Atlanta-area police are investigating the murder of an 18-year-old college student who was found in a burning car earlier this year, Channel 2 News reports.
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Investigators have a lead and are looking for a man who was caught on surveillance video using the debit card of Talya Torres, the woman found on Jan. 9 in her burning car in the East Point suburb of Atlanta.
Video shows the man being dropped off at a BB&T bank in the Camp Creek Marketplace. He used the bank’s ATM to withdraw funds from the deceased woman’s account. Police are relying on the public to identify the suspect.
“It’s ridiculous because they didn’t have to do this,” the victim’s mother, Pearlie Haynes, told the news outlet.
Haynes was devastated to learn how daughter was found in the burning vehicle.
“And just knowing that my baby was in it … she was in there,” Haynes said. “I just want her to say, ‘Mommy.'”
Haynes is confident the video will help in the capture of the alleged killer.
“The car went up at 1 a.m. and the card was used at 4 a.m.,” Haynes said. “Somebody’s gonna know those shoes. Somebody knows that person.”
“It’s taken a piece of my heart. It’s taken my only daughter,” Haynes said.
Haynes said Torres moved closer to downtown Atlanta to attend school.
The grieving mom is asking for help in solving this tragic case.
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“Somebody please help me find out who did this to my baby,” Haynes said.
The news outlet was the first on the scene in early Jan when Torres body was found inside a vehicle on Connally Drive and Connally Court.
At the time, neighbors were told to evaluate their home as first responders worked to get the scene under control. Neighbors reported hearing the car explode.
“It’s kind of weird to see a burning car, (in the) middle of the night, so it’s kind of suspicious. You would figure something like that is going on, trying to get rid of some evidence or something. That’s kind of weird,” Rolando Gray, who lives in the neighborhood, told the television news station.
Torres was reportedly burned beyond recognition.