Fructuoso Jimenez was found shot to death on Wednesday. Ranch workers discovered his body in an almond orchard off Road 14 and Avenue 21 ½ near Chowchilla.
Fructouso Jimenez worked on the ranch for more than two decades and even helped manage these orchards. The owners say he was a valuable employee, a trusted friend, and a dedicated family man. Now they and detectives are searching for answers about his death.
Fellow ranch workers discovered the body of Fructuoso Jimenez in the rural Madera County orchard next to his tractor Wednesday afternoon. Sheriff's deputies later discovered he'd been shot multiple times in the head.
"We're trying to get past the initial shock of it. At this point I can't make any sense of it," said Ranch owner, Roger Schuh. "We're nervous, we're concerned. We feel terrible."
Schuh says Jimenez came to work for him on this ranch more than 20 years ago. During that time the men became good friends. They each had three children who were close in age.
"They've been on the ranch from when they were born, so I've seen them all grow up," said Schuh. "I couldn't even sleep last night just thinking about that stuff."
Schuh says he can't understand why anyone would want to hurt the hardworking family man who was well-liked and respected by his co-workers.
Sheriff John Anderson says the murder is also perplexing because the 55-year-old's body was found so far away from any roads in the middle of this massive almond orchard "How this happened, again out in the middle of nowhere and why, that's the strange thing to me."
Sheriff Anderson is now asking for the public's help as detectives work to solve this mysterious murder. "Right now our detectives are trying to look at his circle of his family, his circle of friends to find out if there was anything going on ... money, crimes of passion, that sort of thing, so we can at least come up with a motive, and that gives us a direction to go."
Jimenez also went by the nickname "Tou-Cho." Anyone with information about this case is being asked to call the sheriff's office.
