CA CA - Monique Figueroa, 28, Littlerock, 19 May 2015

[cvaldez1975]

i agree. it seems to have been given very low priority, given the circumstances

Hi Everyone. I'm new here and have been following this case since it began. I found another post on MF's FB page dated 7/7 in which her friends ask for leads from the community. They say they're asking on behalf of their private investigator and they promise total anonymity. If it's for a PI, wouldn't the PI handle the investigative work? Whoever is soliciting help writes in a very scattered, difficult to follow style. Information is never shared with followers even though people keep asking for updates. It's all very odd.

I don't know about you guys, but this whole case seems very fishy. I've scoured missing persons databases and see no mention of Monique anywhere (not in CA, not nationally). I'm beginning to wonder, has this case been dropped/closed? Are the police even still looking for her?

 

[Vail]

Hi Everyone. I'm new here and have been following this case since it began. I found another post on MF's FB page dated 7/7 in which her friends ask for leads from the community. They say they're asking on behalf of their private investigator and they promise total anonymity. If it's for a PI, wouldn't the PI handle the investigative work? Whoever is soliciting help writes in a very scattered, difficult to follow style. Information is never shared with followers even though people keep asking for updates. It's all very odd.

I don't know about you guys, but this whole case seems very fishy. I've scoured missing persons databases and see no mention of Monique anywhere (not in CA, not nationally). I'm beginning to wonder, has this case been dropped/closed? Are the police even still looking for her?

Well there are three reasons I can think of:

1. Her family is responsible, and the motive is getting her kid away from her. I haven't liked any of the statements from her father, but I just don't have enough to go on to really tell one way or another.

2. She is in witness protection

3. She is the potentially murdered girlfriend of a repeat offender an gangster in jail on murder charges and may actually have refused to cooperate. Police just aren't very sympathetic to criminals and anyone associating with them, especially in a place like Palmsdale. JMO

 

[mmh318]

Well there are three reasons I can think of:

1. Her family is responsible, and the motive is getting her kid away from her. I haven't liked any of the statements from her father, but I just don't have enough to go on to really tell one way or another.

2. She is in witness protection

3. She is the potentially murdered girlfriend of a repeat offender an gangster in jail on murder charges and may actually have refused to cooperate. Police just aren't very sympathetic to criminals and anyone associating with them, especially in a place like Palmsdale. JMO

I have wondered about #1 and #2 above, although I'm curious what you don't like about the Father's statements. Can you elaborate?

#3 is a sad theory - I suppose it makes sense, though. If this were the case, why isn't her family and the community more outraged and outspoken? Why are there NO flyers up in town?

Is there a way to find out if a particular case is still under investigation?

 

[Vail]

Remains found about an hour away. No ID yet.


http://ktla.com/2015/08/31/human-remains-discovered-in-santa-clarita-prompting-investigation/

 

[cvaldez1975]

maybe it is her. i sort of have a feeling shes in the desert though, just a hunch. her car was closer to desert and it doesnt make sense to bring her body back to town and discard it there.

 

[Vail]

maybe it is her. i sort of have a feeling shes in the desert though, just a hunch. her car was closer to desert and it doesnt make sense to bring her body back to town and discard it there.

I would agree, if it is gang related it seems they would go the desert route, though a few bodies have been found in and around this creek bed...

 

[pwig]

What happened to Monique? This case has been stuck in my head.

 

[bessie]

I hope this isn't related. The residence is about 2.5 miles from where the February 2nd homicide occurred in Palmdale.

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...ses-Found-in-Palmdale-House-29-September-2015

 

[bessie]

This is terribly sad. One FB page is still active, but there have been no updates from LE.

Here's a timeline.

Feb 2 -- A man is shot to death in the 37800 block of Robina Ave, Antelope Valley/Palmdale.
http://homicide.latimes.com/post/troy-filinow/
http://theavtimes.com/2015/02/03/1-dead-after-shooting-in-palmdale/

Feb 8 -- Two men are killed in a double, execution style homicide in the 11000 block of Monte Vista, Montclair.
http://www.dailybulletin.com/genera...ffice-names-montclair-double-homicide-victims
http://sbcsentinel.com/2015/09/four...-in-geographically-temporally-disparate-case/

Mar 11 -- Monique's (ex)-boyfriend, David McKell, is arrested in Lancaster for the Feb 2 murder in Palmdale.
http://imgur.com/IZOiJPC

While still in jail, he's arrested for a double, execution style murder on Feb 8 in Montclair. (Arrest date unclear)
http://www.dailybulletin.com/genera...ion-style-double-homicide-suspects-in-custody

May 19 -- MF drives away from her home in the 7200 block of East Ave U-12, Littlerock/Palmdale, for a "short trip" to Los Angeles.
http://ktla.com/2015/05/31/father-f...daughters-boyfriend-led-to-her-disappearance/

May 20 -- Father receives a text from MF's phone: "Had to leave love you be back soon"
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ex-boyfriend-of-missing-california-mom-in-jail-for-murder/

May 23 -- MF's father reports her missing when he's unable to reach her by phone.
http://theavtimes.com/2015/06/01/fa...ttlerock-woman-after-vehicle-found-abandoned/

May 30 -- MF's 2004 burgundy Mercedes Benz SUV found on Fort Tejon Road in Juniper Hills, seven miles from her home. (One report says Littlerock.)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ad-including-handprints-it.html#ixzz3c5NerUAb

MF's father said the car showed signs of a struggle, and was full of scratches and handprints. (see video)
http://ktla.com/2015/05/28/family-asks-for-publics-help-in-finding-missing-antelope-valley-woman/

News reports say, according to Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies, MF would not cooperate with them in a murder investigation involving the bf, DM. Her father says she promised DM and his friend that she wouldn't talk.

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2015/06/01/detectives-seek-help-tracking-down-missing-27-year-old-mother/

http://mynewsla.com/crime/2015/06/01/family-fears-foul-play-in-littlerock-womans-disappearance/

 

[cvaldez1975]

i was following this case, and there has been NOTHING on it. where are her parents? im thinking they are scared. i think they know what happened to their daughter and if they are vocal, think it will happen to them.

i initially thought the bf's charge was street level stuff because the filinow kid is only 18, but i just found out about the double execution and the drug connections and now i think this is something more. they silenced her.

 

[steelman]

I think fear has a whole lot to do with it. Back when this thread got started, people would come in here and take one look at her boyfriend, never say a word, and off to another thread they went. The guy is scary to look at, even to people that live 7 States away from him.

I think there's little doubt he has something to do with her disappearance. Monique actually witnessed him shoot one of the people he was in jail over. The scariest part is that he was apparently able to get his henchmen on the outside to do his bidding. He's in jail, his friends aren't. He was in jail when she vanished, which of course gives him the perfect alibi and also eliminates an eye witness.

I could see where the people living right there local would be pretty hesitant to get involved, mainly out of fear of doing a little disappearing act of their own.

 

[Vail]

Yeah the more I find out about Smiley, the more sure I am that Mo was taken and murdered. Palmdale is no joke, I think the police are just overwhelmed with these kinds of murders to look at them individually or even know where to begin. There is also the prejudice angle - because she was involved with a guy like him, it can make her less sympathetic to the detectives in charge of driving her investigation.

 

[perfectingpink]

Is there any chance she is the protective custody to protect her as a witness?

 

[cvaldez1975]

it was hard to even get media reporting about the dude.

I think fear has a whole lot to do with it. Back when this thread got started, people would come in here and take one look at her boyfriend, never say a word, and off to another thread they went. The guy is scary to look at, even to people that live 7 States away from him.

I think there's little doubt he has something to do with her disappearance. Monique actually witnessed him shoot one of the people he was in jail over. The scariest part is that he was apparently able to get his henchmen on the outside to do his bidding. He's in jail, his friends aren't. He was in jail when she vanished, which of course gives him the perfect alibi and also eliminates an eye witness.

I could see where the people living right there local would be pretty hesitant to get involved, mainly out of fear of doing a little disappearing act of their own.

 

[Vail]

Is there any chance she is the protective custody to protect her as a witness?

They would tell her family she is alive, but not disclose anything else, and the media would know the case is closed.

 

[bessie]

it was hard to even get media reporting about the dude.

The one and only report I found that mentioned the arrest in the Filinow murder is from late May or June. According to that article, the arrest occurred in March. So it appears it was kept hush-hush until MF disappeared. Coincidence?

This is just guess, a thought I had when reading last night. It's possible that there was no mention of his arrest in the Montrose murder until recently because LE was keeping it on the down low until they caught up with the other suspect, the one arrested in Las Vegas at the end of August. Until then, it only was reported that he was arrested for the young man's murder in Palmdale, and that his bail was set at $2M. Seems like the $2M would have been for the (likely gang related) double murder where the victims were targeted and executed.

 

[cvaldez1975]

i havent googled him lately but i couldnt even find any media saying he was the suspect in filinow's murder. i finally found it in antelope valley (either press or times? the one behind a paywall) and i was like aha! i knew about the filinow murder. just didnt know it was DM. googling him didnt turn up much either.

 

[cvaldez1975]

sadly i stand corrected!!!!

i do think she will turn up, but probably not alive.

these are street level gangs. they arent that sophisticated, like say the mafia.

 

[bessie]

Yeah the more I find out about Smiley, the more sure I am that Mo was taken and murdered. Palmdale is no joke, I think the police are just overwhelmed with these kinds of murders to look at them individually or even know where to begin. There is also the prejudice angle - because she was involved with a guy like him, it can make her less sympathetic to the detectives in charge of driving her investigation.

Under other circumstances, maybe. But here, MF was a witness in a homicide investigation. I think LE had a stake in finding her. They made the statement that she wasn't cooperating, but who knows. That sounds to me like a statement issued for her protection, on the off chance that she was being held alive. And if not, for her family's safety.

"While Sheriff’s deputies won’t confirm the boyfriend’s, or any gang’s, involvement with the disappearance, they say that Monique would not cooperate with their murder investigation."

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2015...elp-tracking-down-missing-27-year-old-mother/

 

[mmh318]

Under other circumstances, maybe. But here, MF was a witness in a homicide investigation. I think LE had a stake in finding her. They made the statement that she wasn't cooperating, but who knows. That sounds to me like a statement issued for her protection, on the off chance that she was being held alive. And if not, for her family's safety.

"While Sheriff’s deputies won’t confirm the boyfriend’s, or any gang’s, involvement with the disappearance, they say that Monique would not cooperate with their murder investigation."

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2015...elp-tracking-down-missing-27-year-old-mother/

That's what I was thinking too... that if she was linked to a murder investigation, LE would be eager to find her. However, I've been following her Facebook page, and from reading family and friends' comments, the consensus seems to be that LE isn't doing anything. They're frustrated. They also seem convinced that people know what happened, but aren't speaking up out of fear. Mo's friends are also constantly asking for donations to <modsnip> -- urging people to donate $5, yet several people have responded saying they can't afford to chip in five bucks. Really? That's a cup of coffee or a pack of cigarettes. It just baffles me how little people are willing to help. The FB and fundraising pages are filled with prayers and messages of support, yet when you look at what's really being done, it looks like nothing. I've even read a comment from someone who said they want to post "missing" flyers around town, but can't afford to print them. Either these people are seriously afraid to help or they know something and won't come forward. I'm just seeing a lot of rhetoric but little to no effort to find this young mom.