Post by Scumhunter on Nov 11, 2020 4:13:50 GMT -5
(Above photo credit: nwitimes.com)
From nwitimes.com:
RIVER ROUGE, Mich. — Law enforcement have launched a manhunt for a person wanted in connection with a Lowell woman's homicide.
Natalie Hein Ramstrom, 36, was first reported missing in late October to the Lowell Police Department. Her body was discovered Oct. 27 at 10 p.m. at 121 Catherine St. in River Rouge for a well-being check, police said.
At this time, police said the details of her injuries that caused her death will not be released to protect the integrity of the case.
Efrain Medina, the last person known to be in the deceased woman's company, "immediately" became a person of interest in the case, according to a news release from the River Rouge Police Department in Michigan.
After identifying her body, officers learned the residence had been rented out to Medina.
Officers tracked him to his place of employment to bring him in for questioning but were denied access into the facility, River Rouge police said.
Fellow employees alerted Medina to police presence at his work, during which time he was able to evade security personnel and exit through an adjacent building undetected, police said.
Ramstrom was pronounced dead in Wayne County, Michigan, and a homicide investigation was subsequently opened.
Officers said an arrest warrant has been approved by the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office.
Ramstrom and Medina had resided in Indiana and has ties to Illinois and Mexico. It's believed Medina may have fled to one of those locations.
Lowell police said she was last seen Oct. 20, a notification on the Indiana State Police missing person bulletin shows.
Anyone with information leading to the whereabouts of Medina is asked to contact the River Rouge Criminal Investigations Section at 313-297-0001 ext. 255. Or, call the River Rouge Public Safety Dispatch at 313-842-8700 ext. 1.
As always, tips will remain anonymous, police said.
Samantha Schmidlin, of Cedar Lake, previously told The Times she has been friends with Ramstrom for 20 years. The two grew close at Lowell High School and have since stuck together through motherhood and more together.
"It's unreal to actually think this kind person is no longer with us," Schmidlin said. "She was the kind of person everyone wanted to be around. She would do anything for any of her friends, and she was a wonderful mom."
Schmidlin said Ramstrom had two young daughters, whom she adored.
Ramstrom was also as an instructional aide in Tri-Creek School Corp.'s Three Creeks Elementary, where she worked with second-grade students. Before that, she was a volunteer at the elementary school and served on its PTO.
Additional counselors were available to Tri-Creek employees, Superintendent Rod Gardin said in a letter to employees.
"Every person who works in Tri-Creek is important to each of us. When one of our colleagues or their family hurts, we all share in that feeling," Gardin wrote. "We are terribly saddened by Mrs. Ramstrom's passing, and our thoughts and prayers are with her family."
Schmidlin said Ramstrom was beloved by the students.
"The kids loved her; they're going to be so sad without her," she said.
Schmidlin learned of her friend's death Wednesday morning and is thankful to have had one last phone call with her last week.
"After we talked, I don't know why, but I got this feeling in the pit of my stomach, like intuition," Schmidlin said. "I had this feeling I would never talk to my friend again. It hit me in the gut for some reason."
www.nwitimes.com/news/local/suspect-in-lowell-womans-homicide-evades-capture-manhunt-underway/article_9faf53d5-03c9-5196-8767-5952570492a2.html
Thoughts? As far as I can tell, Medina is still at large as of this posting date (November 11th, 2020), since most articles are from the past few days and at least locally this seems to be a high-profile case.
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