A Norcross mother reported missing in 2017 has been identified as a victim in a Clayton County homicide, police announced Friday.
According to Gwinnett County police, DNA analysis confirmed Beatriz Noemi Espinoza-Fuentes was one of two bodies found in Clayton County in the spring of 2017.
Espinoza-Fuentes, who was 25 at the time, was reported missing March 25, 2017. She was supposed to pick up her 3-year-old son from the bus stop and never showed.
Her son was found wandering around a shopping center on Tucker Road, AJC.com previously reported. Drugs, believed to have been marijuana and methamphetamine, were found in her son's backpack, a family friend told police.
When she didn’t report to work, which was out of character, police began investigating, Cpl. Michele Pihera said at a Friday news conference.
In 2017, that friend told Channel 2 Action News a man called from Mexico to say Espinoza-Fuentes lost $30,000 and he wanted it back. Espinoza-Fuentes is believed to have been kidnapped in Gwinnett County, police said.
Police do not know what led to her disappearance, but she was last seen around her apartment complex near Tucker Road.
Her family told Channel 2 Action News they knew of the DNA match in April and buried her last month.
The second victim has not been identified, and the gender of that person is unclear, but police determined the body is that of an adult.
There are no active missing person cases in Gwinnett County that match the description of the unidentified victim, Pihera said.
“We don’t have all the pieces to the puzzle yet,” Pihera said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Gwinnett County police at 770-690-9496.
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