Police search for man suspected of killing relative, taking her head

Santa Rosa police are asking for the public's help in finding a man suspected of killing a relative and taking her severed head with him.

Luis Gustavo Aroyo-Lopez, a 24-year-old Santa Rosa resident, is believed to have killed his female relative at a home along the 2500 block of Pomo Trail, according to police.

Officers who responded to the residence Thursday afternoon found the woman dead inside. She had been decapitated, but authorities were unable to find her head at the residence, police said.

Investigators believe Aroyo-Lopez killed the woman before leaving the home with her head, according to police.

Aroyo-Lopez is described by police as being 5 feet 6 inches tall and about 150 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt or jacket, black pants, and white shoes. He has a large "420" and marijuana leaf tattoo on the left side of his head.

Police believed he walked south on Iroquois Street after leaving the home. They did not know where he intended to go next or if he had a vehicle. He does have other relatives in the San Joaquin Valley, but police didn't know if he intends to go in that direction.

He was recently released from state prison and placed on postrelease community supervision, police said. He had been in prison for assault with a deadly weapon and weapons possession charges.

The sister of the victim, who did not want to give her name, identified the victim as 64-year-old Soledad Arroyo Castaneda.

The victim's sister told NBC Bay Area that Castaneda was Aroyo-Lopez's grandmother and she raised him during his childhood days.

She added that things had gotten worse when the suspect began to use crystal meth with Castaneda reporting Aroyo-Lopez to police a few years back for stealing money and a passport from a relative.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Santa Rosa police at 707-543-3590 or via the online tip line at www.srcity.org/CrimeTips.