Reported by: Brooke Beare
Email: BrookeB@kpsplocal2.com
Last Update: 4/09 11:43 pm
A man wanted in connection with the murder of his ex-wife on Easter Sunday has taken his own life, according to Cathedral City Police.
Lt. Charles Robinson says police surrounded a palm tree grove in Thermal late Friday afternoon looking for 46 year old Salvador Bustillos Contreras. Contreras committed suicide at some point during or before the course of trying to take him into custody. Robinson says someone, believed to be Contreras himself, called 9-1-1 about 4:30 p.m. to report the suspect was located at a baseball park in Thermal. When officers arrived, they found the man dead of a gunshot wound in the grove, adjacent to the baseball field.
"It's just tragic," Lt. Robinson said. "You know you have a mother who lost her life at the hands of her exhusband, and now you have the father who took his own life, so for this family, this has just been a tragic, tragic event."
Contreras was last seen about 10:45 p.m. on April 4th at a family gathering at a home on Peineta Street in Cathedral City. Family members told police they didn't know what sparked Contreras to fatally shoot his ex-wife, 46-year old Rebecca Zavala, and try to kill her 18-year old son. "They didn't understand why the incident occurred, no arguing no fighting," said Lt. Robinson on Monday. "Nothing to lead up to that type of violence." The couple were trying to reconcile. Zavala's son and other family members were able to escape from the home unharmed. Police surrounded the home but were not able to locate Contreras.
Contreras was considered armed and dangerous, and was a parolee at large. He had previously been convicted of armed robbery and grand theft.
On Wednesday, he was featured as a suspect on KPSP Local 2's "Wheel of Justice."
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