For 326 miles, Jose Rodriguez, his four children and his fiancé's dead body traveled in his black Lincoln Navigator from Reno to central California.

About 10 years ago, 37-year-old Rodriguez moved to Nevada, where he had two children with 29-year-old Lorena Gardner. On Sunday, Gardner's body was found inside a taped cardboard box in the back of Rodriguez's Lincoln in Dinuba, Calif.

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According to Dinuba police Lt. Abel Iriarte, Rodriguez allegedly killed Gardner in Reno then packed the mother of his two youngest children in a cardboard box and started driving, his four children unknowingly in the car with her body.

Rodriguez -- a known gang member in Dinuba -- was in town by 8:30 p.m. Saturday when reportedly the same black Lincoln Navigator was seen speeding away after shots were fired.

About an hour and a half later, Iriarte said, police received a report of a disturbance and, at the residence, found the Lincoln parked in the driveway and "several people running from the area."

"There was no cooperation," Iriarte noted. "No victims came forward. There was no information. Officers then cleared the area."

On Sunday morning, Dinuba police responded to a disturbance at the same residence. This time, officers found Rodriguez's brother stabbed in the arm, Iriarte said.

Iriarte said that from what he gathered from the multiple disturbances, Rodriguez was "intimidating everybody."

"We can only assume why," he said.

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Rodriguez tried to run from the house, Iriarte said, but police caught him and he was arrested with only minor resistance.

"Then, we started receiving all of the tips," he said.

Detectives arrived on scene and found a pistol and Gardner's body decomposing in the sweltering heat. Iriarte said she had an "obvious blunt trauma" to her head.

Later, detectives found a "hole that was dug by (Rodriguez)" at a family member's house.

"We can only assume what that was for."

Iriarte said the Dinuba Police Department immediately contacted Reno police to let them know of their findings. That day, Reno sent two detectives and other members of the Washoe County Crime Lab to Dinuba.

"We're working with the Washoe County Crime Lab and the Washoe County District Attorney's Office to methodically put our case together," Reno police Sgt. KC Myers said. "We anticipate charging (Rodriguez) locally very soon."

Rodriguez is currently being held in Dinuba. His bail was increased to $1 million while he awaits extradition to Nevada.

No motive for the killing was available.