A missing Arizona lady was discovered dead in a car with a man who her family claimed had been haunting her and sending her mysterious messages just before her disappearance.
Doris Maricela Aguilar, 25, and Juan Jose Velis Cuellar, 51, were identified as the victims found dead inside a vehicle at a shopping center in Phoenix, Arizona, on July 8, according to a Phoenix Police Department news release issued on July 19.
Police believe the pair had been dead for several days, and the local medical examiner’s office decided Cuellar died from “self-inflicted” injuries. Aguilar’s cause and manner of death were not disclosed in the release, and authorities stated that the investigation is still underway.
According to the police department’s first release, officers who arrived to the site after receiving a report of an injured individual in the parking lot discovered a pistol inside the car and believed Cuellar — who had not yet been identified — had sustained a gunshot wound.
Aguilar was last seen on July 1 and left her home about 8 p.m. to go to the shop, but she never returned, according to her family’s GoFundMe effort to help with burial expenses. The family also stated that her automobile was discovered abandoned on July 9 in the location where she was thought to have been traveling. They said that her wallet and all of her gym items were found inside the car.
Phoenix police were investigating the woman’s disappearance at the time, and they posted a missing person poster to ask for aid in finding her.
Before she was discovered dead, Aguilar’s family hired private investigator Steve Fischer to investigate what happened to her.
According to Fox 10 Phoenix, Aguilar’s family stated she had a stalker who frequently appeared in the parking lot of the gym she frequented, prompting her to change gyms several times. Fischer told the site that Aguilar and her alleged stalker used to work together but were dismissed after she reported him for inappropriate behavior.
He reportedly sent her a threatening message on June 27, four days before she vanished. The message allegedly stated, “Getting my membership back…” “See you soon,” Fox 10 Phoenix reported.
According to AZ Family, Fischer stated that Aguilar openly expressed fear about her alleged stalker.
“She did tell her family and important people in her life about this person, and that if anything happened to her, he was responsible and he scared her,” Fischer claimed, as reported by AZ Family.
In the GoFundMe page, Aguilar’s loved ones described her as a “vibrant 25-year-old woman who touched the lives of everyone she met.”
“Doris was known for her dedication and passion for fitness, never missing a day at the gym,” the fundraising page states. “She was a bright light in our lives, and her absence is deeply felt.”
The family hopes to raise funds to help with burial expenses and to return Aguilar’s ashes to Honduras, where, according to the GoFundMe, her mother “feels the unbearable pain of losing her daughter from afar.”