Stephanie Gawboy: Over 2 1/2 Years Since Her Homicide With No Suspect Identified
Someone shot 52-year-old Stephanie Gawboy multiple times (probably) on August 12, 2016 in the 100 block of Redway Drive but the exact date isn’t known because the discovery of her body wasn’t reported to law enforcement until August 17. Gawboy died of “multiple gunshot wounds to the head,” according to Samantha Karges, spokesperson for the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office.
Gawboy was a well-known Southern Humboldt environmental activist who passionately supported causes ranging from to the anti-GMO movement to the anti-vaccination movement.
Almost three years later, detectives haven’t been able to identify a suspect. “Several items were sent to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for forensic analysis,” Karges explained. “Based on the results of those tests, no suspect has been identified.”
Karges said that a number of “relatives, friends, and associates were interviewed” but nothing has yet provided answers.
“If anyone from the public had contact with Stephanie in the days leading up to the homicide and has not been interviewed, please contact the Sheriff’s Office,” Karges says. The number is (707) 445-7251.
Links to earlier stories:
- Detectives at Residence in Redway After Woman Found Deceased
- Woman’s Death in Redway a Homicide, Says Humboldt County Sheriff Department
- Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office: No Suspect in Redway Homicide
- Arrest of Man With Red Facial Tattoos Related to Out of State Warrant, Says Sheriff’s Office
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Good Luck with that it’s Humboldt County look what happened to Lawson I doubt we’ll ever find the murderer
Please don’t for a second compare Stephanie to Lawson, Stephanie was a kind-hearted person who died in the safety of her own home and who never ever ever ever posted a video of people in makeup not matching their skin tone mocking the opposite race like Lawson did. She definitely did not die while assaulting another human being with her friends, how dare you compare the two cases. maybe if Charmaine hadn’t been bullying our judicial system and police around here they would have had time to focus on cases of innocent victims like Stephanie.
You are so off base. If you do indeed have such videos post a link.
So would you say the same about David Gypsy Chain and his mom since theres video of him at protests?&she sued maxxams PL & spoke out about the lack of a real investigation for her son.
Spreading misinformation helps no one.
You must be with the aryan brotherhood!
The Stephanie I knew would be ashamed to hear you say that and I take it as a slap in her face.
FYI its the Arcata police investigating the lawson case not the sheriffs so its not taking time from this.
Like many many others including the lawsons, justice is not served here.
Time and again i hear stories of people asking the sheriffs to deal with whatever cartel is in their area, for so hum its the bulgarians, & yhe sheriffs say oh them no way we wont go near them. My friend asked why and they said that cartels too scary. Thats our only legal protection. Someones somewheres are getting paid off for sure.
So we need to take it back like we used to and get rid of these true criminals for real.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it was that cartel who killed her, theyre awful to the environment and Stephanie was not shy about voicing herself to those harming the Earth.
RIP Stephanie. May we find you the justice you deserve, and may all families in this position get justice!
Thank you for posting this kym!!
Agreed!
Thank you for sharing some truth. I do hope someone comes forward with information about Stephanie.
Was just thinking about Stephanie. Wonder whether her killer was so skilled or ‘lucky’ that he or she can not be detected. It’s a small community. And, Stephanie was rather protective of her privacy. Seems whoever killed her was a friend, client or was otherwise known to her.
I assume they checked with all her massage clients. If so, though, as an occasional client (and long time friend) they never talked to me. (My theory/all I had to contribute was vigorously denied by relatives, on this site, in comments soon after her death).
….I just have to believe that HCSO has done their best. If any pressure needs be applied to push for progress in the investigation, post the info and method(s) here, so we can join together to get some Justice for Stephanie!
Bless you sister Stephanie, and thank you for all your passionate contributions to our community!
The local police are not thorough at investigating some crimes. There should be highly skilled, experienced and trained police detectives at our local stations because there are a lot of serious crimes. There are a ton of dead bodies found, missing persons & murders. The low crime small town vibe has long gone. Resources and attention need to be on issues like this.
?I think Ben’s pretty close. ??
This happens all the time around here! What about the girl found in eureka with a sock in her mouth? What about the girl found in Fortuna? This isn’t new
Meanwhile the sheriff deputies can be found at the pullout on 299 across from chevron most work hours of most days, shooting the shit with each other. They might need to be reminded they work for us.
Deputies are different than detectives. Two different jobs.
I was thinking about Stephanie recently and how sad it was that she was definitely killed by someone she knew and trusted in the safety of her own home. I really wish someone was held accountable for taking such a kind-hearted person from us, we need as many people like her in this community as we can get. I wish you where here still!
Execution style.
Somebody told me there are more then a few serial killers around here on the loose… Scary to think that.
No justice for Stephanie movement? Oh, she’s white.
No happy ending.
Shame on you. She was a human, just like you, just like Josiah, just like each individual. Human.
Stephanie was a member of the Ojibwe nation. Don’t judge a book by it’s cover. It’s kind kind of presumption that ensures divisions. And it’s hardly a movement. It’s her friends and not much has been done in 5 years so some movement.
Race baiting comments, this is exactly what’s wrong with America but so typically Humboldt.
Just another enviro-liberal.
And there are people close to her that know more than they are saying . Time to come clean
Execution style speaks volumes……
I have phoned the Sheriff’s office, including recently, with information about potential suspects, including one’s they haven’t thought of. They never call back. Unfortunately, Stephanie hung out with some people who were downright scary. She also hung out with a vibrant element of the community. She did both–the well to do and the down trodden and folks somewhere in between. So the concept of more than one suspect is not unusual for her case. One example is a worker and friend who had drug issues that she’d known for years who somehow moved next door. She was seen brushing his hair. He left right after the killing. Another man was seen ranting about her death and expressing remorse. All these leads were given to the Sheriffs but the Sheriffs asked me to investigate the former myself and didn’t bother to call me back on the latter which had a bit of authenticity to it, as well. A quick check on these leads could lead somewhere or not, but they are not interested.
I called them twice about someone I seriously suspect is a serial killer. They refused to take any info anonymously. I’m not surprised to hear you say that.
Netflix’s next video, “Murder County”. Although I doubt law enforcement would release the information, one has to wonder how many unsolved murders have been investigated in Humboldt County in the past thirty years and not solved. Including disappearances. Such as the young girl that disappeared probably twenty years ago and her body and disappearance was never determined. That mother and family has been waiting and waiting and waiting.
Why does it say over 2 1/2 years on the thumb nail top print ?
She died in August 2016 that’s over 8 1/2 years . This August 2025 will make it a full 9 years .
Someone is sharing this article now in 2025 BUT it was published in 2019.