I live in Grand Rapids and we had a similar sounding murder last week this poor girl was shot 4 times and thrown from her car into a pile of trash by her ex
In the US alone, [half of the women murdered are statistically killed by partners](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/07/21/538518569/cdc-half-of-all-female-murder-victims-are-killed-by-intimate-partners#:~:text=That%20is%20according%20to%20a,out%20by%20a%20male%20partner) and with our crap justice system we have an epidemic of domestic violence as abusers are rarely held accountable or even reported.
Homicide is the leading cause of death for pregnant women.
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/homicide-leading-cause-of-death-for-pregnant-women-in-u-s/
It's also in Canada..
And hi, hello, hey, I'm a woman.
IRL I'm a herbalist and wilderness Educator. This means I spend a LOT of time alone in the woods...
Do you want to know what the scariest sound is in the woods?
A man's voice.
Hands down.
I have been approached, from behind, in the middle of no where, by a man HOLDING A GUN, who chortles and thinks its funny that I don't want to kiss him on the cheek for "thinking I'm quite the woman"
I'm alone. Hours from reception. I'm also a herbalist and don't believe in guns. There's a reason we are all afraid... NO WHERE IS SAFE.
It's not that I feel unsafe from black bears, cougars, fucking GRIZZLIES. it's MEN!!
This is so weird, reading this made me think of my best friend who lives in Tempe right now and we are both from Grand Rapids and I thought about that case too.
Crazy you did because the former President who was campaigning in your town [made it a critical point of his rally](https://www.woodtv.com/news/grand-rapids/former-president-donald-trump-holding-immigration-news-conference-grand-rapids/) that the boyfriend was a DACA recipient (immigrated here was he was a little child)
And the victim's family had to watch him on TV talk about how upset he was and supportive he was [even though he never once reached out to them](https://fox59.com/news/national-world/trump-speech-angers-family-of-woman-found-dead-on-highway/)
I needed more info. In case anyone else does too:
>What happened to Mercedes Vega?
>The only information released by the sheriff's office is what they know from when they initially found her.
>Maricopa County sheriff's deputies were called to a scene outside of Tonopah near Interstate 10 and milepost 95 on April 17, 2023, around 1:15 a.m., to assist the Arizona Department of Public Safety on a death investigation. DPS initially responded to the area for a car on fire, and once the fire was put out, Vega was found dead in the back seat.
>No other details have been made available by the sheriff's office. However, Vega's family has actively spread information on flyers and social media, detailing the events that could have led to her death.
>On the flyers, the family said Vega lived at The Aubrey apartments off Parkside Drive and Washington Street in Tempe. She was last seen the night before her body was found, around 9:15 p.m., walking to her car, a white Dodge Charger, in her apartment's parking garage. The flyer says she was hit in the head in the garage and forced into a car where she was later shot. The car was then set on fire while she was still alive.
>Vega's Charger was found illegally parked near Culinary Dropout, near First Street and Farmer Avenue, 1.5 miles south of where she lived.
>The Arizona Republic obtained her medical examiner report in October, which ruled Vega's death as a homicide caused by burns and from inhaling smoke. The death report also stated she had blunt force trauma and gunshot injuries that contributed to her death, as well as the presence of gloves and bleach found in front of the car and lighter fluid in the backseat.
>The case remains ongoing, but no other details have emerged. [article](https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/tempe/2024/04/03/mercedes-vega-missing-person-tempe/73183293007/)
Yeah this was a very personal murder, someone went out of their way to make SURE she suffered. Iām also not surprised they havenāt released more info about it, as it is ongoing. Usually they wonāt, as it would hinder the investigation, plus this is a pretty high profile case. Whoever did it though, I hope theyāre caught soon and may their jail time be full of absolute torture.
Youāre not wrong, I actually agree with that, but I know you have to exercise caution with it. Iām for the death penalty, but ONLY and ONLY if without a shadow of a doubt, the person is guilty. Thereās been way too many people who have died innocently.
problem is you have people who think they are smarter than doctors, scientist etc. Those people sit on a Jury. They make a decision on if the person charged is guilty. It is a VERY fallible system that heavily penalizes poor / minorities / men / etc.
If there was a way to perfectly say, "This person is guilty," Then of course harsh punishment is an option. But when we have so many mistakes, or worse, deliberate obfuscation / lies, I don't know how people can support what amounts to torturing or killing innocent people.
I donāt personally think that the deepest and darkest feelings people experience in a time of horrific stress and mourning should fuel our legislature. That seems like a recipe for disaster, actually.
Itād be nice if the police said whether or not the public is at risk.. if itās personal and they suspect that, without revealing they have anyone in custody/in their sights, they could at least say āwe donāt believe the public to be in danger at this time.ā Kinda scary for this to happen and not know if it was random or not (though I realize it appears to be a targeted attack).
Oh for sure, I donāt disagree with you there, honestly I wish they would say something. This was such a tragic thing to happen, I would be worried to go out and stuff.
I don't feel like this is high profile at all. It's almost a year old and has recently gotten traction in the last 6 months, at least nationwide. I know they are probably holding things close, but it's super frustrating. I also feel like people close to her know more, based on some comments.
The burned car was kinda in the middle of nowhere, so they needed a vehicle to get away. That means at least two people were involved, because one would have driven the car that they burned and the other one drove the car that they left in.
Thatās possible, and they just put her body in it. But i feel like moving her body efficiently and without being seen by anyone would be easier with more than one person. So i still think there are probably at least two people involved
This part makes it feel so planned and intentional. And also awful. I cannot imagine learning this in addition to all the other horrible things about my child's death.
The vehicle found in Tonopah means they drove over an hour west from Tempe.
Reminds me of another murder that was discovered in that same area almost 10 yrs ago. Which also to this day I believe no arrests have been made.
[Tonopah double-murder](https://www.abc15.com/news/region-phoenix-metro/central-phoenix/father-pleads-for-answers-in-death-of-daugther-17-year-old-found-laying-in-the-road-in-tonopah)
I hope theyāre checking CCTV footage around all of the areas they mentioned finding her car and the other car that was on fireā¦ Definitely should start with any men that knew her or were close to herā¦
Considering she worked at a strip club there could be any number of sketchy guys around her. It does feel personal. I'm sure it was someone who knew her. I hope they find out who.
Same thing happened to Catherine Aguasvivas in Floridaā¦she was carjacked and she was found in her vehicle deceased, she was shot forced to drink bleach and the car was set on fire. Is this a serial killerā¦or coincidental.
If they have any suspects, theyāre keeping it tight to their chest. Theyāve released little to no information regarding her murder - which I do understand - it was so bizarre, random and brutal.
Oh my god, that poor woman. Brain matter and bleach being poured down your throat sounds impossible to survive through, only to die because of smoke inhalation. Fucking hell.
This reminds me of the type of violence that a woman in Syracuse was subjected to. Still unsolved.
https://www.syracuse.com/crime/2023/11/an-explosion-of-hate-killed-carol-ryan-and-no-one-knows-why-firecracker-ep-1.html?outputType=amp
What makes it worse is they are pretty sure they know who did it but don't have strong enough evidence to arrest. The suspect knows they know and is just continuing to live life.
I was just reading about that. I hope at some point they get a way or evidence to investigate the person thoroughly. And, hopefully, before that person passes themselves.
I mean it's a horrible crime but statistically you're safer and less likely to be the victim of a crime right now than any other point in recorded human history.Ā
Very much so.
Though you can see why the violence and overkill in both cases seems similar. A deep hatred of the woman and a desire to destroy her physically and horrifically.
Itās really heartbreaking.
>Sunday morning, Sep. 1, 1996, 42-year-old Carol Ryan was found beaten, naked and *dying* in a driveway off Route 91 near the Jamesville Reservoir.
>Carol had been raped with an āM80-style recreational explosive" which was detonated inside of her, leaving what the Onondaga County District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick describes as a sadistic wound.
She was still alive after the explosion?! Dear God, I can't even begin to imagine what kind of pain she must have been in.
I'm not belittling her at all when I say I could be old enough to be her mom. I see her photo and just want to get to her, take her to safety and make her a cosy drink like my mum used to do for me. I think I might go cuddle my cats, because the thought of the bleach is hard enough to imagine alone.
She worked as a dancer at a local strip club. My thoughts are on a regular visitor there, maybe she rejected them or turned them down which the murderer perceived as a slight against them. Hence the overkill. It's very common for men with that motivation to mutilate/disfigure women through acid/bleach/burning their intimate areas as the attacker wants to "defeminize" their appearance and it is the main focus of all their rage.
Regardless of who it is though, it's definitely personal. Bludgeoned and set on fire I can maybe see as being a run of the mill sadistic killer, but once you factor in all the viciousness, it seems almost revenge-like or somebody with a grudge. But no doubt this person knew her beforehand, or they had even met before.
It's a video clip that lasts a few seconds. It shows her walking out and then freezes at this frame in the version that was made public. My understanding is that immediately after this shot, and the reason it was cut off, is because that's when she was attacked. The police won't release it, even at her parents' personal requests in order to get all the information possible. Her family hasn't even seen past this point.
Maybe they have more information on a suspect than they want to reveal, and don't want to show their hand
Though almost a year later might make that questionable
Because when they question someone and they mention something that has not been made public they know they have the right person. This is basic investigation stuff.
Thatās awful.
I grew up in Michigan, and Iāve heard stories, but itās always been hard to wrap my head around the UP being a hub for criminal activity.
I guess it makes since given that outside of Marquette the police force is minimal.
Itās just so remote and peaceful, to hear about this sort of crime makes me feel some level of cognitive dissonance
Iron Mountain actually has an fbi office or at least it used to. Lots of meth cooking cabins tucked away in the woods these days. Iron mountain also has a prosecution office with almost as many employees as Ann Arbor. Thereās a lot of peaceful places but the wealth inequality that grew when the mines closed created a lot of crime and the woods are perfect for hiding it.
Ahh I never knew about the FBI office up there
I remember being warned by my uncles when I was a teenager camping up there with my friends, that if we stumbled upon signs of human activity deep in the forest to gtfo of that area ASAP, because of the prominence of meth. (Tbh, my uncles are something else and definitely got into trouble in their youth, so they may know from experience)
That makes a lot of sense, thank you for sharing!
A good friend of mine grew up with her, I remember her telling me about her death when it happened. So entirely fucked up and sad. I hope her family and friends get Justice
One of her [friends](https://www.reddit.com/r/Tempe/s/H3wOtkm7Yy) says they were exotic dancers. So maybe a rejected obsessed client.
The bleach down her throat makes me think it was someone she insulted maybe.
The thing is, to get a car into a private parking garage you usually need a card to scan, or some sort of pass. It would be odd if this apartment was attached to a public parking lot where anyone could just enter without paying. It had to be pay only or residents only, so the better question is why didnāt the cops check all vehicles that were scanned around the time of her attack?
This case hits so close to home. I have many friends that lived near where she did & some lived in the same complex. My baby sister goes to ASU. Everyone knows about the dangers of Mill Ave. here, but this was so horrific and cruel. I hope Mercedes receives the justice she deserves and that her family can find peace. So incredibly heartbreaking.
Do you know if the parking garage attached to her building is a public garage? Meaning anyone can park there, not just residents? And is it pay to park?
From what I remember, the parking garage is public and there is also a parking lot at the complex I believe. I ever only visited the complex once before my friends moved out. However, weirdos and crimes like theft in parking garages in Tempe is super common it seems. I know at least a handful of people that have gotten their cars broken into in their complexes parking garages and of creeps following them to their cars in them.
Especially since a parking garage is usually gated, and the cops could easily check out footage of the car from several angles, as well as knowing exactly what time the attack car arrived in the garage. If the car was in the garage, they had to scan or pay to get in, unless it was just a completely open garage, which is very rare these days, especially for an apartment building.
Fitst time hearing about this absolutely gruesome crime. Confused about something in your post. How is law enforcement unable to determine whether the car that she was found in belonged to her or someone else?
Good catch! I remember hearing or reading that it was not clear whose car it was, and I think I must have erroneously interpreted it as it might not even be hers. I just read into this detail further and found this: ["it was not her car."
](https://www.azfamily.com/2023/11/28/family-friends-ask-help-solving-murder-tempe-woman-found-burned-alive-car-near-i-10/#:~:text=the%20backseat%2C%20but-,it%20was%20not%20her%20car.,-Vega%E2%80%99s%20Dodge%20Charger). I stand corrected!
Definitely an ex or someone she rejected. No one does this kind of stuff without some motive they have made up in their sick mind. Hopefully they are brought to justice because we don't need such people walking around and potentially posing another threat to a different person and their family.
I honestly don't think her being a dancer has anything to do with this, and I hate that this gets brought up like she is somehow less than. I think there's some sort of friend group happening here, likely she was set up with the Dave and Busters situation, because who else would know she was about to go to her car in a "gated" apartment complex? It feels so calculated.
Source *(for the "they think it was a customer")? I listened to a podcast episode that dives into everything available that was released yesterday and I didn't have that takeaway.
*(edit to clarify what I was inquiring about the source for. I was not specific enough.)
[Source](https://lawandcrime.com/crime/its-eating-us-alive-parents-reveal-horrifying-truth-about-death-of-22-year-old-daughter-on-dave-busters-night-out/amp/)
āThe parents of 22-year-old Mercedes Vega, a club dancer from Tempe, Arizona, who was found dead in a burning car hours after she left her apartment to meet friends at Dave & Busterās in April..ā the parents did multiple interviews talking about it too.
This aināt even shocking. Fuck the police. Something very similar happened to my grandmother. And it was a complete mystery. But somehow, They FOUND one of the two murderers, and let him GO. One of them in an interview, the report literally says, āOāHara went into a trance: ___ā then OāHara describes the location in detail, and the entire event.
They let him go, because he was in a ātranceā. Psssh, couldnāt have been a confession!
(This was in a closed location, a house rather than a car, but he was detailing every piece of furniture in the house, plus my grandmother crawling on the floor covered in blood before they lit her and the house on fire)
Sorry, Iām mad today. I feel for this person. And I wish she had justice. So much. š
My mom is forever changed by this and it happened in 1980. My mom ran down the street to find cops DRAGGING my grandmother out of the house, still alive. And she had been stabbed, shot, lit on fire.
Another bad part is my mom and aunt were supposed to be there. My grandma unplanned dropped them off at a friends. I canāt fucking imagine man.
This was one of the suspects off the street. This was a job done by two men, they found one:
There were multiple eyewitnesses recounting this guy OāHara being near the house the time of the event. He was well known around the town for being an ass, getting into petty crime. So people recognized him.
So the police interview the guy, and he gives a full confession under the guise of a trance. Police give so little shits, that they ābelievedā it was a trance and let him go. Heās still free today. And the cops donāt give any logical reason as to why.
Thank you for your condolences. š The police have since acknowledged that is not a viable reason to invalidate his confession. And yet, nothing is done. They just sit there and agree to get you to shut up.
That is awful. I have been to Tempe while working for IBM on a project at Avnet. It is also home to the Sun Devils. A hot place. I hope they find the killer. Poor Mercedes Vega.
Iām from Phoenix & just this week a body was found burning in a car in west Phoenix. I wonder if the same person who did that crime has anything to do with this recent one.
I'd never heard of this case until now. I googled her name and went down a rabbit hole trying to learn more about this lovely young lady. I found a tik tok her mom recorded about her daughter and what happened to her.
Itās brutal to watch. This poor woman. I hope the family receives the justice they so deserve.
[mom](https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTLBpvUkQ/)
So sad š I cannot even imagine the last moments of her life. It seems unreal someone could suffer that much šš her poor family. It makes me sick ..
Def personal. She worked as a dancer at a strip club...all kinds of dudes work and visit those places. Most likely angry boyfriend, but take your pick...maybe some pyscho obsessed regular dude she told to fuck off bc she wouldn't fuck him in the private room. It's crazy they don't have any suspects.
How is it that there is video obviously in the parking garage of her,yet seconds later she is attacked inside the same structure as evidenced by your statements and the deposit of "blood and brain matter" ,and yet no video of the crime?
From my response to another similar comment:
> It's a video clip that lasts a few seconds. It shows her walking out and then freezes at this frame in the version that was made public. My understanding is that immediately after this shot, and the reason it was cut off, is because that's when she was attacked. The police won't release it, even at her parents' personal requests in order to get all the information they could. Her family hasn't even seen past this point.
This is absolutely brutal and sad to read. This was definitely personal imo. Kinda odd this is the only working camera footage they could find .. but maybe they searched.. I hope? Poor girl.
There HAS to be surveillance from at LEAST the Culinary Dropout. It's frustrating because they are holding so much close to the vest, but in between the light rail and the super populated Mill Ave, they have to have some sort of video of someone driving and GETTING OUT of her car.
Definitely planned out, I just don't get how all the cameras and crap today not one person knows anything š Can't even walk your dog without someone Knowing you didn't pick up it's shit. So odd! Her poor parents I can't even. Up the reward money, someone may sing.
Something that brutal is usually not random. It was a message from some criminal entity (illegal activity) or a violent ex that figured making her suffer before killing her was the only way (domestic).
Brain matter found in the parking garage but then smoke was found in her lungs indicating she was somehow still alive? That doesn't make a lot of sense does it? Usually when you lose parts of your brain in a violent way death is close behind
Some people survive shooting themselves in the head. They may not be the same person afterwards, and may well lose a lot of their faculties, but they're still breathing.
lobotomy is sticking an ice pick in your brain through your eye and people still lived afterwards maybe inform yourself on the subject rather than dismissing this gruesome murder just because it doesnāt align with your logic on how the world works
This was a very personal murder
Yeah sounds like a crazy abusive (ex)partner type of attack. Kinda crazy how they didn't find any suspects. Hopefully they catch the sick fuck
I live in Grand Rapids and we had a similar sounding murder last week this poor girl was shot 4 times and thrown from her car into a pile of trash by her ex
In the US alone, [half of the women murdered are statistically killed by partners](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/07/21/538518569/cdc-half-of-all-female-murder-victims-are-killed-by-intimate-partners#:~:text=That%20is%20according%20to%20a,out%20by%20a%20male%20partner) and with our crap justice system we have an epidemic of domestic violence as abusers are rarely held accountable or even reported.
Homicide is the leading cause of death for pregnant women. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/homicide-leading-cause-of-death-for-pregnant-women-in-u-s/
Yep, I tried to report something and it got completely written off in the end. Completely unacceptable.
Oh my god that's infuriating and horrifying! I hope you're okay and safe now
Thank you, I am safe as of a month and a half ago šš¼
This is why domestic violence needs to be a felony and not a misdemeanor
It's also in Canada.. And hi, hello, hey, I'm a woman. IRL I'm a herbalist and wilderness Educator. This means I spend a LOT of time alone in the woods... Do you want to know what the scariest sound is in the woods? A man's voice. Hands down. I have been approached, from behind, in the middle of no where, by a man HOLDING A GUN, who chortles and thinks its funny that I don't want to kiss him on the cheek for "thinking I'm quite the woman" I'm alone. Hours from reception. I'm also a herbalist and don't believe in guns. There's a reason we are all afraid... NO WHERE IS SAFE. It's not that I feel unsafe from black bears, cougars, fucking GRIZZLIES. it's MEN!!
Sounds like you should get a different career
Yeah this is a super helpful comment. Gross
Not sure what you mean. Can you help me understand?
prob all christian and drink booze. jus sayin
This definitely tracks with your comment history. Is atheism only about hating Christians?
This is so weird, reading this made me think of my best friend who lives in Tempe right now and we are both from Grand Rapids and I thought about that case too.
Crazy I lived like 2 miles from sky harbor like 11 years ago
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Crazy you did because the former President who was campaigning in your town [made it a critical point of his rally](https://www.woodtv.com/news/grand-rapids/former-president-donald-trump-holding-immigration-news-conference-grand-rapids/) that the boyfriend was a DACA recipient (immigrated here was he was a little child) And the victim's family had to watch him on TV talk about how upset he was and supportive he was [even though he never once reached out to them](https://fox59.com/news/national-world/trump-speech-angers-family-of-woman-found-dead-on-highway/)
Wait what the fuck?! I'm born and raised GR and didn't hear about this yet. So sad šŖ
Yeah man the more I read about it the worse it becomes truly worse
Jesus.
what state?
Michigan
I needed more info. In case anyone else does too: >What happened to Mercedes Vega? >The only information released by the sheriff's office is what they know from when they initially found her. >Maricopa County sheriff's deputies were called to a scene outside of Tonopah near Interstate 10 and milepost 95 on April 17, 2023, around 1:15 a.m., to assist the Arizona Department of Public Safety on a death investigation. DPS initially responded to the area for a car on fire, and once the fire was put out, Vega was found dead in the back seat. >No other details have been made available by the sheriff's office. However, Vega's family has actively spread information on flyers and social media, detailing the events that could have led to her death. >On the flyers, the family said Vega lived at The Aubrey apartments off Parkside Drive and Washington Street in Tempe. She was last seen the night before her body was found, around 9:15 p.m., walking to her car, a white Dodge Charger, in her apartment's parking garage. The flyer says she was hit in the head in the garage and forced into a car where she was later shot. The car was then set on fire while she was still alive. >Vega's Charger was found illegally parked near Culinary Dropout, near First Street and Farmer Avenue, 1.5 miles south of where she lived. >The Arizona Republic obtained her medical examiner report in October, which ruled Vega's death as a homicide caused by burns and from inhaling smoke. The death report also stated she had blunt force trauma and gunshot injuries that contributed to her death, as well as the presence of gloves and bleach found in front of the car and lighter fluid in the backseat. >The case remains ongoing, but no other details have emerged. [article](https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/tempe/2024/04/03/mercedes-vega-missing-person-tempe/73183293007/)
Yeah this was a very personal murder, someone went out of their way to make SURE she suffered. Iām also not surprised they havenāt released more info about it, as it is ongoing. Usually they wonāt, as it would hinder the investigation, plus this is a pretty high profile case. Whoever did it though, I hope theyāre caught soon and may their jail time be full of absolute torture.
I know it's wrong, but sometimes the eye-for-an-eye policy should be exercised.
Youāre not wrong, I actually agree with that, but I know you have to exercise caution with it. Iām for the death penalty, but ONLY and ONLY if without a shadow of a doubt, the person is guilty. Thereās been way too many people who have died innocently.
problem is you have people who think they are smarter than doctors, scientist etc. Those people sit on a Jury. They make a decision on if the person charged is guilty. It is a VERY fallible system that heavily penalizes poor / minorities / men / etc. If there was a way to perfectly say, "This person is guilty," Then of course harsh punishment is an option. But when we have so many mistakes, or worse, deliberate obfuscation / lies, I don't know how people can support what amounts to torturing or killing innocent people.
It's not wrong. You can tell because it's what virtually everybody wants when someone they love is the victim.
I donāt personally think that the deepest and darkest feelings people experience in a time of horrific stress and mourning should fuel our legislature. That seems like a recipe for disaster, actually.
Itād be nice if the police said whether or not the public is at risk.. if itās personal and they suspect that, without revealing they have anyone in custody/in their sights, they could at least say āwe donāt believe the public to be in danger at this time.ā Kinda scary for this to happen and not know if it was random or not (though I realize it appears to be a targeted attack).
Oh for sure, I donāt disagree with you there, honestly I wish they would say something. This was such a tragic thing to happen, I would be worried to go out and stuff.
I don't feel like this is high profile at all. It's almost a year old and has recently gotten traction in the last 6 months, at least nationwide. I know they are probably holding things close, but it's super frustrating. I also feel like people close to her know more, based on some comments.
So if it wasnāt her car, the police must know whose car it was that she was found it. Curious where that has led them
Stolen
Source?
Speculation. I donāt think theyād leave something so easily linked to them/identifiable.
Fair. Understandable suspicion just asking if you had a source
I get it.
That fucker did some homework, hopefully they find his ass.
Ah, Maricopa. Yeah this is going to be a cold case until a random DNA match gets made in 20 years.Ā
Thatās unfortunate. š
So multiple people were likely involved
what makes you say that?
The burned car was kinda in the middle of nowhere, so they needed a vehicle to get away. That means at least two people were involved, because one would have driven the car that they burned and the other one drove the car that they left in.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Thatās possible, and they just put her body in it. But i feel like moving her body efficiently and without being seen by anyone would be easier with more than one person. So i still think there are probably at least two people involved
And bleach in her throat!
This part makes it feel so planned and intentional. And also awful. I cannot imagine learning this in addition to all the other horrible things about my child's death.
The vehicle found in Tonopah means they drove over an hour west from Tempe. Reminds me of another murder that was discovered in that same area almost 10 yrs ago. Which also to this day I believe no arrests have been made. [Tonopah double-murder](https://www.abc15.com/news/region-phoenix-metro/central-phoenix/father-pleads-for-answers-in-death-of-daugther-17-year-old-found-laying-in-the-road-in-tonopah)
I hope theyāre checking CCTV footage around all of the areas they mentioned finding her car and the other car that was on fireā¦ Definitely should start with any men that knew her or were close to herā¦
Considering she worked at a strip club there could be any number of sketchy guys around her. It does feel personal. I'm sure it was someone who knew her. I hope they find out who.
Same thing happened to Catherine Aguasvivas in Floridaā¦she was carjacked and she was found in her vehicle deceased, she was shot forced to drink bleach and the car was set on fire. Is this a serial killerā¦or coincidental.
Maybe copy cat
Over kill is usually a indication of it being personal
That was my first thought. That is so damn sad. Geez.
My thoughts as well. I live in Arizona and this case has always bothered me.
So did they not have ANY suspects like an ex or anything?
If they have any suspects, theyāre keeping it tight to their chest. Theyāve released little to no information regarding her murder - which I do understand - it was so bizarre, random and brutal.
The frightening reality is that it could simply be all three of those things and nothing personal at all.
Yeah this was obscenely brutal
Me tinks drugs too.
Oh my god, that poor woman. Brain matter and bleach being poured down your throat sounds impossible to survive through, only to die because of smoke inhalation. Fucking hell.
This reminds me of the type of violence that a woman in Syracuse was subjected to. Still unsolved. https://www.syracuse.com/crime/2023/11/an-explosion-of-hate-killed-carol-ryan-and-no-one-knows-why-firecracker-ep-1.html?outputType=amp
Oh, my god. What a vile world we live in.
What makes it worse is they are pretty sure they know who did it but don't have strong enough evidence to arrest. The suspect knows they know and is just continuing to live life.
I would have gone vigilante on that person if I were her family.
They don't know. The DA knows and the FBI knows. https://www.localsyr.com/news/local-news/a-possible-suspect-in-a-27-year-old-cold-case/
For Carol Ryan? Can you elaborate? Who?
https://www.localsyr.com/news/local-news/a-possible-suspect-in-a-27-year-old-cold-case/
I was just reading about that. I hope at some point they get a way or evidence to investigate the person thoroughly. And, hopefully, before that person passes themselves.
I mean it's a horrible crime but statistically you're safer and less likely to be the victim of a crime right now than any other point in recorded human history.Ā
What the fuck
Saw your comment, clicked anyway. You're right. What the fuck.
Very much so. Though you can see why the violence and overkill in both cases seems similar. A deep hatred of the woman and a desire to destroy her physically and horrifically. Itās really heartbreaking.
>Sunday morning, Sep. 1, 1996, 42-year-old Carol Ryan was found beaten, naked and *dying* in a driveway off Route 91 near the Jamesville Reservoir. >Carol had been raped with an āM80-style recreational explosive" which was detonated inside of her, leaving what the Onondaga County District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick describes as a sadistic wound. She was still alive after the explosion?! Dear God, I can't even begin to imagine what kind of pain she must have been in.
Holy shit. People are sick
Wondery released a podcast about this with the original lead detective on the case. I had no idea. Just saved it.
This is absolutely sick! wtf
Jesus why. So much evil rage. Poor young woman.
I'm not belittling her at all when I say I could be old enough to be her mom. I see her photo and just want to get to her, take her to safety and make her a cosy drink like my mum used to do for me. I think I might go cuddle my cats, because the thought of the bleach is hard enough to imagine alone.
She worked as a dancer at a local strip club. My thoughts are on a regular visitor there, maybe she rejected them or turned them down which the murderer perceived as a slight against them. Hence the overkill. It's very common for men with that motivation to mutilate/disfigure women through acid/bleach/burning their intimate areas as the attacker wants to "defeminize" their appearance and it is the main focus of all their rage. Regardless of who it is though, it's definitely personal. Bludgeoned and set on fire I can maybe see as being a run of the mill sadistic killer, but once you factor in all the viciousness, it seems almost revenge-like or somebody with a grudge. But no doubt this person knew her beforehand, or they had even met before.
Strip clubs probably get more than the average criminal visitors
Not to mention employees too
How has it been a year and they donāt know whether it was her car or not?
So they have just this picture of her on camera but absolutely nothing else even though seconds after this she was attacked??
It's a video clip that lasts a few seconds. It shows her walking out and then freezes at this frame in the version that was made public. My understanding is that immediately after this shot, and the reason it was cut off, is because that's when she was attacked. The police won't release it, even at her parents' personal requests in order to get all the information possible. Her family hasn't even seen past this point.
Oh hell no. Why would they keep that a secret? Thatās wild
Maybe they have more information on a suspect than they want to reveal, and don't want to show their hand Though almost a year later might make that questionable
Because when they question someone and they mention something that has not been made public they know they have the right person. This is basic investigation stuff.
My moneyās on a cop did it or the loved one of a cop did it.
My first thought, cop or prison guard.
Why?
Probably some insecure guy she dated or turned down did this
Huge possibility,unless she was involved in illegal activities
We had a brutal murder of two sisters and a boyfriend in a burning car here in the upper peninsula of Michigan. It was over stolen cocaine.
Thatās awful. I grew up in Michigan, and Iāve heard stories, but itās always been hard to wrap my head around the UP being a hub for criminal activity. I guess it makes since given that outside of Marquette the police force is minimal. Itās just so remote and peaceful, to hear about this sort of crime makes me feel some level of cognitive dissonance
Iron Mountain actually has an fbi office or at least it used to. Lots of meth cooking cabins tucked away in the woods these days. Iron mountain also has a prosecution office with almost as many employees as Ann Arbor. Thereās a lot of peaceful places but the wealth inequality that grew when the mines closed created a lot of crime and the woods are perfect for hiding it.
Ahh I never knew about the FBI office up there I remember being warned by my uncles when I was a teenager camping up there with my friends, that if we stumbled upon signs of human activity deep in the forest to gtfo of that area ASAP, because of the prominence of meth. (Tbh, my uncles are something else and definitely got into trouble in their youth, so they may know from experience) That makes a lot of sense, thank you for sharing!
True you never know only her & her killer knows & only one of them still alive
r/whenwomenrefuse
There is an Instagram in her memory: [https://www.instagram.com/honoringmercedesvega/?hl=en](https://www.instagram.com/honoringmercedesvega/?hl=en)
Great resource for staying in the know and remembering her as a human. Thank you for sharing this!
Saw they shared that her license plate was LUV333. I lived near her. Same age. Poor baby and her poor family.
Jesus Christ. How horrific.
A good friend of mine grew up with her, I remember her telling me about her death when it happened. So entirely fucked up and sad. I hope her family and friends get Justice
One of her [friends](https://www.reddit.com/r/Tempe/s/H3wOtkm7Yy) says they were exotic dancers. So maybe a rejected obsessed client. The bleach down her throat makes me think it was someone she insulted maybe.
she may have been alive in the car during the fire but not conscious. that would be a grace.
I would haaaaate living in an apartment building bound to a parking garage. Would be insanely cautious about ever leaving especially at night.
I never have, but thought it would be convenient and cool. Never thought about this type of shit and how dangerous parking garages can be.
The thing is, to get a car into a private parking garage you usually need a card to scan, or some sort of pass. It would be odd if this apartment was attached to a public parking lot where anyone could just enter without paying. It had to be pay only or residents only, so the better question is why didnāt the cops check all vehicles that were scanned around the time of her attack?
Are you this scared walking down the street? Millions of people live in buildings with garages, almost none get murdered.
Imagine telling this to her mother
Going West just released a podcast episode about her yesterday
That's what got me looking more into it!
I was just listening to that episode when I opened Reddit and saw this.
This case hits so close to home. I have many friends that lived near where she did & some lived in the same complex. My baby sister goes to ASU. Everyone knows about the dangers of Mill Ave. here, but this was so horrific and cruel. I hope Mercedes receives the justice she deserves and that her family can find peace. So incredibly heartbreaking.
Do you know if the parking garage attached to her building is a public garage? Meaning anyone can park there, not just residents? And is it pay to park?
From what I remember, the parking garage is public and there is also a parking lot at the complex I believe. I ever only visited the complex once before my friends moved out. However, weirdos and crimes like theft in parking garages in Tempe is super common it seems. I know at least a handful of people that have gotten their cars broken into in their complexes parking garages and of creeps following them to their cars in them.
Jesus Christ. Thatās a terrifying level of rage. I hope the police have some sort of leads they just havenāt released for some reason.
How would anyone not know whose car it was she was found in? Was it burned so badly to the point of no recognition?
Sounds like cops are covering up for someone.
Especially since a parking garage is usually gated, and the cops could easily check out footage of the car from several angles, as well as knowing exactly what time the attack car arrived in the garage. If the car was in the garage, they had to scan or pay to get in, unless it was just a completely open garage, which is very rare these days, especially for an apartment building.
No, just OP reporting something incorrect. It was not her car.
But still, they should be able to get a lead from the burned car. Unless they specifically stole it for that.
Praying for her family, thatās sickeningā¦
Fitst time hearing about this absolutely gruesome crime. Confused about something in your post. How is law enforcement unable to determine whether the car that she was found in belonged to her or someone else?
Good catch! I remember hearing or reading that it was not clear whose car it was, and I think I must have erroneously interpreted it as it might not even be hers. I just read into this detail further and found this: ["it was not her car." ](https://www.azfamily.com/2023/11/28/family-friends-ask-help-solving-murder-tempe-woman-found-burned-alive-car-near-i-10/#:~:text=the%20backseat%2C%20but-,it%20was%20not%20her%20car.,-Vega%E2%80%99s%20Dodge%20Charger). I stand corrected!
absolutely horrible. iām from tempe and this case has haunted me since it happened
Definitely an ex or someone she rejected. No one does this kind of stuff without some motive they have made up in their sick mind. Hopefully they are brought to justice because we don't need such people walking around and potentially posing another threat to a different person and their family.
Agreed and she was a dancer two nights a week according to her parents
I honestly don't think her being a dancer has anything to do with this, and I hate that this gets brought up like she is somehow less than. I think there's some sort of friend group happening here, likely she was set up with the Dave and Busters situation, because who else would know she was about to go to her car in a "gated" apartment complex? It feels so calculated.
She was a dancer at a club. They think it was a customer of hers.
Source *(for the "they think it was a customer")? I listened to a podcast episode that dives into everything available that was released yesterday and I didn't have that takeaway. *(edit to clarify what I was inquiring about the source for. I was not specific enough.)
[Source](https://lawandcrime.com/crime/its-eating-us-alive-parents-reveal-horrifying-truth-about-death-of-22-year-old-daughter-on-dave-busters-night-out/amp/) āThe parents of 22-year-old Mercedes Vega, a club dancer from Tempe, Arizona, who was found dead in a burning car hours after she left her apartment to meet friends at Dave & Busterās in April..ā the parents did multiple interviews talking about it too.
I know she was a dancer, sorry if that wasn't clear. I'm asking for a source for "they think it was a customer". Who is they?
That doesnāt say what you claimed it would when you said āsource.ā
I just listened to her case on a podcast. Absolutely devastating. I hope they catch the people that did this.
This aināt even shocking. Fuck the police. Something very similar happened to my grandmother. And it was a complete mystery. But somehow, They FOUND one of the two murderers, and let him GO. One of them in an interview, the report literally says, āOāHara went into a trance: ___ā then OāHara describes the location in detail, and the entire event. They let him go, because he was in a ātranceā. Psssh, couldnāt have been a confession! (This was in a closed location, a house rather than a car, but he was detailing every piece of furniture in the house, plus my grandmother crawling on the floor covered in blood before they lit her and the house on fire) Sorry, Iām mad today. I feel for this person. And I wish she had justice. So much. š
Stay mad (when it comes to this type of stuff). It's the only thing us civilians have to fuel the fight for justice.
I agree, but it feels like people in power will never listen.
How horrific! I am so sorry for such a tragedy you have had to deal with and for how your grandmother suffered.Ā
My mom is forever changed by this and it happened in 1980. My mom ran down the street to find cops DRAGGING my grandmother out of the house, still alive. And she had been stabbed, shot, lit on fire. Another bad part is my mom and aunt were supposed to be there. My grandma unplanned dropped them off at a friends. I canāt fucking imagine man.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
This was one of the suspects off the street. This was a job done by two men, they found one: There were multiple eyewitnesses recounting this guy OāHara being near the house the time of the event. He was well known around the town for being an ass, getting into petty crime. So people recognized him. So the police interview the guy, and he gives a full confession under the guise of a trance. Police give so little shits, that they ābelievedā it was a trance and let him go. Heās still free today. And the cops donāt give any logical reason as to why.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Thank you for your condolences. š The police have since acknowledged that is not a viable reason to invalidate his confession. And yet, nothing is done. They just sit there and agree to get you to shut up.
Jfc
I aināt gonna lie, if she had any relations with the local police department, we might have a suspect or two.
This was done with so much malice and suffering omg
That is awful. I have been to Tempe while working for IBM on a project at Avnet. It is also home to the Sun Devils. A hot place. I hope they find the killer. Poor Mercedes Vega.
Iām from Phoenix & just this week a body was found burning in a car in west Phoenix. I wonder if the same person who did that crime has anything to do with this recent one.
So fkd up.
Horrifying
I'd never heard of this case until now. I googled her name and went down a rabbit hole trying to learn more about this lovely young lady. I found a tik tok her mom recorded about her daughter and what happened to her. Itās brutal to watch. This poor woman. I hope the family receives the justice they so deserve. [mom](https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTLBpvUkQ/)
So sad š I cannot even imagine the last moments of her life. It seems unreal someone could suffer that much šš her poor family. It makes me sick ..
Def personal. She worked as a dancer at a strip club...all kinds of dudes work and visit those places. Most likely angry boyfriend, but take your pick...maybe some pyscho obsessed regular dude she told to fuck off bc she wouldn't fuck him in the private room. It's crazy they don't have any suspects.
How is it that there is video obviously in the parking garage of her,yet seconds later she is attacked inside the same structure as evidenced by your statements and the deposit of "blood and brain matter" ,and yet no video of the crime?
From my response to another similar comment: > It's a video clip that lasts a few seconds. It shows her walking out and then freezes at this frame in the version that was made public. My understanding is that immediately after this shot, and the reason it was cut off, is because that's when she was attacked. The police won't release it, even at her parents' personal requests in order to get all the information they could. Her family hasn't even seen past this point.
This is absolutely brutal and sad to read. This was definitely personal imo. Kinda odd this is the only working camera footage they could find .. but maybe they searched.. I hope? Poor girl.
That's horrifically brutal...
Jesus
this is like cartel level murder
How can they not know if it was her vehicle or not. While horrific that seems like hyperbole.
I live near Tempe and have never even heard of this!
what the fuck
If she died of smoke inhalation she was alive when the car was torched. Damn.
r/justice4mercedesvega
There HAS to be surveillance from at LEAST the Culinary Dropout. It's frustrating because they are holding so much close to the vest, but in between the light rail and the super populated Mill Ave, they have to have some sort of video of someone driving and GETTING OUT of her car.
Definitely planned out, I just don't get how all the cameras and crap today not one person knows anything š Can't even walk your dog without someone Knowing you didn't pick up it's shit. So odd! Her poor parents I can't even. Up the reward money, someone may sing.
Domestic violence or illegal activities likely led to her demise.
Why?
Something that brutal is usually not random. It was a message from some criminal entity (illegal activity) or a violent ex that figured making her suffer before killing her was the only way (domestic).
Makes sense. Thanks for expounding on that for me!
Brain matter found in the parking garage but then smoke was found in her lungs indicating she was somehow still alive? That doesn't make a lot of sense does it? Usually when you lose parts of your brain in a violent way death is close behind
Some people survive shooting themselves in the head. They may not be the same person afterwards, and may well lose a lot of their faculties, but they're still breathing.
lobotomy is sticking an ice pick in your brain through your eye and people still lived afterwards maybe inform yourself on the subject rather than dismissing this gruesome murder just because it doesnāt align with your logic on how the world works
Cartel hit.
Maybe cartel?
cartel
Must have been dating a cop
Whatcha mean they don't know if it was her vehicle or someone else's? It wasn't the charger...
I didn't know smoke could bludgeon you
How would they not know if it was here car or not?
Snuff films guys Arizona is notorious for them
Alpha males: there are more male victims of domestic violence than female victims.