The family of a murdered mom from Georgia is finally getting some measure of justice.
Rossana Delgado‘s disappearance made headlines a little over two years ago. The beloved mother of two went missing after she went on a shopping trip with some others in northeast Atlanta. Police at the time said Rossana was “lured” to the Plaza Fiesta shopping mall — and sadly it would be the last place she was ever seen alive.
According to 11Alive, the 37-year-old told her husband she was dropping off one last passenger after a day of shopping, and that she’d be home soon. But she never came home. Her spouse became increasingly worried as hours ticked past and there was still no word from his wife. He eventually decided to track the location of her phone, and went to the locations she had been. At one location in particular, though, he was horrified to find a bloody face mask. This discovery scared him enough that he called police immediately.
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So scary…
As police investigated the case at the time, they were led 120 miles away from her last phone ping to a rural cabin which was being rented under an app — using a stolen identity. Upon entering the cabin, they found the unthinkable. Rossana’s body was there, dismembered and burned. According to a statement from Appalachian Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office this week, she had been tortured prior to her death:
“At the cabin [the suspects] did torture Delgado prior to her death and eventually carried out the killing of Delgado and dismemberment and burning of Delgado’s body.”
Just awful. And all she wanted was to go on a shopping trip!
Later in the ongoing investigation it came to light Rossana had been kidnapped by a drug trafficking organization. After the murder, several suspects fled to Mexico but were eventually caught and extradited back to the United States. This was no small group, either, as 14 people have been indicted in connection to the murder — and police are still searching for three more.
In a shocking twist, nine of the 14 suspects came forward before the trial was set to begin this month — and pleaded guilty to their charges. Out of those nine, two of them — Oscar Manuel Garcia and Juan Ayala-Rodriguez — were sentenced to life in prison for Rossana’s murder and dismemberment. District Attorney B. Alison Sosebee said in a statement:
“It is my hope, even though this matter remains open, that the resolutions and sentences entered at this time will assist the family and loved ones of Rossana Delgado in beginning to obtain closure.”
So horrifying. You can truly never be too careful when interacting with strangers, even in places that are supposed to be safe — like malls!
We hope this poor family continue to get the justice they deserve as the rest face their sentencing — and the final accomplices are caught. May Rossana rest in peace.
[Image via Atlanta News First/YouTube/Rossana Delgado/Facebook]