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Samuel Gomez Gonzalez- Illinois- 2022 (CAPTURED) Mar 8, 2023 7:22:08 GMT -5

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Post by Scumhunter on Mar 8, 2023 7:22:08 GMT -5

(Above photo credit: Rockford Crime Stoppers)

From mystateline.com:

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — A Rockford man who prosecutors say caused the death of a Machesney Park woman in a DUI crash four years ago failed to appear at his latest court hearing.

Facing multiple felonies, including an aggravated DUI that caused a death, Samuel Gomez-Gonzalez was scheduled to appear on Aug. 16 for a bond hearing in front of Judge Joe McGraw.

Court officials, including his defense attorney Chris DeRango, were present in the courtroom but Gomez-Gonzalez did not show up.

Gomez-Gonzalez, of Rockford, is awaiting trial in the death of 58-year-old Mary Wymore. Wymore died from injuries sustained in a crash that occurred July 20, 2018, at the intersection of Perryville and North Mulford roads.

Authorities allege that then-23-year-old Gomez-Gonzalez was under the influence of alcohol when he ran a red light and crashed his Cadillac Escalade into Wymore’s Toyota RAV4.

After a brief foot chase, Loves Park officers took Gomez-Gonzalez into custody near the scene. He was later booked and held on a $2 million bond. Wymore died at the scene.

On Sept. 14, 2020, Gomez-Gonzalez filed a motion to squash a search warrant, claiming the Loves Park Police Department did not have sufficient probable cause to obtain samples of his blood and urine.

McGraw granted the motion on May 7, 2021, and Gomez-Gonzalez was released from the Winnebago County Jail pending the state’s appeal.

An Illinois appellate judge reversed McGraw’s decision on June 1, 2022, prompting prosecutors to file a motion to reinstate bond. The filing was set to be argued Tuesday, Aug. 16, but Gomez-Gonzalez failed to appear, court records show.

According to documents, Samuel Gomez-Gonzalez was facing charges in two pending criminal cases at the time of the fatal crash. He was eventually convicted of manufacturing cannabis, criminal damage to property, resisting an officer, and driving under the influence of alcohol.

He was given six years in prison on the drug charge, three years for criminal damage to property, and 30 days in the county jail for DUI, sentences that were to be served concurrently. Because he received 2,236 days’ time served, Gomez-Gonzalez did not spend time in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Attorney Chris DeRango and the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Samuel Gomez-Gonzalez is urged to call the Loves Park Police Department at 815-654-5015 or the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office at 815-282-2600.

www.mystateline.com/news/suspect-in-fatal-loves-park-dui-crash-fails-to-appear-in-court/

Thoughts? As of today's posting date (March 8th, 2022), Gomez-Gonzalez is still listed as a wanted fugitive on Rockford Area Crime Stoppers (They accept tips on his whereabouts as well):

www.rockfordcrimestoppers.com/fugitives/?id=5575

Admin Note: If you have any (news-related) updates on this case, please contact us here: amwfans.com/thread/1662/website-contact-form

Samuel Gomez Gonzalez- Illinois- 2022 (CAPTURED) May 27, 2023 14:13:54 GMT -5

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Post by Scumhunter on May 27, 2023 14:13:54 GMT -5

Gomez Gonzalez no longer on Rockford Area Crime Stoppers. Was able to confirm through research he was caught.

Also now that he's caught I would like to take the time to tell local station wifr in Rockford to go f*** themselves.

Make a long story short I have a journalism background myself but since I consider this a message board and not a news agency, I feel I don't normally have to credit for the photos I post but I do anyway. We post too many cases to ask for permission each and every single time but thankfully for the most part no one seems to mind when we use their photos. Not once has anyone had a problem until...

For some reason I couldn't get the Gonzalez photo from Crime Stoppers to work so I used wifr's website instead and credited them.

However the people at wifr decided to email me complaining that I didn't ask for permission even though I credited them (I'm not even sure that was even their photo or Crime Stoppers) and asked me to remove the image.

Thankfully I was finally able to get the Crime Stoppers photo to work.

My issue is actually not with the complaining and asking for photo removal. It's the fact that not once was Mary Wymore mentioned in their email.

We are placing the photos of the fugitives in these cases and threads in the hopes that someone in the general public sees it recognizes the suspect and does the right thing, the fugitive is captured, and if proven guilty in a court of law justice is served.

I would have been perfectly fine with "While we would like to see justice for Mary Wymore too, please go through the proper channels and ask for permission" instead it was "hey we noticed you used our photo, you need to go through the proper channels."

So now that he's caught anyway, I would like to let the family of Mary Wymore know WIFR cared more about getting asked for credit than the public recognizing the person who allegedly killed her in the hopes of getting justice for her.

Now let's hope there is justice.