Habersham County Sheriff's Office/Google Maps
Fitness Tiktoker Minelys Zoe Rodriguez-Ramirez's fiancé received a strange text message from her phone the night she vanished and reported her missing the next morning when she failed to return home from the retail giant.
A man has been arrested and the remains of a Georgia TikTok fitness influencer are believed to be found near the Walmart where she was last seen.
Angel DeJesus Rivera-Sanches, 24, was arrested in Atlanta on Monday, October 28. He is facing charges of kidnapping after the disappearance of Minelys Zoe Rodriguez-Ramirez, 25, on October 22. Per the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), he "will be charged with murder in connection to Rodriguez-Ramirez's death."
A Walmart store in Cornelia, Georgia is the last place Rodriguez-Ramirez was spotted before her disappearance. According to her fiancé Julio Tovor, she had gone to the retail giant to exchange a photo with an acquaintance. She never returned home.
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View StoryHe did share with the Habersham County Sheriff's Office a strange text message he received that he told Now Habersham News "didn't make sense. She doesn't talk like that." He had been texting her before he fell asleep, so did not see that message right away.
"I am waiting for the brother to pick him up," the message read. When she hadn't returned that following morning, October 23, Tovor reached out to Rodriguez-Ramirez' mother Carmen Ramirez, per Now Habersham, telling authorities he had a feeling something wasn't right.
On Friday, October 25, the Habersham County Sheriff's Office requested the assistance of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation on this case, and it was GBI that arrested Rivera-Sanches on Monday.
Rodriguez-Ramirez' remains were found with assistance from the George Department of Natural Resources in a remote area off the same road as the Walmart location, per Fox 5 Atlanta.
Officials said they were able to confidently identify the remains based on distinctive tattoos and a description of the victim's clothing, per Fox 5. An autopsy is being conducted by the GBI Medical Examiner's Office to formally confirm the identity and determine case and manner of death.
Her vehicle was found five miles away from where her body was found, with witnesses telling authorities they saw a dark SUV and gold minivan in her vicinity that night, per the news outlet.
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View StoryA fitness enthusiast, Rodriguez-Ramirez documented her exercise journey through her Spanish-language TikTok channel. She moved to Georgia from Puerto Rico six years ago after getting a job offer. Her nine-year-old daughter had moved back to Puerto Rico to live with her father.
"Minelys talked about her daughter a lot. She treasured her daughter," Tovor told Now Habersham.
Still unclear are who she was supposed to meet about a photo at Walmart, and if that meeting happened. It's also unclear what connection may have existed, if any, between the victim and the suspect.
Rivera-Sanches is being held at the Habersham County Detention Center on a kidnapping charge.
GBI tells 11 Alive the investigation is ongoing and once completed will be handed over to the Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office for prosecution. They urge anyone with information to reach out at 800-597-8477.
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