NC - Hania Noelia Aguilar, 13, Lumberton, MEDIA MAPS & TIMELINE *NO DISCUSSION*

[PommyMommy]

DEC 5, 2018
One month after Hania Aguilar's kidnapping, Robeson County deals with more death
Wednesday marks one month since 13-year-old Hania Aguilar was kidnapped in Lumberton and there are still no arrests. Her body is now one of three in the last week that have turned up in Robeson County.

However, the sheriff says he has a plan to try and close the cases.

"We've actually met with a couple retired detectives, even a couple state SBI agents that have retired, we're gonna start a cold case missing persons unit, it'll be retirees coming back in looking over cases," he said. "We have a few cases where it wouldn't take much to solve them, it just takes fresh eyes to come to a conclusion."

Along with investigating the two bodies, the sheriff says they're working with the FBI and police to try and find who's behind Hania's death.

An expert crime witness says although it may seem like investigators hit a wall, it might not always be the case.

"There's not an end to a homicide investigation, there are periods where there's not a lot of investigation going on, but typically on the anniversary of a homicide there'll be a push again because there tend to be breaks around that time, somebody saying well 'It's been one year I need to confess,'" said expert crime witness Mel Tucker.

 

[PommyMommy]

DEC 5, 2018
Family of woman found dead in Lumberton last year still holding out hope
In the death investigations of Bennett, Jones and Oxendine, FBI officials told CBS 17 they've assisted Lumberton Police. Special agents have conducted more than 400 interviews and followed more than 50 investigative leads.

The Oxendines are also showing support for Hania Aguilar's family. The 13-year-old's body was recently found after she had been missing for nearly a month.

"At the end of the day, we're all one family, and I know how she feels," Shelia Oxendine said. "Somebody lost a child. It made me hurting all over again."

 

[PommyMommy]

DEC 6, 2018
Father of slain North Carolina teen denied temporary visa into US for funeral
Naimeh Salem, the father’s attorney, told WSOC-TV that the visa was denied. “They said he doesn’t have enough ties to the country to issue him a temporary visa to go to Hania's funeral,” Salem said. Salem said they are still holding out hope that U.S. officials will have a change of heart.

Maynor said Hania's father would need the special visa and a green card, and the process to get one of those visas could take weeks.

“Even with enough support and contacting the right people to push it through, it is very unlikely that it's gonna happen in time for him to be here for the actual funeral,” Maynor said.

Father of slain Lumberton teen denied temporary visa into US for funeral
The father of a North Carolina teenager who was kidnapped and killed has been denied a visa to attend her funeral, WSOC reports.

Services for Hania Aguilar are set for Saturday in Lumberton.

Hania’s father lives in Guatemala and needs a special visa to attend.

About 10,000 people signed a petition, and Gov. Roy Cooper even got involved.

Naimeh Salem, the father’s attorney, told WSOC the visa was denied.

 

[PommyMommy]

DEC 6, 2018
Family of North Carolina teen found dead gets new home
Mitchell Hunt with Time Out Communities tells the Fayetteville Observer the property management company wanted to give Hania Aguilar’s family a new start. They got keys Tuesday to a new, double-wide mobile home about a mile from Rosewood Mobile Home Park.

It was at Rosewood that the 13-year-old was kidnapped before school on Nov. 5. Her body was found three weeks later. No arrests have been made.

Hunt says Hania’s siblings won’t have to change schools. The lot rent has been waived for six months, and community donations will help furnish the home.

Community helps Hania Aguilar’s family move out of mobile home in dangerous area to bigger, safer residence: Report - Video of the new home at this link
“When we heard about the family feeling unsafe in their current home, there was no doubt in our mind that we had to help!” Time Out Communities, the real estate agency who donated the home, wrote on Facebook. “For us it is a small gesture compared to all of the hardship they have and are still going through but, it has made a huge impact on them and the community.”

“Mom and dad, they cried, they were happy, they were so thankful,” Robeson County School District, Dr. Shanita Wooten, told the outlet. “The girls, they immediately started saying this is our home. They ran throughout all the rooms picking out the rooms.”

Along with six months of free rent, the family will likely be given furnishing for the home. The community is currently gathering furniture and asking the public to donate household items. Assistant Superintendent Dr. Robert Locklear said items specifically being sought include things for Hania’s siblings.

Household items donations are being taken at 4570 Old Allenton Road in Lumberton.

 

[PommyMommy]

DEC 6, 2018
Father of Hania Aguilar, Killed at 13, Is Denied Funeral Visa
The father of the girl, 13-year-old Hania Aguilar, traveled to the United States Embassy in Guatemala City on Monday and asked for expedited approval for a visa to fly to the United States. The father, Noé Aguilar, was denied on the spot because American officials worried he lacked strong ties to Guatemala, his native country, and might not return, according to his lawyer, Naimeh Salem.

“To tell you the truth, with past administrations, we never had a problem like this,” Ms. Salem, an immigration lawyer based in Texas, said in an interview. “With this administration, most everything that is discretionary is getting denied.”

As the news of Mr. Aguilar’s denial was reported on Thursday in North Carolina, some high-ranking state politicians pledged to help. Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, wrote a letter asking for the State Department to reconsider the father’s application, Ms. Salem said, and the office of Representative Mark Meadows, a Republican, intervened as well.

In his visa application, Mr. Aguilar stated that he owned a business in Guatemala and had no intentions of staying in the United States after the funeral, Ms. Salem said. But embassy officials denied his request because he had a low bank balance, she said.

“He has no negative immigration history,” Ms. Salem said. “No deportation.”

Mr. Aguilar lived in the United States when his daughter was an infant but moved back to Guatemala around 2005, she said.

 

[PommyMommy]

DEC 7, 2018
Hania Aguilar's father denied visa to attend her funeral - CNN
When 13-year-old Hania Aguilar is laid to rest in North Carolina on Saturday her father will be nearly 3,000 miles away.

The US State Department has denied a temporary visa for Noé Aguilar to travel from Guatemala to attend services for his teenage daughter, according to the father's attorney.

"I had hoped they would find it in their hearts to let me be there for my daughter's funeral," Aguilar told CNN in a brief phone interview Friday.

"It's very sad. She was my princess. She will always be my princess."

Immigration attorney Naimeh Salem said US embassy officials in Guatemala denied the temporary visa on grounds that Aguilar "didn't have enough ties to his home country, Guatemala."

"That is not true," she said. "He has family there and his own business."

 

[PommyMommy]

DEC 6, 2018
Dad of murdered NC girl Hania Aguilar is refused US visa to attend daughter’s funeral
Services for Hania Aguilar, the 13-year-old girl kidnapped and murdered in Lumberton, North Carolina are set for Saturday. But her Guatemalan father will not be allowed into the United States to attend the funeral, WPDE reports.

“The problem is Slain and Murdered Hania Aguilar’s father is in Guatemala and he needs permission to be Expedited to the United States in order to see his daughter one last time, say his goodbyes and attend her funeral. No parent should be denied the right to attend their child’s funeral- especially when Hania was a Citizen-born in Tennessee,” the petition started by Monique Cespedes reads.

People continued to add their names to the petition Thursday, which is addressed to the Department of Homeland Security, the Guatemalan Embassy, President Donald Trump and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, among others.

People left notes of support for Hania’s father on the online petition site. “Its the right thing to do. He needs to be here to say good bye to his daughter that had her life taken by a selfish person,” Diane Champion wrote.

Patricia Cote said, “Compassion is allowing a parent to attend their child’s funeral. Treat others as you would like to be treated in the same situation. Use your heart and not fear as a guideline.”

 

[rainynights]

Lumberton Police Department | 12/08/2018 8:54am (EST)

U.S. Department of Justice

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Charlotte, North Carolina

Press Release Contact: Shelley Lynch
December 8, 2018 FBI Public Information Officer slynch@fbi.gov

Arrest Made in Kidnapping and Murder of Hania Aguilar

The Lumberton Police Department and the FBI have arrested 34-year-old Michael Ray McLellan in connection with the kidnapping and murder of 13-year-old Hania Noelia Aguilar. McLellan was being held at the time of his arrest in law enforcement custody on charges unrelated to this case.

The Lumberton Police Department charged McLellan with ten felonies on the following state charges;

1st Degree Murder,
1st Degree Forcible Rape,
Statutory rape of a person under 15 years of age or younger,
1st Degree Sexual Offense,
Statutory sex offense with a person 15 years or younger,
1st Degree Kidnapping,
Felony Larceny,
Felony Restraint,
Abduction of Child,
Concealment of a death,

Hania was forced into a family member’s idling SUV and kidnapped from her driveway in the Rosewood Mobile Home Park in Lumberton on November 5, 2018. With support from the SBI and the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office, the Lumberton Police Department and the FBI followed more than 850 leads and conducted nearly 500 interviews. The FBI’s Lab at Quantico conducted a forensic exam of the stolen SUV, recovered on November 8, 2018. The North Carolina State Crime Lab provided preliminary test results on Hania’s body, located on November 27, 2018. The results of those tests, including some received on December 7, 2018, and a thorough criminal investigation resulted in the current charges.

McLellan stood before a state magistrate at the Robeson County Detention Center in the early morning hours of December 8, 2018.

McLellan is currently being held in the Robeson County Detention Center with no bond. McLellan will have his first court appearance at the Robeson County Courthouse on Monday beginning at 9:00 a.m. Members of the media who attend the court appearance must seek permission from the Judge upon arrival regarding requests to have cameras in court.

The investigation is ongoing, additional charges could be filed as the case continues. Final autopsy and toxicology reports are not complete at this time.

 

[rainynights]

Gloria Rodriguez on Twitter

RIGHT NOW-Setup is underway for the service for #HaniaAguilar in Lumberton. Chairs are draped in her favorite color-purple. #ABC11



Robert Richardson on Twitter

Memorial services for 13-year-old Hania Aguilar will begin at noon at Lumberton High School.

@WNCN has the family’s blessing to cover the funeral.

The FBI announced this morning that Michael McLellan faces 10 charges including murder, rape, & kidnapping. http://cbs17.com/1646639410

 

[PommyMommy]

DEC 8, 2018
FBI: Arrest made in kidnapping, murder of Hania Aguilar
Michael Ray McLellan was already in custody in connection with an attempted robbery in Fairmont in October.

McLellan faces 10 felony charges in connection with Hania's kidnapping and death:

• First-degree murder
• First-degree forcible rape
• Statutory rape of a person under 15 years of age or younger
• First-degree sexual offense
• Statutory sex offense with a person 15 years or younger
• First-degree kidnapping
• Felony larceny
• Felony restraint
• Abduction of child
• Concealment of a death

The North Carolina State Crime Lab returned information gained from tests on Aguilar's body on Dec. 7.

Those test results led to the arrest of McLellan, the FBI said.

He's being held without bond at the Robeson County Detention Center.

McLellan is scheduled to appear in court Monday at 9 a.m.

The FBI said more charges could be filed in the case.

McLellan was already in custody after being charged on Nov. 13 in connection with an Oct. 15 attempted robbery in Fairmont, court documents show.

 

[PommyMommy]

DEC 8, 2018
Man charged with kidnapping, rape and murder of Lumberton teen, Hania Aguilar :: WRAL.com
McLellan was being held in Robeson County Jail on an unrelated kidnapping charge when authorities added the charges in Hania's case. He is being held without bond and is expected to make a first court appearance on those charges on Monday.

McLellan, of 513 Marvin St. in Fairmont, was arrested Nov. 13 and charged with second-degree kidnapping, possession of a firearm by a felon and attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon in connection with an Oct. 15 attack in Fairmont.

McLellan's name surfaced in online rumors as a possible suspect within hours of when Hania's body was found, but authorities did not confirm his connection with Hania's disappearance and death until Saturday.



Authorities did not say whether he confessed or whether any evidence from him led them to Hania's body off Wire Grass Road.

At the time, Lumberton Chief of Police Michael McNeill said of that search, "It was a deliberate plan to get out there."

 

[PommyMommy]

DEC 8, 2018
FBI arrest man in connection with the killing of Hania Aguilar
The FBI’s Lab at Quantico conducted a forensic exam of the stolen SUV, recovered on November 8, 2018. The North Carolina State Crime Lab provided preliminary test results on Hania’s body, located on November 27, 2018. The results of those tests, including some received on December 7, 2018, and a thorough criminal investigation resulted in the current charges.

McLellan stood before a state magistrate at the Robeson County Detention Center in the early morning hours of December 8, 2018. McLellan is currently being held in the Robeson County Detention Center with no bond. McLellan will have his first court appearance at the Robeson County Courthouse on Monday December 10th beginning at 9:00 a.m. The investigation is ongoing, additional charges could be filed as the case continues. Final autopsy and toxicology reports are not complete at this time.

 

[PommyMommy]

DEC 8, 2018
Michael Mclellan

Michael McLellan

 

[PommyMommy]

DEC 8, 2018
FBI and Lumberton Police arrest and charge a man in the kiddnapping, murder and rape of NC teen Hania Aguilar
The FBI says after following up on more than 850 leads and conducting nearly 500 interviews, their lab in Quantico conducted a forensic exam of the stolen SUV recovered on November 8.

The North Carolina State Crime Lab provided preliminary test results on Hania's body which was found on November 27. The FBI says as a result of those tests, and a thorough criminal investigation, the aforementioned charges were levied against McLellan.

 

[PommyMommy]

DEC 8, 2018
MAN CHARGED WITH AGUILER’S RAPE MURDER | Robesonian
The announcement by the FBI and Lumberton police comes hours after a private mass for Aguilar and shortly before a public funeral today at Lumberton High School, which begins at noon.

The accused, Michael Ray McLellan, was widely rumored weeks ago to be the suspect and was in the county jail at the time. He was in law enforcement custody on charges unrelated to this case when he was arrested.

He is currently in the Robeson County jail under $7.9 million bond. He will be in court on Monday.

“Twenty-three search warrants and court orders have been executed during the case, which resulted in the discovery of critical evidence,” Hackney said. “Both the NC State Crime Lab and FBI Lab in Quantico have bent over backwards in accommodating the expedited requests we have made for evidence analysis.
McLellan was convicted in February 2017 charges of felony breaking and entering and larceny of a motor vehicle, according to state records. He was sentenced to between nine months and 20 months and was released on parole in June.

In 2007, he was convicted on 2005 charges of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury and first-degree burglary. He was sentenced to between 10 years and 12 years and nine months in prison and released on parole in February 2016.

 

[PommyMommy]

DEC 8, 2018
Michael Ray McLellan: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know | Heavy.com

Michael McLellan has been in custody since November 13, 2018 in an unrelated case, jail records show. McLellan is accused of attacking a woman outside of her home on Pittman Street in the Fairmont neighborhood of Robeson County, Fairmont Police Chief Jon Edwards told the news station. The incident occurred on October 15.

According to jail records, he is being held on $2 million bail.

McLellan’s Facebook page shows he lives in Lumberton, North Carolina, and is originally from Fairmont. He attended Fairmont High School. His page says he has worked as a landscape gardener.

McLellan has a very serious criminal history. In 2009, McLellan was accused in the shooting of a Fairmont woman three times on New Year’s Eve. According to North Carolina Department of Public Safety records, McLellan has spent time in prison. He was jailed most recently on February 8, 2018, on a felony breaking and entering charge and was released from custody on June 6, 2018. He remains on parole until March 3, 2019.

In 2007, he was sentenced to jail in connection to a 2005 case on charges of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill or seriously injure and first-degree burglary. He was on parole until 2016 in that case. He also has a previous conviction for assault on a child.

 

[PommyMommy]

NOV 28, 2018
Man accused in Robeson Co. kidnapping appears in court
A hearing took place Wednesday morning for 34-year-old Michael McLellan, who is charged with second-degree kidnapping and attempted armed robbery of a woman outside her home off of Pittman Street in the Fairmont community of Robeson County, according to court documents.

Court records show the case was continued until March 19, 2019.

An investigation led authorities to McLellan, who turned himself into authorities back on Nov. 13.

 

[PommyMommy]

DEC 8, 2018
MAN CHARGED WITH AGUILER’S RAPE MURDER | Robesonian
The break in the case came through forensic testing of evidence taken from the stolen SUV, which was recovered on Nov. 8. The Robesonian has been told that McLellan is the man depicted in a widely distributed surveillance video of a person walking near where Aguilar was kidnapped and shortly before that happened.

 

[PommyMommy]

DEC 8, 2018

 

[PommyMommy]

DEC 8, 2018
Video: Gloria Rodriguez on Twitter
The casket of #HaniaAguilar has been placed on this horse-drawn carriage and Hania will be taken to her final resting place in Lumberton. #ABC11

Gloria Rodriguez on Twitter
“Whoever took my daughter-he took my daughter’s life, not her happiness.” Celsa Hernandez, mother of #HaniaAguilar speaks in Spanish about her daughter. #ABC11

Video: Gloria Rodriguez on Twitter
“I want you back.” Jayden Chavis sings a song in honor of #HaniaAguilar. #ABC11

Gloria Rodriguez on Twitter
“It’s hurts not hearing your voice.” Friends read letters to #HaniaAguilar, saying she’s somewhere where “no one can hurt you.” #ABC11

Video: Gloria Rodriguez on Twitter
The gym at Lumberton High is packed as folks pay their respects to the family of #HaniaAguilar and remember the 13-year-old, who was kidnapped and murdered. #ABC11

Video: Gloria Rodriguez on Twitter
“Yo te Extranare.” Mariachi Yahir Alanis sings a song, which translates to “I’ll Miss You,” standing near the casket of #HaniaAguilar. #ABC11

Gloria Rodriguez on Twitter
“Hania has taught us to cherish the moments..” Public Schools of Robeson County Superintendent Shanita Wooten speaks at the funeral service for #HaniaAguilar #ABC11