Katharina Buczek
After six years, an extensive investigation into the murder of a single mother in San Diego has finally ended. And it is largely thanks to the victim’s mother, Josephine Wentzel.
Josephine is a retired police detective who, from an early age, felt a calling to public service. At just sixteen years old, she became a Candy Striper for Guam Naval Hospital after seeing soldiers ravaged by the Vietnam war.
And later, Josephine went on to rise through the ranks at the Guam Police Department– beginning in patrol, then legal, and finally achieving her goal of making detective.
Once she got married and had children, though, she decided to hang up her badge and focus on family. But, all of that changed after her daughter, Krystal, was murdered in 2016.
Krystal had lived in Arizona at the time with her then-boyfriend Raymond Samuel McLeod. And in June, the couple traveled to San Diego, California, to visit friends.
But, on June 10, Krystal was tragically found strangled to death in a bedroom. San Diego Police Department Homicide Unit detectives later determined that the scene indicated signs of struggle and that Krystal was last seen alive with Raymond.
The tragic murder sent shock waves through the community. She was a daughter, sister, and single mother to two young children.
And it was impossible for her mother, Josephine, to sit idly by as the man who murdered her daughter walked free. So, Josephine came out of retirement to assist in the search.
GoFundMe; pictured above is Krystal
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