MARITZA YEPEZ - 16 yo - (2009) Lawrenceville GA

Gwinnett County police have identified the remains found by a dog in a wooded area Dec. 6.Officials said the remains of Maritza Yepez, 16, were identified through dental records.Police
said Yepez was last seen on Aug. 23 and was originally reported missing
as a runaway. She had been living with her aunt in Lawrenceville at the
time of her disappearance.

Officials said they are investigating her death as a homicide.Gwinnett
County Police Department officials said a man was walking his dog in a
wooded area near Forest Vale Drive in Norcross on Dec. 6 when his dog
discovered the skeletal remains of the teen. Police suspect foul play
and are asking for the public’s help in determining her activities in
the last days of her life.Anyone with information about the
incident or knowledge of Yepez are strongly encouraged to call Gwinnett
County Police at 770-513-5300. Information can also be relayed through
Crime Stoppers at 404-577-TIPS (8477). Anonymous tips are welcome and
could lead to a monetary reward of up to $2,000.

Gwinnett County police said Thursday that they identified skeletal
remains found almost two weeks ago as a 16-year-old Lawrenceville girl.
Investigators said the girl lived with her aunt and was last seen alive
at the end of August. Police said Maritza Yepes was missing for
three and a half months and the cause was being treated as a homicide.
Now, police said they believe Yepes was the victim of homicide. Gwinnett County police said Jubentino Boyzo was walking his dog in his backyard when he found the remains. "I
let one of my dogs go out on the leash by itself and later noticed she
was very interested in something. In the beginning I didn't see the
magnitude of it, but it's when you start thinking of it, it's a sad
thing, somebody's life," said Boyzo. The remains were later identified as Yepes. In addition to the skeletal remains, police also found the woman's clothes. "We know the victim was last seen on August 23," said Officer Brian Kelly of the Gwinnett County Police Department. Investigators originally thought Yepes ran away because she had established a history of leaving home, often for days at a time. "The
medical examiner formed an opinion from the autopsy [that] there was
homicidal violence involved in this matter," Officer Kelly said. Investigators are now trying to find someone who may know were Yepes was in the hours before she was killed. "Folks
might remember having seen her in the company of an individual or a
location that might assist investigators," said Officer Kelly.

Slain teen was troubled, sweet
6:09 p.m. Friday, January 8, 2010
By Andria Simmons
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution


Even before she disappeared, there were signs that something was troubling 16-year-old Maritza Yepez.

When she didn't return home from an outing to the movies in August, relatives fretted that she had run away. No one realized just how serious her problems had become until a Norcross man who was walking his dog stumbled upon her badly decomposed remains in a wooded area on Dec. 6.

Maritza's death was ruled an act of homicidal violence, but investigators have not released the cause of death.

"They have interviewed every known associate to the victim," said a Gwinnett police spokesman, Cpl. David Schiralli. "We're still actively investigating it, following up on some leads. We have no list of suspects at this time."

Photographs of Maritza show a beautiful teenager with a winning smile. Family members said she was a sweet girl with a fiercely independent streak. She was open at home and school about being a lesbian, according to her aunt, Alma Olvera, and a 17-year-old friend, George Reyes.

"She is one of those girls who will say what she means," Olvera said. "Really independent."

But Maritza's grin masked bouts of depression and loneliness. Born in Texas and raised in Georgia, Maritza chose to remain behind two years ago when her mother and four siblings returned to Mexico.

Olvera, 39, and her husband agreed to raise their niece along with their own four children, who range in age from 4 to 17. Maritza was determined to finish her high school education at Berkmar High School, Olvera said.

Reyes, a classmate, said Maritza experimented with drugs last year and dropped out during the spring semester. But over the summer she vowed to turn her life around. She re-enrolled in school and was attending classes regularly, Reyes said.

Nothing seemed amiss on Aug. 23 when Maritza texted her aunt to ask permission to go to the movies with a friend. But the teenager never returned home. Olvera said Maritza had left home before, but she usually would answer her phone and return a few days later.

This time was different.

Messages left on Maritza's cellphone by both Olvera and her mother in Mexico went unanswered. Maritza also left behind her purse, her ID, her makeup and nearly all her possessions. Olvera filed a missing person report and hoped her niece would turn up soon.

Her concerns mounted when, while looking through Maritza's things one day, Olvera stumbled upon something chilling. It was a memory card containing some strange photographs that Maritza had taken of herself, as if to document some unknown offense. The photographs depicted Maritza's arms and legs, mottled with bruises.

"I don't know how, but she took those pictures of herself," Olvera said. "I didn't know about the bruises."

In November, Olvera and her family moved from Lawrenceville to Alpharetta. But they held out hope of Maritza's return. They boxed up the teenager's belongings and kept them stored at the new apartment.

Then on Dec. 17 Olvera saw a television news report about the discovery of unidentified female remains in Norcross. Along with the body, police said they found several articles of clothing -- some of it muddy, tattered and bloodstained.

"When I saw that, my heart went crazy," Olvera said. "I had a feeling that was my niece."

A comparison of dental records confirmed the family's worst fears.

Reyes said Maritza would want her loved ones to move on and make the best of things. But it's difficult to shrug off such a senseless death.

"It just saddens me that someone could actually be that cruel and heartless to someone," Reyes said.

Maritza's birthday, which she shared with an uncle, was on Dec. 28. The family used to celebrate with a special dinner and two birthday cakes. This year, though, relatives were so upset that "we didn't feel like doing or saying anything," Olvera said.

Maritza would have been 17.

http://www.ajc.com/news/gwinnett/slain-teen-was-troubled-270999.html

No update found.

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