Kenosha police search in Random Lake after May disappearance of Rosalio Gutierrez, Mequon man faces stalking

RANDOM LAKE - Kenosha police on Tuesday, July 28 confirmed they and several other agencies were "searching a property in the Township of Random Lake in relation to the disappearance of Rosalio Gutierrez" for the second time in as many months.

A Mequon man faces stalking charges in a case connected to the disappearance of Gutierrez. Kenosha police on May 20 asked for help locating Gutierrez, last seen on May 17. Prosecutors say Zachariah Anderson of Mequon stalked his ex -- who was dating Gutierrez. A criminal complaint said "large amounts of blood" were found in Gutierrez's Kenosha apartment.

His mother is still holding out hope someone will come forward with information about what happened to her son.

"Just the fact that they have gone back is promising, to me," said Selia Patterson, Rosalio's mother. "That's how I feel."

Patterson said it's hard to keep up hope she'll get the answers she's looking for.

"I just hope that my son is found," she said. "That I can, we can mourn him, and that he can be brought and laid to rest instead of, God knows where he was taken, or what they did with his remains."

Zachariah Anderson, 39, faces one count of stalking, domestic abuse, repeater, and one count of stalking, repeater, filed out of Kenosha County.

The victim in the stalking case, a woman from Germantown, told police she has concerns about Anderson, her ex and the father of her children, and noted that Gutierrez, who she was dating, had not been seen or heard from since May 17. She said Anderson "does not approve of them dating."

A criminal complaint said Gutierrez did not report to work on May 18 or 19. The woman said she went to his Kenosha home on May 19 and the patio door was open, furniture appeared to have been moved around, a rug was missing and there appeared to be blood on the floor and furniture. She then called police.

Investigators found both of Gutierrez's vehicles in the parking lot -- and large amounts of blood in his apartment, the complaint said.

The Germantown woman told investigators Anderson had been tracking her movements, showing up at places she'd been, accusing her of having sex with other people and texting her about her actions.

On April 24, she said her doorbell rang around 3 a.m. and she noticed a black vehicle squealing off. She said Gutierrez had stayed the night, and he found items missing from his vehicle the next morning -- including his vehicle registration, which the former couple's daughter later told investigators she saw in Anderson's possession, along with a letter belonging to Gutierrez. The next day, during a birthday party for their child, the Germantown woman said Anderson pulled her aside and said things to her that led her to believe he was following her. She said Anderson later admitted he was watching them.

Prosecutors spoke with the former couple's daughter about this, who said Anderson had left that night and told her he had been "videotaping" the woman and Gutierrez. The complaint said Anderson gave his daughter a phone to record her mother when she gets upset. A search of that phone revealed "tracker devices" had been purchased from Amazon on April 21.

On May 8, the complaint said the Germantown woman indicated she had "a weird feeling" Anderson put a tracker on her vehicle when she dropped off the kids. She said she searched her vehicle and found a phone under a seat, and the next day, Anderson asked her for his "burner phone" -- frantically searching for it in her vehicle. She said Anderson told her he had lost it, but later admitted he'd been tracking her. Anderson denied that, telling investigators he believed he had dropped the phone in the woman's vehicle.

On May 13, the complaint said Anderson texted the woman and told her he would be taking her to court for the children, and telling her the time she had arrived at Gutierrez's home in Kenosha -- also repeating something Gutierrez had asked her. Three days later, on May 16, there were more messages from Anderson about the woman being in Kenosha. According to prosecutors, Anderson told investigators he knew she was there because he called the phone company -- but the woman said she believed he knew she was there because he was following her or somehow listening to their conversations.

According to the complaint, Anderson's daughter indicated she was with him when they went to the woman's home while Gutierrez was there -- and Anderson put his phone in an air conditioning unit to record -- later having her go up to the window "to see what her mom was doing." Anderson admitted to going to her house because he "had a premonition she was with a male." He admitted having his daughter get out to see what the woman was doing, but denied recording them.

Again, according to prosecutors, Anderson denied tracking the woman, denied recording the woman, denied taking Gutierrez's belongings and said his daughter was lying.

Kenosha police on Tuesday said no further details would be immediately released on the search in Random Lake.

"My son is a wonderful boy," said Selia Patterson of Rosalio, a father of two. "I couldn't have asked for a better son."

Patterson said she's very familiar with how long investigations can take -- sometimes months, or even years.

"If I don't have that faith, I don't know what I'm going to do," she said. "I have to believe that they're doing what needs to be done to find my boy. I have to believe that. I have to have that faith."

Back on May 28, FOX6's cameras captured a law enforcement investigation at a Christmas tree farm in Random Lake -- with officials mum on why they were called in. Sheboygan County sheriff's officials said they were called to assist another agency with an ongoing investigation. The Wisconsin Department of Justice's Division of Criminal Investigation and at least one Kenosha police officer were on scene.

Anyone with information in Rosalio’s disappearance is asked to call the Kenosha Police Department Detective Bureau at 262-605-5203, or to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-807-8477.