CAMANO ISLAND — Authorities have used lab results to confirm a body found in a California river more than a year ago is the suspect in a Camano Island homicide.

The John Doe was actually Jacob Gonzales, the Island County Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday.

Detectives believe Gonzales killed 26-year-old Katherine Cunningham and escaped in her Honda Civic in February 2018. By the time a neighbor found her beheaded body on March 3, 2018, Gonzales was gone.

The Honda was abandoned in California a few miles north of Yreka. Gonzales was described by a neighbor as a “bunker nut” who wanted to live off the grid, according to court papers. He had seemingly disappeared. He was 33 at the time.

He was charged with murder in June, after his DNA was found on the hilt of a samurai sword that was reportedly used to kill Cunningham. A $1 million warrant was issued for his arrest.

Island County detective Ed Wallace said the sheriff’s office followed up on upwards of 120 tips, as recently as in the past week.

It turned out that Gonzales was already dead. On April 7, 2018, a fisherman found his body below a bridge in the Feather River near Yuba City, Calif. — over 200 miles away from where the car was found. The body was decayed, as if it had been in the water for some time. He drowned, according to the Sutter County Sheriff’s Office. It’s unknown if he took his own life or if his death was accidental.