MARINETTE (NBC 26) — A newly released criminal complaint is providing a detailed look at what investigators say happened to 24-year-old Gabriella Cartagena in the house before she was found dead in Michigan.
Online court records show Robert Chilcote has now been charged in Marinette County with one count of first-degree intentional homicide.
Cartagena was first reported missing on February 5, after her mother requested a welfare check when she did not return home and did not show up for work.
Police say Cartagena was last seen the evening of February 4 with Chilcote, who investigators identified as her boyfriend.
Days later, investigators found Cartagena’s body in a wooded area near Birch Creek Road in Menominee County,
Chilcote was arrested on February 5 in Write County after a chase with police that authorities say reached speeds over 100 miles per hour. A deputy’s report included in the complaint says a loaded rifle was found in the vehicle, and Wisconsin investigators later reported being told multiple firearms and ammunition were recovered during a search of the car.
The criminal complaint describes a timeline that begins in the evening of February 4, when Catagena’s mother told police Cartagena left home around 5 p.m. with Chilcote in his car. According to the complaint, her mother later called and heard Cartagena pleading, saying “Don’t shoot me,” before the call ended. A text from Cargena’s phone later told her mother she was at Walmart and could not talk.
Investigators say Cartagena did not show up for at Walmart, that night where she worked. The complaint also describes investigators located what appeared to be blood in the snow at Red Arrow Park, including what police described as something that may have been dragged in the area.
Detectives also traced surveillance and other evidence, including cell phone location data, placing Chilcote’s phone in the area of Red Arrow Park during the evening.
According to the complaint, Chilcote told a Marinette detective, “it was an accident,” then said Cartagena was in Michigan. The complaint says Chilcote described an argument in the car, then he tried to scare her with a gun, and said the gun went off, striking her in the head.
Investigators say he also admitted sending the text from Cartagena’s phone to her mother, and said he threw Cartagena’s phone out of the vehicle later.
The complaint says Chilcote then described returning to the park, placing Cartagena in the vehicle, driving into Michigan, and dragging her into the woods.
Authorities previously confirmed Cartagena was found dead in a wooded area near Birch Creek Road in Menominee County, Michigan.
An autopsy was performed on February 12. The complaint says the medical examiner determined Cartagena died from a gunshot wound to the head.
Chilcote is still being held in Minnesota. The Marinette County District Attorney’s Office has filed a warrant so he can be brought back to Wisconsin through the extradition process.
Once that happens, he is expected to make his first appearance in Marinette County court to face the homicide charge.
