Murder suspect Conner Alexander Fry, 30, La Grande, shown here, was found dead by law enforcement and the Oregon State Police SWAT team on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023, in Ontario. Malheur County District Attorney Dave Goldthorpe said police were looking for Fry following the Oct. 10 death of Daniela Perez, 24, Ontario.

ONTARIO — Police tracked a cellphone Wednesday, Oct. 11, to locate a murder suspect in Ontario, but he died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to Dave Goldthorpe, the Malheur County District Attorney.

Goldthorpe in a press release reported law enforcement and the Oregon State Police SWAT team began an operation shortly after 6 p.m. to arrest Conner Fry, 30, of La Grande, on a warrant in connection with the death of an Ontario woman who was reported missing on Oct. 10.

Goldthorpe said police for hours pinged Fry’s cellphone number, which remained in the same general location.

“As SWAT got in position and before their operation truly began, Conner Fry was seen exiting a shed and then taking cover in dense vegetation nearby,” the press release reported.

As police began to move into place, a “muffled gunshot was heard.” Police confirmed no member of law enforcement fired a weapon. Not knowing what possible threat remained, police shot pepper spray where they believed Fry was.

“After no movement or surrender occurred, several less lethal rounds were fired in an attempt to make Conner Fry come out of the vegetation,” Goldthorpe said in the release. “When he did not move, SWAT approached with caution.”

Police secured Fry’s hands with zip tie restraints and he was checked for a pulse before being moved from the area.

“He appeared to have died from a self-inflicted shotgun wound, as he was lying on a shotgun,” Goldthorpe said. “The shotgun was found to contain one spent casing, and Conner Fry had multiple other unspent shotgun rounds stored in his clothing.”

Goldthorpe said police found the body of Daniela Perez, 24, after she was reported missing at about 4:30 p.m. Oct. 10 by using the subscription-based On-Star communications system to locate her vehicle around 7 p.m. that day.

Perez’s car was found in an Ontario School District parking lot.

The discovery of Perez triggered a county-wide search for Fry.

Goldthorpe said “suspicious circumstances” at the woman’s house, and the inability of the family to contact her, had triggered the missing person’s report.

Goldthorpe said Fry had been in the Ontario area for a few weeks.

A history of issues

Fry had disputes with police in Union County off and on for years.

Fry was convicted in 2015 for having sex with an underage girl. In 2016, according to court documents, he was convicted of breaking in the door of the mother of his children’s home in front of his young children.

In 2020, Fry pleaded guilty to theft, burglary and credit card fraud.

Then, in 2021, court records show, a judge found him guilty of giving false information to a police officer. Later that same year, Fry was sentenced to 10 months in the Union County Jail and two years of probation for resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer when a Pendleton patrol officer attempted to arrest him on a warrant from the Union County Parole Board.

“Fry continued to resist arrest and at one point punched the officer in the face with a closed fist,” Police Chief Chuck Byram wrote in a news release reported by Elkhorn Media Group at the time.

Remembering the victim

Meanwhile, the

community on social media is mourning the loss of Daniela Perez.

Perez graduated from Ontario High School in 2018, according to Taryn Smith, Ontario School District public relations manager. In 2020, she earned an associate of arts degree from Treasure Valley Community College, said Abby Lee, the college’s vice president of communications.

For the last year and a half, she worked at Ogawa’s Sushi, Burgers, and Bowls restaurant in Fruitland.

Ogawa’s management and staff described Perez as “a compassionate young woman full of love and a zest for life” and someone who was always there “with a helping hand and a kind word,” in a Facebook post.

“We will miss that beautiful smile that lit up the room whenever she greeted you,” the post said. “There are absolutely no words that can express how deeply she will be missed.”

— Malheur Enterprise reporter Pat Caldwell contributed to this report.