KILLER LEADS HUNT FOR VICTIM'S BODY CONVICT TRIES TO LOCATE ROWLAND HEIGHTS GRAVE.

Byline: Stephanie Cain Staff Writer

ROWLAND HEIGHTS - Less than an hour after convicted killer Gabriel Gomez was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, he led investigators and two reporters to a park where he said the victim was buried.

Gomez, 40, of Whittier spoke to this reporter and KTLA television reporter Warren Wilson while in custody at Pomona Court South.

Rosas, 48, the wife of Los Lobos lead singer Cesar Rosas, disappeared from her Rowland Heights home the night of Oct. 23, 1999.

Gomez was convicted of kidnapping and killing the woman. Her body has never been found.

During a sentencing hearing in which Gomez was given life in prison plus 22 years, Gomez was exhorted by the judge and members of Rosas' family to tell where the body was. He remained silent.

But in a brief hearing in front of Judge Robert Martinez several hours later, Gomez confirmed that he knew the whereabouts of the remains of Sandra Rosas and agreed to take authorities and the two reporters there under a deal.

The agreement specifies that if the case against Gomez is ever overturned and the District Attorney's Office must retry him, it will not make part of a new trial the fact that Gomez led them to the body, Deputy District Attorney Don Clem said.

It is unlikely Gomez's case would ever be overturned, Clem said.

Antonio Bestard, Gomez's defense attorney, said Gomez began feeling remorseful last week and that Thursday's search was a result of that change of heart.

For the time being, however, it is a nonissue.

The four-hour search that ensued at Schabarum Regional Park in Rowland Heights - not far from the Rosases' home - turned up nothing conclusive, although detectives identified several spots they planned to return to in the next few days with dogs to continue the search.

Beginning about 5:30 p.m., the caravan of nearly a dozen sheriff's vehicles made its way along a fire road that led past stables at the southeast end of the park.

Directed mostly by Gomez, the line of cars stopped periodically, and Gomez, shackled at the wrists and ankles and dressed in a brown county jail uniform with a blanket thrown over his shoulders for warmth, would emerge from a car.

Shuffling forward, Gomez looked into several ravines and talked quietly to a reporter and detectives while a Los Angeles County sheriff's helicopter trained a bright spotlight on the ground below.

A group of reporters and photographers was waiting for the group when it returned to the park entrance.

Gomez was returned to county jail Thursday night after the failed search.

Clem said he was not surprised at Gomez's last-ditch effort on the day of his sentencing and said he brought extra clothes to work Thursday in case he ended up on just such a search.

``This was his last chance,'' Clem said. ``So I came prepared.''