Ex-Boyfriend Suspected in Slaying of Calif. Woman Whose Little Sister Died in Crash Days Earlier

On Jan. 9, two days after her younger sister was killed in a fiery car crash, Karen Garcia, a 21-year-old mother from Northern California, was reported missing.

Five days later, her lifeless body was found in her car in a parking lot in Woodland, California, near Sacramento, with police naming her recent ex-boyfriend and the father of their 2-year-old daughter as the main suspect in her slaying, PEOPLE confirms.

Salvador Garcia, 22, of Colusa, California, is wanted by police for homicide, Colusa Police Chief Josh Fitch said in a statement.

Karen, who also lived in Colusa, died of blunt force injuries to the head, the Yolo County, California, Coroner’s Office tells PEOPLE. Her cause of death was released Wednesday following an autopsy.

Karen’s family reported her missing on Jan. 9, according to the chief’s statement.

She was last seen in Colusa on Jan. 8, a day after her sister, 19-year-old Jessica Garcia, and four friends were killed when their vehicle was struck by a woman driving the wrong way down Interstate 5 just after midnight, the Sacramento Bee reports.

All six people involved in the crash were pronounced dead at the scene. Everyone in Jessica’s car was 25 years old or younger, according to the Bee.

On Sunday, about 3:45 p.m., police found Karen inside her blue Honda Accord in the parking lot of a Marshall’s in Woodland.

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Karen had left her purse, containing her driver’s license, cash and her ATM card, in her bedroom, Linda Quintero, a neighbor and a friend of the slain woman told the Bee.

Quintero said she had received a text from Karen on the afternoon of Jan. 8, in which she said she was shopping in Roseville, California. Her friends and family worried when she failed to show up for a vigil for her sister on the night of Jan. 8, the Bee reports.

When police executed a search warrant on her apartment in Colusa on Sunday, investigators found evidence of a homicide, Chief Fitch said in his statement.

Police found blood in the apartment, which Salvador shared with Karen before they broke up, Fitch told the Bee. (Police were not immediately able to comment further to PEOPLE on Thursday.)

When authorities seized Salvador’s car, they found more blood inside, according to the Bee.

Authorities are continuing to search for him. DNA test results on the blood are expected next week, Fitch said.

In a Jan. 11 interview with the Bee about Karen’s disappearance, Salvador called her “the sweetest person you’ll ever meet.” He said he had known her since third grade and they’d been together nine years before they broke up earlier this year.

But Karen had started casually dating someone else, Fitch told the Bee — “and of course he [Salvador] wasn’t happy about that,” he said. “He wanted her back and that wasn’t happening.”

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Salvador said the breakup was mutual and that they’d stayed friends for Avianna, their daughter, and said Karen was “the sweetest person you’ll ever meet.” Avianna is currently living with Karen’s parents, according to the Bee.

Calling Karen a “great mother” who always put her daughter first, Salvador also told the Bee, “She loves her family,” he said. “She’s one of the most upbeat people you’ll ever meet.”

Salvador was recently charged with misdemeanor domestic violence battery, on Dec. 29, Colusa County Superior Court records state, according to the Bee. It is unclear if he pleaded or responded to that charge in court.

He and Karen reportedly got into a fight on Dec. 6, when Karen claimed Salvador slapped her and threw a plastic water bottle at her, Fitch said.

Anyone with information regarding Salvador Garcia’s whereabouts is asked to call the Colusa Police Department at 530-458-7777.