MISSING: ANGELICA SANDOVAL
WHAT HAPPENED TO ANGELICA SANDOVAL?
Angelica Esperanza Sandoval (21) went missing from her home under suspicious circumstances over 11 years ago. She lived in Alamosa Colorado and was a dedicated mother to her 11 month old baby girl, Lariah.
Late in the evening around 9:50pm on Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011, Angelica and Lariah arrived back home from a local laundromat. Angelica dropped off a load of items inside with her phone, and left Lariah with her brother while she ran back out to her car to retrieve the remaining laundry, and her purse and cigarettes.
About 10-15 minutes go by and Angelica’s brother goes outside to check on her and see what’s taking so long, but Angelica has never been seen again. The scene had little evidence, her rear driver’s side car door was left open, her keys were in the car, and her purse was on the ground in front of the car. There were no signs of a struggle but foul play is suspected.
WAS ANGELICA ABDUCTED? GANG RELATED? WHERE IS SHE?
Only a few months prior to her disappearance on November 19th, 2010, Angelica was the victim of a home invasion. She was sleeping when she was awoken by a man pressing her face into her pillow with a gun on her neck. He told her if she moved he would kill her and Lariah, then he put a pillow on her head and taped it to the pillow he was shoving her face into. The man yanked her by her hair into her living room demanding cash. She couldn’t see much but she was able to see the man’s neck tattoos and she recognized his voice. She had $200 in her purse so he took that and forced her back into her room and tied her up. The man sexually assaulted her and attempted to rape her but she was able to talk him out of it because her daughter was there. When the man was fleeing, he threatened her with gang violence.
Thankfully, baby Lariah was untouched. Angelica called 911 after he left and reported the incident but only knew the man’s street name to be Demon. With that information and the tattoo descriptions, police were able to identify the perpetrator. The FBI got involved pretty quickly.
Angelica was supposed to testify against him in court, but went missing only 10 days prior to that scheduled date. Without her testimony, the charges against him were dropped. Those charges can be refiled if Angelica reappears. He was incarcerated when she disappeared, but many theorize he had someone take her out for him. He remained in jail serving time for a separate assault charge.
A CRY FOR HELP OR A DIABOLICAL PRANK?
Sometime after she went missing, in Zapata Falls, an area less than an hour from Angelica’s home, a message was written in the snow that said: “Help. Danger. Call Cops. Angel loves Lariah” with arrows pointing somewhere, but it didn’t lead to any other clues. It’s unknown if that message was a prank.
A tip came in and said that Angelica could be found in a green bag on La Manga Pass, but that she probably wouldn’t be able to be retrieved until spring. Her father, Robert, spent many nights camping and searching for his daughter there, to the point of exhaustion.
Since Angelica was petite at 4’11” and 105 pounds, she may have been overpowered easily. That person(s) may have told her to be quiet or they’d kill her and Lariah (similar to the home invasion incident). Even though this information sounds plausible, it is not the only theory behind Angelica’s disappearance.
WAS THE GIRL SHE WAS HAVING PROBLEMS WITH INVOLVED?
Shortly prior to her disappearance, on Angelica’s Facebook page, she mentions that a girl in New Mexico is stalking her. There are several recent status updates and at one point Angelica tells the girl (who is not in the conversation) to kill herself, and her friends say similar things in the comment section. Angelica also threatens to kill this unnamed girl. Authorities believe(d) she might be in New Mexico so some theorize there may be a connection. Another theory, Angelica’s mother, Michelle, was quoted early on as saying Angelica may have been abducted and taken to Mexico for human trafficking.
If you have any information about the disappearance of Angelica Sandoval please contact:
- Alamosa Police Department 719-589-2548
- Crimestoppers 719-589-4111
QUICK FACTS
- Hispanic
- Female
- Brown hair dyed black
- Brown eyes
- She was wearing:
- Turquoise tank top
- Light colored jeans
- White high top shoes
- White cat eye contacts
DISTINGUISHING FEATURES
- Butterfly on right shoulder
- "Lariah" on left shoulder
- "Faith" behind right ear
- Paw prints on left side/ribs
- "Sad girl" on knuckles
- Unknown tattoo on right wrist
- Unknown tattoo on neck
- Left bottom lip piercing
- She got a new tattoo only days before she disappeared. She made reference in a Facebook status to it being a name and seeing how long it would be until she has to cover it up, implying that it was her boyfriend’s name.
SOURCES
