Selma woman missing more than 2 months found dead from solo vehicle crash, police say
After searching for more than two months, Selma and Fresno County law enforcement said Tuesday the body of Jolissa Fuentes has been found in rural Fresno County.
Selma Police Chief Rudy Alcaraz in an update Tuesday said Fuentes’ car left the road northeast of Pine Flat Lake, where her body was found down a cliff, near Trimmer Springs and Maxon roads.
The 22-year-old woman was last seen about 4 a.m. Aug 7. at an ampm gas station on Nebraska Avenue in Selma, police have said.
Surveillance footage showed her driving away.
Alcaraz on Tuesday said investigators tracked her cellphone and very little activity occurred after the night she went missing. He said given the time of the crash, it was believed the accident was due to fatigue and happened that night.
“(It was) very impressive how the community came together to bring Miss Fuentes home,” he said at a news conference flanked by Fuentes family members.
“We were following up on leads across this nation. None to the success we were looking for.”
Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims commended Alcaraz, who himself found evidence that led to the discovery of Fuentes.
By chance, Alcaraz said, he decided on Monday to drive into the area where the search had begun to focus about 60 miles from where Fuentes was last seen. He got out of his car and discovered tire tracks headed off the road.
He began searching about 1 p.m. Monday and the car was actually discovered by a search team about 6 p.m., according to officials.
Investigators had previously looked in the area, but Alcaraz said he “just got lucky” to get out of the car in the right spot in the vast area covered by trees and brush.
Mims said search and rescue rappelled about 400 feet down the mountain side to Fuentes’ car to an area that could not be seen by searchers looking down from the road.
Her disappearance drummed up interest from residents, who placed fliers on their car windows and took to the “Find Jolissa Fuentes” group on Facebook to share support, as well as by a team of professional divers.
Fuentes’ family has been active on social media, running community search parties and offering a $10,000 reward for information on the case.
Joey Fuentes, her father, said he was thankful for social media users who kept sharing the story online.
“I want to thank the community. Not just the community — this whole nation,” he said as his voice raised with emotion. “The cries and the pain from my wife, my sisters and my whole family was heard around this whole country.”
Alcaraz said the younger Fuentes liked the area, which he said is known for its beauty, and likely went for a scenic drive. The California Highway Patrol is conducting the investigation, he said.
Adventures with Purpose, a diving team from Oregon, lent a hand earlier this year with sonar equipment to check the Pine Flat and Avocado lakes.
Officials said Fuentes was not know to leave for an extended amount of time, calling the behavior abnormal for her. So the case was deemed a criminal investigation in late August.
A sister has previously said Fuentes called her twice through Facebook Messenger about 5:25 a.m. on the morning she went missing, but the sister did not answer because she was asleep.
Alcaraz said there was no phone service in the area, so investigators believe those calls happened before the crash.
This story was originally published October 11, 2022 at 11:25 AM.
