Suspect in murder of Illinois man taken into local custody
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The suspect in the murder of an Illinois man whose body was found near Upper Lake this week has been booked into the Lake County Jail.
Mavrick William Fisher, 21, who has connections to Elko, Nevada, and Riverside, was booked into the jail shortly after 2 p.m. Wednesday, about an hour after he was taken into custody by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, according to booking records.
Fisher is charged with the murder of 25-year-old Grant David Whitaker during an altercation that investigators believe occurred in Humboldt County, as Lake County News has reported.
The sheriff’s office said Fisher was found in Mexico this week and that authorities there assisted with arresting him.
Whitaker was reported missing in Illinois. On Saturday the sheriff’s office found a vehicle related to Whitaker at the Clearlake Oaks Dollar General store, and followed up on leads as they tried to locate Whitaker.
Authorities said Whitaker’s family had received information that he had been in an altercation at a Humboldt County campground with Fisher, with whom he had been traveling.
Over the weekend, authorities said they received information that Fisher had admitted to killing Whitaker, and also received leads as to where Whitaker’s body was located.
That led to the Monday service of a search warrant and the discovery of human remains in a remote area near the 7500 block of Scott’s Valley Road.
The remains, at that time, were believed to be those of Whitaker. On Wednesday, Sgt. John Gregore said an autopsy was performed on the remains and confirmed the body was indeed Whitaker’s.
The cause of Whitaker’s death has been determined to be blunt force trauma to the head, Gregore said.
Gregore said the investigation into the circumstances related to Whitaker’s death is continuing.
Fisher is being held without bail on a probable cause warrant, and is set to appear for arraignment in Lake County Superior Court on Friday, according to booking records.
Anyone with information regarding this investigation is asked to contact Det. Richard Kreutzer at 707-262-4233 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
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