0:13

And then I heard

0:15

this horrible soul

0:18

crushing scream

0:23

and I didn't realize. It

0:26

was me.

0:29

Welcome to this special episode of Criminal

0:31

Minds Exposed and I'm your host, Robin Dreeke,

0:33

retired chief of the FBI Behavioral

0:36

Analysis Program. And today we delve

0:38

into the haunting case of Mercedes Vega.

0:40

It's over a year since this Tempe resident

0:43

was found dead inside a burning car,

0:45

miles away from her home. As

0:47

we strive to uncover the truth behind her brutal

0:49

murder, it's crucial that we pay attention

0:51

to the details that lie outside the

0:53

normal patterns of Mercedes life,

0:55

because therein lie the answers

0:57

to her murder. Mercedes

1:00

parents, Tom and Erica, join us in this episode

1:02

to provide a poignant and heartfelt portrait

1:04

of their beloved daughter. They

1:06

paint a beautiful picture of who Mercedes

1:09

was before her life was tragically taken away

1:11

from us. But we need your help.

1:14

The key to bringing justice to Mercedes

1:16

and capturing her murderer lies in

1:18

your ability to provide tips and leads

1:21

that may shed light on the events surrounding

1:23

her death. Let's take a moment to

1:25

understand who Mercedes Vega was. At

1:28

just 22 years old, she was a vibrant

1:30

and driven individual. Her friends

1:32

and family remember her as kindhearted and

1:34

beautiful someone, who could convince her loved

1:36

ones to embark on adventurous through meticulously

1:39

crafted PowerPoint presentations.

1:41

Mercedes was not afraid to embrace her

1:43

passions, even getting a tattoo to commemorate

1:46

the meaningful moments in her life. The

1:48

investigation into Mercedes death Maricopa

1:51

County Sheriff's Office, but updates have been

1:53

scarce since her body was discovered

1:55

last spring. Here's what we know about

1:58

the night Mercedes Vegas life was cut short.

2:01

On April 17th, 2023,

2:03

authorities responded to a car fire near

2:05

Tonopah, just west of her Tempe

2:07

residence. Tragically, Mercedes

2:09

was found lifeless in the backseat. The

2:12

circumstances surrounding her death remain

2:14

shrouded in mystery with law enforcement providing

2:16

minimal information. According

2:19

to flyers and social media posts shared by her

2:21

parents, she was last seen the night

2:23

before her body was discovered. Witnesses

2:26

recall seeing her around 9. 15pm

2:28

walking to her white Dodge Charger parked

2:31

in the garage of the Aubrey Apartments in

2:33

Tempe. It is believed that

2:35

she was struck on the head and forcibly taken

2:37

into another vehicle where she was later

2:39

shot. The car she was in

2:41

was then set ablaze while Mercedes was

2:43

still alive. The

2:46

discovery of Mercedes Charger illegally

2:48

parked near a complex

2:50

case. The

2:53

medical examiner's report obtained by the Arizona

2:55

Republic revealed that Mercedes death

2:57

was ruled a homicide caused by burns,

3:00

smoke inhalation, blunt force trauma,

3:02

and gunshot injuries. Additionally,

3:05

the presence of gloves, bleach, and

3:07

lighter fluid further deepens the mystery.

3:10

The investigation into Mercedes Vega's murder

3:13

is ongoing and we implore you to come

3:15

forward with any information that may aid

3:17

in solving this heinous crime. If

3:19

you have any tips, please contact

3:21

the silent witness line at 480

3:24

403 4000. Witness, T

3:27

N E S S or 480

3:29

Testigo, T E S

3:32

T I G O for Spanish speakers.

3:34

Alternatively, you can reach out directly

3:36

to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office

3:39

and also please check out the links in the

3:41

show notes for more resources and tip

3:43

lines. So first of all, tell

3:45

me why you're in Hawaii. It's normally a place where people

3:47

go to celebrate life and have

3:49

a good time. Why are you two in Hawaii?

3:53

Well, we're in Hawaii, to honor our

3:55

daughter's last wishes. so much. Our

3:58

daughter, Mercedes, who was 22 years

4:01

old. we used to come here a lot when

4:03

she was younger. and we realized,

4:05

we didn't realize that this had that

4:07

much of an impact with her. but

4:10

a month prior to her passing,

4:12

she decided to go to Hawaii as an adult.

4:15

First time ever. the other times that she'd

4:17

been there, she was little, like seven. nine,

4:19

ten years old. and then when she got back,

4:22

she had told her mom that

4:26

this is where her soul belonged. This

4:29

is, this is where she was at peace.

4:31

This is where she felt the most comfortable.

4:34

because that was when she was little, she was

4:37

a water baby. She loved to be

4:39

in the water. so it made kind

4:41

of sense why she came here. It, it had

4:43

a lot of good memories for her. You

4:45

know, where she swam with the dolphins when

4:47

she was seven years old, you know, singing

4:50

the national anthem and stopping

4:52

the entire street, when we were

4:54

at karaoke at the hotel we were staying

4:56

at. Going to dinner at Duke's, she

4:59

made sure when she was here that

5:01

she went and had dinner at Duke's. she

5:03

also went out and snorkeled in the

5:05

area where she was afraid to get off

5:07

the boat, so she decided,

5:10

I'm gonna go back there because I couldn't

5:12

get out of the Was strange

5:14

because she loves animals. but

5:16

there was just so many fish in the water,

5:18

it freaked her out and she wouldn't get off

5:20

the boat. So she

5:23

came back as an adult. She made sure she

5:25

did that. so it just had a lot

5:27

of symbolic meaning to her.

5:30

And, and I felt this

5:32

is, you know, my wife said, this is where we need

5:34

to go to honor our, our

5:36

child. And that's why

5:38

we're here is to honor her.

5:40

So as much as you can

5:44

share the worst day of your life.

5:47

there was a knock on the door, which

5:50

was very strange to

5:52

me. because they

5:54

didn't ring the doorbell and

5:56

that makes my dog bark and

5:59

a knock may or may not. And

6:01

I. I looked up to

6:03

my husband who was up in his

6:05

office upstairs and I said, did you just

6:08

hear a knock? And he was like, no.

6:12

And I looked out the peephole and

6:15

I saw two men standing there

6:18

with one of them with a badge

6:20

around his neck. The other one was

6:22

in some sort of a uniform, not

6:25

sure exactly what it was. And,

6:27

I yelled up to him. I

6:29

said, it, it looks like cops.

6:33

We were assuming it was

6:36

some dispute by

6:39

our neighbors, that had

6:41

happened before. And

6:44

we had just gotten back from vacation

6:46

for my birthday. We'd been

6:49

gone for two weeks. And,

6:51

I opened the door expecting

6:54

to answer a question of,

6:56

Did you see or hear anything?

7:00

And the

7:02

first thing they said was, Does

7:05

Mercedes live here? I

7:09

said, No, but I'm

7:11

her mom. And

7:14

they said, They said,

7:17

Can we come in? That's what they

7:19

said. Can we come in? And

7:22

I said, Is

7:24

my child okay? And

7:28

they said, Can

7:30

we come in? I

7:33

said, Is Mercedes

7:35

here? Okay. And

7:40

again, they said, ma'am, can we please

7:42

come in? And

7:45

I said, tell me my

7:47

baby girl is

7:49

okay. And they said,

7:53

we need to come in. I'm sorry,

7:55

ma'am. She's not, she's

7:57

deceased. And

8:00

I remember hearing him kind

8:03

of walking down the stairs,

8:06

kind of in the background of this

8:09

awful scenario. And

8:12

they said that she was deceased.

8:16

I remember hearing

8:18

him scream. I

8:20

remember him. He was

8:22

not all the way down the stairs. He was on

8:25

the landing. I remember almost

8:27

feeling like I heard him falling,

8:30

but I don't know if that's what actually happened.

8:33

I, or if he just sat down and

8:35

I heard him start screaming, no, no,

8:37

no. And then

8:40

I heard this horrible

8:46

soul crushing scream

8:52

and I didn't realize. It

8:55

was me.

8:59

It's only if you've ever

9:01

seen a little mermaid when Ursula takes

9:04

Ariel's place, I

9:08

felt like my soul

9:11

was being ripped out. Like

9:14

that somebody had come in through

9:18

my mouth, through my throat,

9:20

through my lungs, through my

9:23

entire body and

9:26

was tearing out

9:29

my soul.

9:33

And that's the moment that

9:35

we learned about Mercedes murder.

9:39

We learned that she was dead. We didn't know

9:41

she was murdered.

9:42

Not yet. Okay,

9:47

I don't want to dwell there anymore, because

9:49

now we're going to go

9:52

to what you mentioned already. Her soul

9:55

was in Hawaii. She

9:58

felt drawn there. So,

10:00

I want to go there, for everyone listening,

10:02

I want people to understand I

10:07

want them to understand what every

10:09

day was in her life. Because

10:12

we solve the greatest

10:14

tragedies in our life by

10:16

seeing where unhealthy things exist.

10:19

And we all see it around us and every day.

10:21

But the only way we can know what

10:23

we can pass on, the tips, the, and

10:26

leads that we can give to law enforcement is

10:28

to see what unhealthy is. And the

10:31

only way we can see what unhealthy is, is you

10:33

see what a normal, beautiful

10:35

life that she led, so

10:38

that everyone that knew her knows

10:40

that life. So that

10:42

when people think and think back on her,

10:44

they'll say, Oh, there's something a little different

10:46

on this day. Because very

10:49

rarely. Does someone just come into

10:51

our life and murder us? They're part of our

10:53

lives for a period of time. And so that's

10:55

where the tips and leads lie. So this

10:58

is, this is where we're going to talk about the beautiful

11:01

Mercedes. What was her spark

11:03

and inspiration to be who she was

11:05

when she was a little girl

11:08

she was born in

11:10

four minutes.

11:12

Wow. I

11:13

was in her with her for four minutes.

11:18

Envy of all mothers everywhere.

11:20

Well, I didn't realize I was in labor.

11:22

I was just like, oh, I don't really feel that good.

11:25

she had that same, ability

11:28

that, and it's something that runs in

11:30

our family that we just don't

11:32

feel pain until it's like,

11:35

oh, this is like a big problem.

11:38

a high

11:40

threshold. and I

11:42

didn't realize I was in labor with her.

11:45

And then I called up my

11:47

friend and I said, something's not right.

11:49

And she said, okay,

11:52

let me put my makeup on. I'll be over in a little

11:54

bit. And I was like, nope, you've

11:57

got to come now. Like something's not

11:59

right. I got to the hospital at 3

12:01

58 and she was born at

12:03

4 0 6. we ran

12:05

every red light and

12:08

I believe my friend Stacy

12:10

was hoping we'd be pulled

12:12

over so we could get like a police escort,

12:15

but it didn't happen. She

12:17

came out quiet,

12:19

calm, perfect,

12:22

still in her bag of waters, which is I

12:25

guess like one in a million chances

12:29

and, perfect. End. So

12:32

beautiful, just five

12:34

pounds, three ounces. She

12:38

was just perfection.

12:40

she smiled very

12:43

young. I think she

12:45

was only two or

12:47

three weeks old. When

12:49

she started to smile and,

12:53

And where did she grow up? In

12:55

Anchorage, Alaska in the beginning.

12:58

Right. That's where she was born. And

13:01

then when she was about

13:04

one and a half, two, we

13:07

moved to Las Vegas. Okay.

13:10

I remember the first thing she said to me when

13:12

we got there. She said, mama,

13:15

hot.

13:18

No doubt.

13:22

Then I took her to the pool,

13:25

and she took to it like

13:28

a fish. And she,

13:30

I would worry about, I was, I'd

13:32

be like, kid, are you ever going to come up for

13:35

air? She just loved

13:38

being in the water.

13:40

So her life arc started with the water

13:42

and it wound up in Hawaii. So when she was

13:44

younger in those, in those toddler years,

13:46

as she's starting to get older, what were some

13:48

of her interests? What was she into besides the water?

13:51

Or maybe that was all of it.

13:53

No, she loved

13:57

babies. She loved Animals

14:00

and they all loved she

14:06

spent so

14:08

much time connecting

14:10

with newborns

14:13

and young children and

14:16

and animals were everything

14:19

they were just drawn to her whether

14:21

it was an animal of the ocean or

14:23

an animal of you know on

14:25

land That's what

14:27

she, she knew

14:30

and she knew they were attracted

14:33

to her and that she

14:35

was a protective person.

14:39

That she wanted to make sure

14:41

that they knew that they were

14:43

safe. Whether it was an

14:46

octopus that wrapped itself around

14:48

her arm or

14:50

a small child that was afraid.

14:54

She was a

14:58

base of comfort

15:00

and security.

15:04

Very beautiful. So when she's starting to

15:06

get older now, probably middle school, high

15:08

school, was she following

15:10

these passions? Was that one of the things that she

15:12

thought she was going to walk a path for?

15:14

So she had a horse.

15:17

She was undecided when she got to that

15:19

age. She was, as any kid at that age,

15:21

she, You know, was wanted to

15:23

be with her friends and, and trying

15:25

to find herself because she

15:28

was just, she

15:31

was always wanting to be like,

15:33

she would get upset if she got bad grades.

15:35

And, and she, she was a straight A student.

15:38

Yeah. She just, she wanted to, she

15:40

knew she had a lot in life to offer,

15:42

and, and we knew that, and that

15:44

she had a lot, a lot of things to offer. Like when

15:46

she was seven years old, she

15:48

created a PowerPoint, why we should go to

15:50

Disney World So

15:53

she was very intelligent. She tested

15:55

very high. in the

15:58

school district in Arizona. she

16:00

just didn't know what she wanted to do in life. She

16:02

was just, but you know, you're 17,

16:04

you know, 12, 13, 17, you

16:06

don't know what you want to do. she was still

16:08

finding herself comfortable

16:11

with herself. and she

16:13

would be afraid.

16:16

And I think this might be important.

16:19

and maybe you should tell this

16:21

about the fact that If

16:24

she felt like someone was looking

16:26

at her strangely, she

16:29

would look to

16:31

Tom to

16:32

Yeah, she was very

16:34

Really, she, she, she

16:37

felt insecure about

16:40

adults around her in

16:42

some respects. I mean,

16:45

she was very young and

16:47

that's an understandable situation

16:49

for a You know, 8,

16:51

9, 10, 11, 12,

16:54

tween, even young teenage

16:56

girl. as she

16:59

got older and she was in her late

17:01

teens, she would kind of

17:03

call people out and

17:05

say, like, take a picture,

17:07

you know, she was strikingly

17:10

beautiful was,

17:12

just, but she

17:14

always, She needed to

17:17

know that someone

17:19

had her back and so

17:22

she would ask Tom all the

17:24

time, do you have my back? That

17:26

was our, that was our little saying, is

17:29

that if there, if she felt uncomfortable

17:31

in a situation, cause she could tell me

17:33

anything and she knew

17:35

that like she would call and ask

17:38

me questions. Like

17:40

life questions, like she would do something and

17:42

she'd say, well, what do I need to do here? And

17:44

I would tell her. And then if

17:46

she felt uncomfortable, if we were in a surrounding,

17:49

she would say, you got my back. And that was my saying

17:52

to her. I got your back. I got your back. I got

17:54

your back.

17:54

Yeah.

17:55

She just. She was a

17:57

very beautiful, driven young

17:59

woman. it just, she

18:03

was just figuring out who she was at

18:05

22 years. Sure. She was just

18:08

turned.

18:09

Yeah. So when she was little, she

18:11

was. You know, into Christmas

18:13

and, and, and to her family. Like, you

18:16

know, when we were talking about when she was younger, she

18:18

would tell her mom how to

18:20

put the diapers on her nephew,

18:23

you're doing it wrong. Little,

18:25

little tiny kid telling her mom, she's doing

18:27

it wrong. she would get in the middle. Like

18:29

if there was a birthday party, she

18:31

would have to be the one to tell them what gifts to

18:33

open and be in the middle of the family. She

18:35

just, she would like to be the center of attention,

18:38

but she also wanted

18:40

to make sure. That the

18:42

person, that the person

18:45

was enjoying themselves. That was a big

18:48

thing to her. In fact, even up until

18:51

the day before she died,

18:53

she was planning a birthday party for her

18:56

friend.

18:58

So she sounds extremely empathetic.

19:00

She sounds very intuitive about people, like

19:03

she could read people very well. Yeah.

19:06

And she shared all that with you all. So

19:09

tell me about some of the healthy relationships that she

19:11

had, you know, so that way people get a really

19:13

good understanding, because it sounds like she

19:15

was a magnet for a lot of people,

19:18

what does a good relationship look like to her?

19:20

A lot of people were drawn to her. Her

19:23

number one, was

19:26

probably her cousin that was born

19:28

on her birthday. and

19:30

he's four years younger than her, but,

19:33

we were there the day he was born.

19:35

My sister was pregnant and,

19:38

they, she's, well, when is he

19:41

coming? And

19:43

they said to her, well,

19:46

he'll be born on his birthday. And

19:48

she said, How were you born

19:51

on his birthday? And

19:55

they were like, yeah, he's that smart. How

19:57

were you born on his birthday? And

19:59

then he was born on her birthday.

20:03

So that was a little bit of a

20:05

situation, but not really, but they

20:08

were so close. What

20:11

made them so close?

20:14

She felt that he was born for her. That

20:17

was her baby. She, she was like, that was her

20:19

present. That was her

20:20

gift.

20:20

That was her gift being born. And then

20:22

they grew up together. What did they

20:24

have in common? What did they enjoy doing together?

20:27

Besides their, their same birthday? Yeah.

20:30

they'd go sledding. They would carve pumpkins.

20:34

they, My

20:36

sister lives in the house that I grew

20:38

up in and,

20:40

you know, they would spend time

20:42

at my parents place

20:45

at grandparent, their grandparents

20:47

together because they're cousins, in

20:50

the hot tub or out on the lake

20:52

or, bonfires in

20:54

the snow. it was just,

20:57

it was family and it was love.

21:02

Mercedes loved her family. In

21:04

fact, the last trip we took with Mercedes

21:07

was for family. We went there for Thanksgiving

21:10

and she actually stayed at their

21:12

house and regretted

21:14

because I took her to the airport and

21:17

she regretted that she was going back early and

21:19

was already planning on coming back.

21:22

She just, she loved her family, but she

21:24

kept her family Close to her.

21:26

Right. Like a lot of her friends,

21:28

they didn't know, they knew me a little bit, they

21:30

knew her mom a little bit, but they didn't know that we

21:32

talked, you know, weekly or every

21:35

other day. She just, she kept her private

21:37

life private and what she

21:39

was doing, private also. For

21:42

her friends, one thing I did notice,

21:44

and then I did not know this about my daughter,

21:46

there was a lot of people that had, when, when

21:48

she had passed, had come to our house, and

21:51

there were people that wrote, when I grow up, I want

21:53

to be just like you. you don't

21:55

realize how you've changed my life.

21:58

see, I'm getting chilled. There's

22:00

a light,

22:02

a beacon, a light,

22:04

That we did not realize she touched

22:06

because as we know, she danced twice

22:08

a week, and she kept those people

22:11

kind of, you know, those

22:17

friends to herself. but

22:19

when we got to meet them, I got to learn

22:22

more about my daughter on a deeper

22:24

thing. I knew what my daughter, who she

22:26

was and what she stood for. but

22:29

I didn't realize that she had touched these

22:31

people, these young ladies as much

22:33

as, as much as she did. she

22:35

was just a very spiritual,

22:39

very driven young woman, was

22:41

not satisfied, and

22:43

where she was. And

22:45

I can't say this, I knew my daughter would get

22:47

everything she ever wanted. Back to

22:49

the, you know, the trip to Disney World. She, she

22:51

wanted that, she came up with

22:54

it, she sat us down and read that PowerPoint presentation

22:57

to us. She just was very,

22:59

a very loving young, young

23:01

lady. another thing back when we were talking

23:04

when she was younger, at our church,

23:06

you have to be a certain age to take care

23:08

of little babies. Well, they had some babies

23:11

that were a little difficult and Mercedes

23:14

said, well, I, I can take care of them. They're like, ah,

23:16

you're a little too young. And so

23:18

they let her come in and they said, okay,

23:20

well, we'll see. She went in the next thing

23:22

we know she was working in the, with the infants.

23:25

And, and we used to call her the baby whisperer.

23:28

Right. Because she just, The baby would

23:30

get in her arms and just, you know, you know,

23:32

like a mother feel comfort. And

23:35

she just had that ability to comfort

23:37

people and understand

23:39

where people were coming from. and

23:41

listened. That's the other thing is she listened.

23:44

She didn't, you know, at 22, you got

23:46

your own problems. Why would you want

23:48

to listen to someone else's problems? But

23:50

she just she was that kind of person. She

23:52

was just If she could be there for you,

23:54

she'd be there for you.

23:55

So Erica, one of the things, one

23:58

of the reasons why I think this is really important

24:00

and you two are in an extremely unique position

24:02

as parents that are so close to your daughter is

24:05

that you noticed something

24:07

when we were on the Nancy Grace show together that really

24:09

struck me. You noticed

24:11

that your daughter was wearing sneakers the day

24:13

that she was murdered. And

24:15

it was profound to you that that happened.

24:19

What was her daily life

24:21

like normally

24:24

that she, that that stood out to you?

24:27

So, sneakers

24:29

doesn't confuse me

24:32

if she was in the gym, but

24:35

we knew at that point

24:38

that she was heading out to meet

24:40

someone. And

24:43

Mercedes would, she

24:46

worked out six days a week. She

24:48

allowed herself one day a week

24:51

to go and, hang

24:53

out with friends and drink.

24:55

she was very regimented in her

24:58

routine and

25:00

the fact that she was wearing tennis shoes

25:03

to me when I went

25:06

to where she was

25:10

initially hit over the head and

25:13

it was a couple days after the fact

25:15

that I could see this. Like,

25:19

I could just see the swirl.

25:22

I could see the movement of

25:25

the, it was like her, her

25:29

foot was like this.

25:31

And I could see that it was turning

25:34

and it, you can almost see the motion

25:37

in it. I was like, those aren't

25:39

high heels. Those aren't, flip

25:42

flops because that's what she

25:44

always had on. Or,

25:48

or, or yeah, heel boots

25:51

or, or Doc Martens. Yeah, it was

25:53

the pattern of it. I could see

25:56

was a tennis shoe. And

25:59

at that point I had no idea. I'd asked

26:02

the investigators, what was she wearing?

26:04

And they wouldn't tell me. And

26:06

then when I saw

26:09

it, I had,

26:11

her baby hat from the day she was

26:13

born around my wrist.

26:15

With just a hair tie,

26:19

just because it was the only thing I had

26:23

that I felt super,

26:25

super connected to. And there was a little

26:27

bit of blood in there from,

26:30

you know, when they're born

26:32

really early, they put all these things on them

26:34

and there was a little tiny bit of blood. And so I was

26:36

wearing that around my wrist

26:39

and I'm laying

26:42

in that blood and

26:44

right next to me, I see

26:47

this. Swirl.

26:52

And it wasn't like it was just a

26:54

footprint. I could tell

26:57

that it had movement to

26:59

it just because of the way that it was a

27:01

little bit higher on one

27:03

side, you know, so she was already

27:05

bleeding. But, you

27:08

know, if you take something and you, you

27:10

know, turn it, it's going to be

27:13

ridged up a little bit higher

27:15

on one side. I

27:18

said, Oh my God, she was wearing

27:20

tennis shoes. That doesn't

27:22

make any sense to me because

27:25

she never wore tennis shoes. And

27:30

it struck me. And I, I didn't

27:33

know that that

27:35

was an actual fact until

27:37

it had been released by someone.

27:40

media for the last moments

27:43

that she was actually wearing tennis

27:45

shoes.

27:46

And this is what's really important for

27:48

people to realize is that when you're

27:50

close, like you were to her

27:52

and are to her, you notice

27:54

small differences in the, in those

27:56

kinds of details. And.

27:59

When things go super sideways in someone's

28:01

life, like they did in Mercedes where she's murdered,

28:04

it's be there's a lot of signs

28:06

of things that have gone differently that

28:09

day. And for everyone listening, I

28:11

want you to really pay attention. If you know Mercedes,

28:13

or you know anyone else in your life, where you see something

28:15

going differently than it normally goes,

28:18

That's where we pay attention. That's

28:20

where the clues lie

28:22

that there's something that we need to say

28:25

something, do something, and insert ourselves

28:27

in life because something's

28:30

not right. And that's why

28:32

healthy relationships like you all have,

28:34

and still have with her, is

28:36

really key and paramount. Erica

28:40

Tom, what's something that I should

28:42

have asked you that I didn't ask you, that you wanted to make

28:44

sure you shared before, we sign

28:46

off?

28:47

Mercedes was very spiritual.

28:50

I don't know this connected in any

28:52

way to her death. but she

28:55

would be

28:57

a very calming place

28:59

for people. That

29:02

they would reach out to her when they felt uncomfortable

29:06

or uneasy.

29:08

And if

29:14

she was

29:16

not, she

29:19

wouldn't be there for anyone. If

29:21

she realized someone was not there

29:23

for them, she wouldn't

29:26

take the time. to

29:29

try to rebuild that relationship.

29:32

She did have a habit of just saying,

29:35

I'm not dealing with you. So

29:37

this very well could be someone

29:39

that she had been taken

29:41

care of. She was taking care of

29:43

them or, an outlet

29:46

for them to reach out to, whatever

29:48

the situation might be. And

29:50

that she just stopped.

29:53

and that's a good

29:55

possibility. I also

29:57

know that there possibly

29:59

could be a very jealous

30:02

person involved. Mercedes

30:04

was strong. She knew what she

30:06

wanted. she was vibrant

30:09

and beautiful and tall

30:11

and noticeable. And

30:15

the other element of this could be someone

30:17

who was just jealous. Or

30:21

Someone who was just infatuated with

30:23

her. The most important

30:26

thing that I want people to know

30:28

is Mercedes was a beautiful,

30:31

kind, caring, intelligent,

30:35

amazing person. And

30:38

she is so loved

30:40

and so missed. And

30:43

I would give anything to not be here

30:46

right now, spreading her ashes here in Hawaii.

30:49

And to be sitting there in

30:52

her apartment with her having Top

30:54

Ramen or something. I just, she's

30:59

my baby and

31:03

the most beautiful, kindest,

31:06

amazing, intelligent,

31:10

spiritual person I've ever

31:13

met in my entire life. And the world

31:15

is at a loss without her.

31:18

It truly is. We

31:21

all get a sense of who she was through you.

31:24

It is a beautiful soul. Thank

31:26

you so much for sharing her story,

31:28

her life story, your story. And

31:32

all I can do is send you my prayers and love.

31:35

Thank you so much.

31:36

Thank you very much.

31:37

As we conclude this episode of Criminal Minds Exposed

31:39

we want to express our gratitude to Mercedes

31:41

Vega's parents, Tom and Erica, for their bravery

31:44

in sharing their daughter's story. Through

31:46

their words, we have gained insight into the vibrant

31:48

life Mercedes led before her untimely

31:51

and tragic death. We also want

31:53

to extend our deepest sympathies to the friends and family

31:55

of Mercedes. Your unwavering determination

31:57

to seek justice for her has not gone unnoticed,

32:00

and together we stand united in

32:02

our pursuit of truth. Remember,

32:05

the key to unraveling the mystery surrounding Mercedes

32:08

murder lies within our collective efforts.

32:10

If you have any information that could aid

32:12

in the investigation, we urge you to come forward.

32:15

Your tips and leads could be the missing

32:17

pieces that bring closure to this devastating

32:19

case. Thanks for joining us

32:21

in this emotional journey. We hope that by shedding

32:24

light on Mercedes Vegas story, we have sparked

32:26

a renewed sense of determination to seek justice

32:29

for all victims of unsolved crimes.

32:31

Stay vigilant, stay compassionate, and

32:33

together, let's make a difference. Until next

32:35

time, stay safe, my friends.