Oralia Mendoza and Mariah Feit Lopez
Yoni Martinez Aguilar and Israel Gonzalez Palomino
2 men arrested in connection with Alabama teen's murder
By Lyndsey Connell
WBRC News
MADISON COUNTY, AL (WAFF) - A Huntsville honor student was found brutally murdered and now, the search is on for her missing grandmother.
Friday morning, the Madison County Sheriff's Office said that 26-year-old Yoni Martinez Aguilar and 34-year-old Israel Gonzalez Palomino were both arrested for capital murder of a person under 14, in connection with the murder of 13-year-old Mariah Feit Lopez.
Aguilar was arrested on Friday morning, a little after midnight and is charged with murder and Palomino was arrested on Thursday night, just after 8 o'clock. is charged with murder and drug possession.
The body of Lopez was discovered by a farmer last week on a property off Cave Spring Road in Owens Cross Roads and the Madison County Sheriff’s Office is concerned about her grandmother, who has vanished.
Authorities have been working around the clock to find out what happened to the two relatives in a case that’s expanded into a homicide and missing persons investigation.
It started last week when the remains of a female were discovered in the wood line on Lemley Drive.The Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences identified the body, with dental records, as Mariah.
The teen was an excellent student and made the A/B Honor Roll at her school. Huntsville City Schools released the following statement on Thursday: “We are saddened to learn of the passing of Mariah Lopez, a student at Challenger Middle School. We extend our heartfelt sympathy to the family and will keep them in our thoughts and prayers.”
Mariah and Oralia Mendoza, who is also the teen’s guardian, are not affiliated with the area of Owens Cross Roads where Mariah’s body was left, according to officials.
They were last seen Sunday, June 3, and then Mariah’s remains were located on Thursday, June 7, but Mendoza was nowhere to be seen.
“Even though the young lady is no longer with us, we don’t know the location of her grandmother. Take a look at their photos, and we want to know if you have seen them leading up to that Sunday or Monday whenever they were last accounted for and if you have any information, please call the sheriff’s office,” said Lt. Donny Shaw, public information officer for the Madison County Sheriff’s Office.
As investigators work to find Mendoza, they’re also looking for a murder suspect or suspects as they piece the tragic chain of events together.
“They are following up on leads that they’re developing and hopefully we’ll have those answers soon to be able to give closure to the family members who have lost a loved one and don’t know where their loved one is right now so hopefully we’ll have some answers for them soon in the investigation that’s being done,” Shaw explained.
He declined to say how Mariah was killed, only that it was “heinous.”
“I will tell you that the manner is which she was killed was a brutal murder and when the time is appropriate for us to release the details of that, it will be shocking to the people in this area,” Lt. Shaw added.
Oralia Mendoza was reported missing to Huntsville police after Sunday, June 3, by concerned relatives. Grieving family members have shared information that Shaw says has been useful as investigators look into every possibility. There’s no word on a possible motive.
Officials fear for Mendoza’s safety, especially after what happened to her granddaughter.
“We hope to find her alive somewhere so that she can be reunited with her family so they don’t have to deal with another loved one being deceased but we are diligently looking for her and we want to find her whatever her condition is. We have some people that we’re going to be contacting and interviewing. It’s a very shocking and unsettling situation for them,” Lt. Shaw added.
He added that the sheriff’s office does not believe that there’s any threat or danger to the general public in connection with the case.
http://www.wbrc.com/story/38426351/m...ddaughter-dead
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