A 24-year-old Wisconsin woman who vanished after her family heard her plead for her life on a phone call was found dead in a wooded area in Michigan, authorities said, and her boyfriend remains jailed in Minnesota after a high-speed chase as prosecutors wait for autopsy results.
The case has shaken a border community and sparked a multistate investigation that moved from a snow-covered city park to rural woods across the Wisconsin line. Police say the woman, Gabriella Cartagena of Marinette, was last seen Feb. 4 with her boyfriend, Robert Chilcote, 29. Investigators have not announced a cause of death, a motive, or any criminal charge tied directly to Cartagena’s death, saying key decisions will come after the medical examiner’s findings are reviewed by the district attorney.
Police Chief Jon LaCombe said Cartagena was believed to be at Red Arrow Park in Marinette late Feb. 4. Her family reported hearing her voice during a phone call with her mother at 7:19 p.m., when Cartagena said, “Please don’t shoot me. I’m sorry,” LaCombe said. Cartagena’s relatives told investigators she had been with Chilcote at the park, and two witnesses later reported hearing arguing around the time she disappeared. After the family reported her missing Feb. 5, officers went to the park and, LaCombe said, “immediately recognized it as a potential crime scene.”
Investigators said the park was covered in snow, but they found what appeared to be blood and signs of a disturbance near the Bird Street entry area that suggested violence. Detectives treated the site as a crime scene, searching the ground, brush and snow for evidence and working to reconstruct Cartagena’s last known movements. Police said the first major break came from surveillance footage and digital records. LaCombe said investigators reviewed video that showed a vehicle going in and out of the park, then broadened the search by collecting footage from homes and businesses and comparing it with cellphone information linked to Chilcote.
LaCombe said the trail of video helped establish a path from the park through Marinette and into Menominee, Michigan, just across the border. Police said cameras captured the vehicle near the Birch Street Boat Launch and along Ogden Street, and other footage placed Chilcote in Menominee. Investigators said Menominee law enforcement tracked the vehicle leaving the city heading north and returning about 20 minutes later, a window that helped narrow where detectives searched. Authorities said they found Cartagena’s body about 10 a.m. Feb. 10 in a wooded area off Birch Creek Road in Menominee County, Michigan. Officials have not described visible injuries publicly, and they have not released the cause of death.
The investigation’s timeline quickly stretched beyond the Wisconsin-Michigan border. Police said Chilcote was taken into custody Feb. 5 in Wright County, Minnesota, after a 16-minute chase that reached about 100 mph. Authorities said the pursuit ended when he lost control of the vehicle while trying to avoid tire-deflating stop sticks. LaCombe said several firearms were found inside the car, but officials have not said whether any weapon is connected to Cartagena’s death. Chilcote has been held on $100,000 bond on allegations of fleeing and eluding and being a fugitive from another state, authorities said.
Marinette County District Attorney DeShea Morrow said investigators are waiting on autopsy results before deciding what charges, if any, to seek in the death investigation. Police said the autopsy was performed Feb. 12 and that findings will be provided to prosecutors along with evidence collected from the park and from the Michigan search area. Officials also said extradition steps are being reviewed to bring Chilcote back to Wisconsin, with paperwork moving through the governors’ offices. Marinette detectives traveled to Minnesota to interview Chilcote, authorities said, but investigators have not described what he told them or whether he cooperated beyond the interview.
Much remains unknown, including when and how Cartagena left Red Arrow Park, whether anyone else was present, and whether the argument witnesses reported involved the couple or other people nearby. Police have not said whether they recovered clothing, personal items or other evidence that shows how she traveled from the park to the area where her body was found. They also have not said whether Cartagena and Chilcote had a history of domestic violence calls or earlier incidents. Police said Cartagena and Chilcote lived together in Marinette, but did not have children together. Relatives said Cartagena was the mother of a 3-year-old daughter.
For many residents, the case turned a familiar public place into a point of grief. Red Arrow Park sits along the Menominee River and near the Lake Michigan shoreline and is used year-round, though winter weather can both hide and preserve evidence. Investigators said the community played a major role in building a timeline as officers asked neighbors and businesses to share doorbell and security video and report tips. “Community members stepped forward, providing video footage, sharing information, and reporting tips,” LaCombe said. A Marinette resident, Tom Maxwell, said the news hit hard in a small community. “I think it’s terrible,” Maxwell said. “A real tragedy.”
As of Tuesday, police said the case remained active and centered on completing the autopsy review and presenting the findings to prosecutors for a charging decision. Chilcote remained in Minnesota custody on fleeing and fugitive-related allegations, and officials said the next major milestone will be a determination by the district attorney after reviewing medical findings and investigative records.
Author note: Last updated February 18, 2026.