VIRGIN RIVER GORGE, Arizona, June 3, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — Arizona officials have found the body of a man who went missing after driving his car into the Virgin River Friday.
The deceased man has been identified as Guadalupe Guillermo Nunez, 36, of St. George, according to Arizona Department of Public Safety officials.
The incident began when Hurricane Police responded Friday morning to a report of a sexual offense involving a man and a juvenile female.
A news release from Hurricane Police Department said the suspect fled the scene before officers arrived, so an “attempt to locate” was authorized for the suspect and his vehicle.
Several hours later, the news release states, the vehicle was seen by an officer from another agency, and the officer attempted a traffic stop.
Again the suspect fled.
Police pursued the suspect vehicle on Interstate 15 for several miles with speeds in excess of 100 miles an hour before the pursuit was ended at the Arizona-Utah border.
Hurricane Police Dispatch notified law enforcement in Arizona and Nevada, and Arizona police checked the Virgin River Gorge area, where they found the vehicle upside-down in the river.
According to the news release, officials were able to confirm that the vehicle in the water was the vehicle Hurricane Police had been looking for, but the suspect wasn’t in the vehicle.
A follow-up news release from the Arizona Department of Public Safety said: “Approximately seven miles across the Arizona State line, the suspect driver intentionally exited the highway and drove off a cliff, rolling violently and coming to rest upside down in the Virgin River.”
On Sunday, the driver’s body was located in the Virgin River approximately five miles away from the vehicle, the news release said.
