An arrest has been made in the brutal murder of an Arizona teenager who was reported missing more than two weeks ago, Us Weekly has learned.
Yessenia Gabriella Norman, 18, was found dead in an apartment in Tolleson, Arizona, on January 28. At the time, the apartment was rented by a man named Randal Basilio Santillan, according to a number of local reports.
Santillan is now in police custody more than 1,500 miles away in Biloxi, Mississippi, where the 27-year-old was arrested on Friday, February 6.
Santillan, 27, is alleged to have fled to Biloxi after the murder, according to reports.
Police did not disclose what evidence led them to Santillan’s apartment, where they allege Yessenia — who was known as “Sisi” to friends and family — was found dead after sustaining nearly 30 stab wounds.
Investigators have said that Santillan allegedly met Yessenia through an online dating app, but they failed to identify which online service they claim he used.
Police said that the two met only four days before Yessenia went to meet Santillan in person.
Investigators eventually secured an arrest warrant for Santillan and developed information that he had left the state and headed for Biloxi.
It was unclear why Santillan fled to Mississippi, as police did not say if he had any connections to the Biloxi area.
A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to help her mother, Jessica Nuñez, cover the teen’s funeral costs.
“It is with profound sadness that we share the heartbreaking loss of Yessenia ‘Sisi’ Norman,” reads the page, which called her “beautiful and bright.”
“Sisi was a loving granddaughter, great-granddaughter, and cousin — a young woman of deep compassion and strength for everyone she knew,” reads the text on the GoFundMe page, which has already raised nearly $9,000 of its $10,000 goal. “She loved all of her friends’ children endlessly, treating them as if they were family too.”
The page added that Sisi “was a very talented young woman who had a very bright future waiting for her.” It noted that she had “recently signed up for community college and was very eager to start her adult life.”
“I can’t imagine,” Norman’s mother, Jessica, told KSAZ. “I just can’t imagine. Who would do that to her? I just don’t understand.”
The station found court records revealing Santillan and his ex-wife were the tenants of that apartment unit, but that the ex-wife left Santillan last December.
Santillan was arrested without incident and remains at the Harrison County Adult Detention Center while he awaits extradition, according to police.
He has been formally charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping. He has not been asked to enter any pleas, and he has no attorney of record.
Police from Tolleson and Biloxi, as well as agents from the FBI’s Phoenix and Jackson field officers, participated in the investigation.
The arrest also involved investigators from the Arizona Department of Public Safety, Mississippi Department of Public Safety, Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, and Mississippi Homeland Security.
Anyone who may have any information pertinent to the investigation is being asked to call Biloxi Police at (228) 435-6112, Crime Stoppers at 877-787-5898, or Tolleson Police at (623) 936-7186.
