Investigators say a lady was found stabbed to death inside a Utah vacation rental almost two weeks ago, and two adolescent girls, including the victim’s adopted daughter, were charged with murder.
Abigael Paige Flanagan, 17, and Mihaela Gabriela Sorescu, 16, were accused by the Washington City Police Department with the murder of Andreea Mottram, 47. According to the police, Flanagan and Sorescu also go by the names “Jay” and “Bella.”
According to investigators, Mottram had more than a dozen stab wounds to her upper torso when housekeepers discovered her inside a rented home in Washington City on March 23.
After reportedly taking Mottram’s rental car back to California after the incident, Sorescu and Flanagan are being prosecuted as adults with both murder and auto theft, according to Washington County Attorney Eric Clarke.
According to fresh court filings, there is currently reason to believe that Jay and/or Bella are criminally responsible for the victim’s death by stabbing.
According to the police, Mottram had been residing at the apartment for three days before her body was discovered. She had come from California to Washington City.
Both teenagers were first listed as “persons of interest” by officials, who thought they were the last to see Mottram alive because there were no indications of forced entry.
Detectives searching the rental house found an ID in a purse and phones in the toilet that officials claimed belonged to Sorescu and Flanagan based on papers.
“Appear to have been placed in the toilet and attempted to be flushed in an effort to conceal evidence and/or delay apprehension,” the report said, citing detectives.
On the interior, investigators found multiple knives, including one in the sink that had been cleaned but contained “trace amounts of blood,” according to court filings.
Investigators also discovered a pair of jeans in the house that had blood on both legs and a “bloody imprint of a knife blade,” and because of their size, they were thought to be Sorescu’s.
Mottram’s adopted daughter is named Sorescu.
According to court filings, Mottram visited her daughter, who had spent the previous three years in a residential treatment center in Washington County, in Utah with Flanagan just days before she passed away.
Flanagan was recently removed by her parents from a facility where she had previously been.
In November, Sorescu’s father reported to police that he had discovered his daughter’s diary, where she had written “how much she hated her mother and wrote that she wanted to kill her,” according to court records.
Mottram shared a selfie on her Facebook page the day before her death was found, writing, “This is… almost 48.”
Four days before taking her selfie, she also wrote, “The trouble is, you think you have time,” on social media.
“The apprehension of both suspects is a crucial step in the investigation,” the Washington City Police Department stated. “However, the investigation team is currently following up on many aspects of the case. Again, our sincerest condolences go out to the family and friends of the victim of this senseless act of violence.”
Sorescu and Flanagan were being incarcerated in Washington County at the Dixie Area Detention Center.
On her Facebook page, Mottram described herself as a “Hospice social worker, Romanian living a Californian life, and mother in three special ways,” according to her about-me section.
According to the organization’s Facebook page, she was also a co-founder of disability and refugee relief organizations in Romania and the United States, notably the American Romanian Coalition for Human and Equal Rights, based in Chicago.
“It is with deep sorrow that we mourn the loss of our beloved Andreea Mottram, a fierce advocate, a compassionate leader, and a dear friend to so many within our community,” the group stated. “Like many of you, we are still in shock at this heartbreaking news. Andreea’s dedication to justice, equity, and human rights was not just a mission—it was the very essence of who she was.”
This information has been sourced from Fox News.
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