MENDOCINO CO., 7/22/26 — Two men were arrested Tuesday in connection with the murder of a Covelo woman found shot to death earlier this month, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Wednesday.
Josepha Littlewolf Basurto, 31, was found dead in a pickup truck at an illegal marijuana grow outside Covelo on July 9, and deputies noted numerous gunshot holes on the truck, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
An autopsy last week determined Basurto’s cause of death to be a gunshot wound to the torso and her death was ruled a homicide, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Elias Juarez Rodriguez, 22, was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of first degree murder and Elias Juarez Garcia, 44, was arrested on suspicion of being an accessory after the fact, according to the Sheriff’s Office booking log.
Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the arrests but could not give any other information due to the ongoing investigation.