Overview

• San Jose residents Juan Flores-Gonzalez, 44, Miguel Cortez, 41, and Julio Espinoza-Chavez, 43, were arrested Oct. 7 and booked into the Santa Clara County jail on homicide charges.
• Two days later, cadaver dogs found a buried body in the Saratoga Hills near Highway 9, and the county Medical Examiner confirmed the victim’s identity, which has not been released.
• Police opened the case June 22 after friends reported an unhoused man missing and found his bicycle near blood and spent shell casings along a Coyote Creek trail.
• The county crime lab matched the blood to the missing man on June 25, and detectives followed vehicle leads to obtain arrest and search warrants.
• SJPD counts the case as San Jose’s 23rd homicide of 2025, and Chief Paul Joseph praised the Homicide Unit’s performance and stated it maintains a 100% solve rate.