Ariz. Woman Found Dead in Car with Man Family Claimed Had Stalked Her

A missing Arizona woman was found dead in a car with a man her family claimed had been stalking her and sending her cryptic messages shortly before her disappearance.

Doris Maricela Aguilar, 25, and Juan Jose Velis Cuellar, 51, were identified as the people who were found dead inside a vehicle near a shopping mall in Phoenix, Ariz., on July 8, the Phoenix Police Department said in a press release shared on July 19. 

Police said they believe the pair had been dead for several days and that the local medical examiner’s office determined Cuellar died of “self-inflicted” injuries. Aguilar’s cause and manner of death was not shared in the release, with police noting that the investigation remains ongoing.

According to the police department’s initial release, officers who responded to the scene on a report of an injured person in the parking lot found a firearm inside the car and believed Cuellar — who hadn’t been identified yet — suffered a possible gunshot wound.

Aguilar was last seen on July 1 and left her home around 8 p.m. that night to go to a store but never returned, her family said on a GoFundMe campaign created to help offset funeral expenses. The family added that her car was found abandoned on July 9 near the area where she was believed to have been traveling to. Her wallet and all her gym belongings were recovered inside the car, they said.

At the time, Phoenix police had been investigating the woman’s disappearance and shared a missing persons poster, seeking the public’s help in finding her.

Before she was found dead, Aguilar’s family hired private investigator Steve Fischer to look into what may have happened to her. 

Fischer told Fox 10 Phoenix that Aguilar’s family claimed she had a stalker who frequently showed up in the parking lot of the gym she attended, leading her to change gyms multiple times, per the outlet. According to the outlet, Fischer said Aguilar and her alleged stalker used to work together but he was fired after she reported him for inappropriate behavior.

He reportedly even sent her a frightening message on June 27, four days before she disappeared. The message allegedly read, “Getting my membership back… see you soon,” Fox 10 Phoenix reported.

According to AZ Family, Fischer added that Aguilar openly expressed fear of her alleged stalker. 

“She did tell her family and important people in her life about this person, and that if anything happened to her, he was responsible and he scared her,” Fischer said, per AZFamily.

Aguilar was remembered by her loved ones in the GoFundMe campaign as a “vibrant 25-year-old woman who touched the lives of everyone she met.”

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“Doris was known for her dedication and passion for fitness, never missing a day at the gym,” the fundraising page reads. “She was a bright light in our lives, and her absence is deeply felt.”

The family is hoping to raise funds to assist with funeral expenses and to send Aguilar’s ashes back to Honduras, where, according to the GoFundMe, her mother “feels the unbearable pain of losing her daughter from afar.”