A California man claimed ICE took his wife. He’s now charged with her murder.

A Sacramento man accused of killing his wife, whose burned remains were discovered in a remote stretch of Northern California, told investigators that she had vanished after being taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, authorities said.

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Gurinder Singh Gill, 28, was charged with murder after the remains of his wife, Jasmine Gill, 30, were discovered in El Dorado County, according to a criminal complaint obtained by SFGATE from the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office.

Jasmine Gill was last seen at the couple’s Sacramento home on Sept. 30. Four days later, her cousin reported her missing, according to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office. When investigators questioned her husband, he claimed that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained Jasmine Gill while she was checking the mail outside their home, the sheriff’s office said. But when detectives contacted ICE, the agency confirmed that no immigration enforcement activity had taken place at the residence.

Investigators subsequently discovered what they described as several inconsistencies in Gurinder Gill’s account of his wife’s disappearance. They also learned that the couple were going through a divorce and were involved in a child custody dispute.

Meanwhile, on the morning of Oct. 1, firefighters responded to reports of smoke rising from a wooded area near Bonetti Road, off Mormon Emigrant Trail, near Pollock Pines, about 50 miles east of Sacramento. Employees of a private timber company spotted the smoke shortly after 7 a.m., according to the Folsom-El Dorado Hills News.

Firefighters extinguished a small blaze covering approximately one-tenth of an acre and discovered what appeared to be human remains. The remains were subsequently identified as Jasmine Gill’s. Jewelry found with the burned remains helped investigators identify her, Sgt. Edward Igoe with the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office told KCRA-TV.

Detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Gurinder Gill, who was taken into custody Oct. 14. Investigators also executed search warrants at two residences associated with him, although authorities have not disclosed what evidence, if any, was recovered. The criminal complaint, filed Oct. 16 in Sacramento County Superior Court, alleges that Gill killed his wife “with malice aforethought” on or about Sept. 30. He faces one felony count of murder.

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Jasmine Gill was a registered nurse and the mother of an 8-month-old boy, according to an online fundraiser organized by her family. Her mother, who raised Jasmine and her brother in India after their father’s death, was also a nurse. The fundraiser describes Jasmine as a woman seeking a fresh start for herself and her baby amid the couple’s divorce. “She was trying to find the freedom, safety, and fresh start they both deserved,” her family wrote. “Tragically, before she could build that future, Jasmine was murdered, leaving behind the very child she was fighting so hard to protect.”

Her family is raising money to return her remains to India and help support her son.

Authorities have not disclosed how Jasmine died or how her remains came to be in the wooded area.

Gurinder Gill was booked into Sacramento County Main Jail without bail, according to the sheriff’s office. His next court appearance is scheduled for Dec. 7 at 8:30 a.m. for a bail review and settlement conference, the DA’s office confirmed to SFGATE.