Tayanna Manuel Bio – Tayanna Manuel Wiki
Tayanna Manuel, a teenage girl whose body was found near an apartment-complex dumpster the day after Christmas, is being investigated by authorities in Colorado as a suspected homicide as her family looks for answers.
AGE:
Tayanna Manuel was 16 years old.
DETAIL OF INCIDENCE:
The grim discovery was made the morning of Dec. 26 in Denver, Colo.’s Gateway-Green Valley Ranch neighbourhood, according to a tweet from the Denver Police Department. Family and police identified the victim as 16-year-old Tayanna Manuel.
The girl’s mother and sisters believe Manuel was killed in a shooting three days earlier, not far from where her body was found, Fox31 reports.
“One male victim” was injured in the shooting and was taken to a local hospital for treatment, Denver police tweeted on Dec. 23. Authorities did not specify the victim’s identity or whether any arrests had been made.
However, Manuel’s family told the outlet that the victim was the teen’s boyfriend. They said they became concerned when they learned the couple had been hanging out that day, according to the outlet.
“He was found, but she wasn’t. So we were under the impression she was missing,” Manuel’s sister Nyrobi said.
After the family realized Manuel hadn’t come home on Christmas Eve, they reported her missing to the police. But her mom, Pamela Jackson, told 9News that she felt the police didn’t take the investigation seriously.
“My daughter was 16, and that should have been a red flag – drop everything…and help this woman find her child,” Jackson told the outlet.
The Denver Police Department told PEOPLE in a statement that “detectives from both the MEP (Missing, Exploited Persons) and FAST (Firearm Assault Shoot Team) units were assigned to this case when she was first reported missing.”
“Detectives continue to work to gather information that can lead us the individual(s) responsible for her murder as well as the shooting that occurred on Kittredge,” the police statement continued.
The Dock Ellis Foundation Inc., a non-profit organization that assists families with locating missing Black women and girls, also became involved in the investigation.
Her body was found just days later despite investigators working to bring Manuel home.
Nyrobi remembered her sister as a “giving” and “comforting” person whose “sense of humor brightened up anyone’s day,” per Fox31.
A GoFundMe was also launched to help with Manuel’s funeral expenses. So far, it has raised more than $4,800.
No arrests have been made in the case. In an updated Twitter thread, police said they are looking for a vehicle they believe is connected to Manuel’s homicide.
The vehicle is described as a 2012 grey Honda CR-V with the Colorado license plate “CNE-I478” on the back and a pink and black Auto Nation dealer plate on the front.
Anyone with information is asked to call Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867. Callers can remain anonymous and earn a cash reward.