In the early morning hours of September 29, 2023, the life of 41-year-old Natasha D. Highbaugh was tragically cut short in Lawrence, a community on the northeast side of Indianapolis. Her body was discovered in a bushy area outside a home in the 4200 block of North Franklin Road by first responders who were called to the scene around 6:40 a.m.. An autopsy later confirmed that Highbaugh had died from a single gunshot wound.
Investigators believed she had been killed sometime during the overnight hours.
The investigation into Highbaugh's death quickly gained momentum as Lawrence police turned to technology to piece together the events of that fatal morning. Detectives utilized surveillance video from multiple nearby businesses, including a dental office and a gas station. The footage allegedly captured the moments leading up to the shooting, showing a suspect and their vehicle, an orange Ford Mustang. This crucial evidence, combined with data from license plate readers in the area, allowed law enforcement to swiftly identify a person of interest.
Within hours of the discovery of Highbaugh's body, police located the suspect's vehicle and took 23-year-old Oscar Guardado Nunez into custody. According to court documents, a witness who was in the car with Nunez when he was apprehended told police that he had admitted to shooting someone at a nearby gas station, claiming the person had tried to rob him. However, authorities have stated that the surveillance footage does not support this claim. During questioning, Nunez denied his involvement in the shooting.
Oscar Guardado Nunez was arrested on a preliminary charge of murder in connection with the death of Natasha Highbaugh. In addition to the murder charge, he also faced separate gun and drug charges that stemmed from his arrest. Following his arrest, he was held without bond pending the formal filing of charges. The swift arrest was credited by police to the effective use of surveillance technology in the area, which they stated significantly reduced the time it took to solve the case and bring a measure of comfort to the victim's family.
