San Diego County Crime Stoppers)

Advocacy And Aftermath

Wentzel has used her experience to found the nonprofit Angels of Justice, write two books — The Chase and The Capture — and assist other families and cold-case efforts, including work with the Cold Case Foundation. Officials from the U.S. Marshals Service and the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office praised her persistence, describing her as having worked diligently and being “instrumental” in the search.

Wentzel says the ordeal changed her life: instead of the retirement she had planned, she became an advocate for victims’ families while trying to shield herself from hatred and focus on the children her daughter left behind.

Note: This account is based on reporting and court filings; McLeod’s legal case is pending and he has not been convicted of the charges against him.