INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Police Say Mirjana Puhar’s Murder Drug-Related

By Michele Barard
Published on: 15:18 PST, Feb 26, 2015

Charlotte police have made an arrest in the murder of Mirjana Puhar. Emmanuel Jesus Rangel has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Mirjana Pujar, Jonathan Cosme Alvarado, and Jusmar Isiah Gonzaga-Garcia. The three were found dead in a Charlotte home on Tuesday.

According to the Charlotte Observer, Rangel, 19, is suspected of killing four people in three days. Police believe that the murders were drug-related. Rangel also has been charged in connection to another murder that took place at a hotel in Matthews on Sunday. That murder also may have been drug-related.

WCNC reports that police suspected someone known to Puhar, Alvarado, and Gonzaga-Garcia was responsible for their deaths. Neighbors did not know Puhar and Alvarado well, because they had recently moved into the neighborhood. One neighbor, Quay Teasley, is quoted as saying the following.

“I really didn’t know them, but I used to see them in the neighborhood. Only the people who did it and the people who passed away know exactly what happened.”

Puhar, who was 19 when she was killed, had appeared on America’s Next Top Model, making it to eighth runner-up before leaving the show. Mirjana Puhar, a Serbian refugee who started modeling at the age of 12, was introduced as the youngest contestant on that season of America’s Next Top Model.

According to the Inquisitr, Mirjana Puhar referred to herself as being something of a wild child when she was younger. She dropped out of high school but completed her GED prior to her appearance as a modeling contestant. Puhar expressed concerns about maintaining privacy after America’s Next Top Model, saying as follows.

“I don’t want people dabbling in my personal life, and I’m pretty sure they’re gonna do that after seeing the (ANTM). Once you watch the show, and you see what they get into, and what I speak about … then I’m pretty sure they’re gonna try to get into (my past).”

Since Puhar’s death, tweets from around the world have expressed an outpouring of support for her family and grief at the loss of the young model.

[Image: Getty Images]

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