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ARREST REPORTS
An active warrant has been issued for a Walton County man on a charge of first degree premeditated murder. Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office investigators have tied 36-year old Oscar Castaneda-Lopez to the death of a Destin resident whose body was found August 8th in a shallow grave off 16th Street in south Walton County. Castaneda-Lopez of 151 Beacon Way in Santa Rosa Beach is currently being held at the Walton County Jail on unrelated charges.
An OCSO warrant has also been issued for a second Walton County resident on a charge of being an accessory after the fact.
The Medical Examiner’s Office says preliminary indications are that Michua suffered a fatal neck wound caused by a sharp object. It appears the motivation for the crime was Castaneda’s anger over the victim having an affair with Castaneda’s wife.
The investigation began when Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office conducted a welfare check August Second at the home of Osvaldo Torres-Michua of 734 Legion Drive. Michua’s boss was concerned because he had not turned up for work. He went by Michua’s apartment and noted what appeared to be spots of blood on a second floor sliding glass door. Deputies who responded made entry and did not locate Michua, but found blood stains in additional areas throughout the unit.
Over the course of the investigation, the OCSO developed information that 29-year old Fidel Gonzalez of 108 Don Bishop Road in Santa Rosa Beach had helped Castaneda-Lopez dispose of Michua’s body somewhere in south Walton County. The OCSO led a multi-agency search Tuesday off Chat Holley Road, after Gonzalez led them to an area where he believed the body was buried.
Gonzalez is being charged with accessory after the fact to first degree premeditated murder. He is also currently being held in the Walton County Jail on unrelated charges. Investigators say he helped Castaneda clean up blood at Michua’s apartment and transport Michua’s body to the site in south Walton County, where they buried him.
The OCSO has been assisted in this investigation by the FDLE, Walton County Sheriff’s Office, Bay County Search and Rescue Unit, State Attorney’s Office, and Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.
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