Weitchpec, California

A mental health advocate was killed by her husband in an apparent murder-suicide earlier this month in Humboldt County, officials said. Celinda Jane Gonzales was 59.

On the evening of Feb. 3, Humboldt County sheriff’s deputies were called to a home on the 900 block of Lewis Road in Weitchpec, an unincorporated village in the Yurok reservation. Inside the residence, they discovered the bodies of Celinda Gonzales and her husband, Arthur Gutierrez Gonzales, Jr., 52. Their deaths have been classified as a murder-suicide by Humboldt County law enforcement.

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Celinda Gonzales was featured by CalMatters in 2020, when she was interviewed for a piece on a “surge in suicides” in Humboldt County amid the pandemic. Gonzales, a member of the Yurok Tribe, shared that after her 19-year-old son and her brother died by suicide. She received training in suicide intervention and went on to help local fire and police departments with her knowledge. 

“A devoted mother, primary caregiver for her elderly parents and tribal employee, Celinda advocated for mental health resources and suicide prevention in the Weitchpec area,” the Yurok Tribe wrote on Facebook. As an administrative assistant, she “worked tirelessly to connect Yurok people with Tribal services,” the post continued. 

“She was a beloved friend to many Tribal Councilmembers, staff and community members,” the memorial said. “This is a tremendous tragedy for the Tribe.”

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