The family of a murdered 18-year-old in Aurora is taking the search for Alexandrea Raber's killer online.
Raber's body was found at the Knights Inn Motel on Sunday morning after Aurora officers showed up for a welfare check. Her ex-boyfriend, Arturo Garcia, 20, is suspected of killing her. However, police are unable to find him. Garcia has an active arrest warrant for first-degree murder.
The Arapahoe County Coroner's Office hasn't said how Raber died but the family said they've been told she was strangled.
The teen's family is now reaching out to the online community to help find Garcia. Her stepbrother, Jeff Anderson, shared a picture of his sister and her then-boyfriend. He's asked everyone to share the picture to help find Garcia because "the more people it reaches, the better."
Raber's stepdad, Andy Starrett, describes her a selfless person. He said she even enlisted in the Navy because she wanted to serve her country.
However, Raber's family said her altruistic attitude could be what led to her death.
"She would tell me [Garcia] had issues in his past that he was trying to work on but she was trying to help him through it," Anderson said.
Before their search for Garcia began, they were searching for Raber. On the morning her body was found, the family used a GPS on her phone to find out where she was. It led them to the motel where they instead found police who broke the devastating news Raber had been killed.
"She's not coming back," Starrett said with tears in his eyes. "That's the hard part."
Now Starrett and Anderson said they won't stop searching for Garcia until he is behind bars.
"We just want to get this over with and get him where he deserves to be -- where he's not out, where he maybe has a chance to do it to somebody else," Anderson said.
Anyone with information about Garcia's location is asked to call the Aurora Police Department Fugitive Apprehension and Surveillance Team Tip Line at 303-627-3278 or Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867. You can remain anonymous and could be eligible for a reward of up to $2,000.
