October 4, 2024 • 26 mins
Zoe Gabrielle Campos was an 18 year old from Lubbock, Texas. She was close to her family and loved to work on cars and had a passion for animals.. On the night of November 17, 2013, Zoe was at home with her sister and a friend. After they went to bed, Zoe seemingly left that night only to never be seen again.
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How can an 18-year-old, family-loving lady just turn up missing and no one knows where she was?
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We are going to be talking about Zoe Campos, who was 18 years old when she was reported
missing in Texas in 2013. Zoe Gabrielle Campos was born on September 4, 1995, in Lubbock, Texas.
She was the youngest daughter to her parents, Melinda and Alejandro, and she had one older
sister named Savannah. Her father was in the Marines and because of that, Zoe and her family
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moved around a lot. They left Lubbock for a few years and they lived in a bunch of other places
including Honolulu, San Diego, and Brown Rock, Texas. But eventually they ended up settling back
in Lubbock, and at the time her parents got a divorce. Growing up, Zoe had a lot of passion
for life in general, but she especially had a huge passion for animals. Zoe's mom said that she was
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always bringing home strays and that she just had this huge heart, wanted to help all the animals,
and she especially loved cats, dogs, and turtles. And Zoe also had a big heart when it came to her
family. They meant the absolute world to her. She was incredibly close with her mom from a young age.
Her mom said people would always joke about how they still needed to cut the umbilical cord because
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they were that close. She was an incredible daughter, sister, and friend, and she really
loved to make people laugh. Her family describes her as selfless, funny, kind of clumsy, protective,
and warm. She was also very close with her grandma. She called her grandma Candy because when their
family was living in Honolulu, her grandma would send her like care packages in the mail and she
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always loaded it up with candy. And as Zoe grew older, she became a bit of a foodie. She loved to
cook. Her specialty was jambalaya and their family loved to go out to restaurants and she just always
enjoyed having good meals with good people. She loved all types of food. Some of her favorite was
Chinese. And what's funny is her family said one of her favorite restaurants was Hooters.
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And Zoe was really interested in mechanics and spent time working on cars. In fact, shortly before
her disappearance, she began working on an old car that she was hoping to fix up herself. And she
even told her mom that she wanted to become a mechanic one day. Animals, food, and mechanics,
those were some of her biggest passions in life. And her mom said if she could open a pet store
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next to a mechanic shop, she absolutely would have. She was extremely close with her family.
She had a great relationship with her sister Savannah and they spent a lot of time together.
And Savannah had two children and she just loved being an aunt. She especially loved to take her
nephew fishing at a lake that was near their home. And for being only 18 years old, Zoe was
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very mature and extremely responsible. She never partied or stayed out late. And if she did go out,
it was always with a smaller group of friends. She really enjoyed a more intimate setting. Zoe,
by all accounts, was on a great path in life and had a very bright future ahead of her.
I'm not going if you knew her, but Zoe was also just a laid back person. She
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kept herself. Yeah, she, you know, just hung out just here at the house or
she loved being around her sister and her niece and nephew. She also loved,
liked being around, you know, me, but she never, she wasn't the type of person that would go out
to parties or clubs or anything like that. If she did go to a party, it was with a friend and that
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was very rare. It's always been out. She was always hanging out with her there. They were in separate
rooms. Tragically, all of that was taken from her on November 17th, 2013. She spent most of the day
with her family. And then later that night, she was going to go over to her friend April's house,
who had just had a baby. And she invited just a couple of friends over a very small gathering to
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meet the new baby, not a party by any means. It was a casual hangout. And of course, everyone there
knew April, but not everyone there knew each other. But it was a normal evening. Everyone got along.
And April said that Zoe left around nine o'clock because she had plans to go to dinner that night
with her sister, Savannah. They were going out to dinner with her kids and another friend. And
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Savannah said that Zoe was her usual happy go lucky self during dinner. And then afterwards,
they decided to go pick up a movie at one of those old red box machines and watch it together when
they got home. And Zoe was planning on sleeping at Savannah's house that night. And a few reports
have said that that was because she planned to watch her niece and nephew the following day
while her sister was at work. Zoe was very close with her niece and nephew, and she loved them as
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if they were her own kids. Savannah said the movie wrapped up around 1130. And during the movie,
Zoe was kind of falling asleep and they decided to call it a night. Savannah went to bed and she
figured Zoe was just going to sleep out on the couch. She goes into her room by herself. And she
has no idea that the next morning her sister would be gone. Zoe ended up leaving the house later that
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night after her sister went to bed, which was kind of out of character for her. She normally didn't
do things like that. But we know that Zoe left that night because her mother received a text
message from her between 230 and 239 a.m. Melinda was working at a bar that closed around this time,
and she was pleasantly surprised when she got this text from Zoe asking if she wanted a ride home
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because Melinda's car had been in the shop that day. Getting a ride home from her daughter was
going to be super helpful. But after 2 39 a.m., all communication with Zoe stopped and her mom
waited for her to come pick her up and she never showed up, which at first Melinda wasn't too
concerned about. She did try to call Zoe and Zoe didn't answer, but she thought it was late at this
point. Maybe she had just accidentally fallen asleep. She ends up just walking to a friend's
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house that was close to the bar and stayed the night there. And her plan was to just go home the
next morning. I received from her was around 2 30 to 2 30 to 39 saying she was on her way to pick me
up. And I said okay. And I waited for about 30 minutes, called her phone. It rang and rang and
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rang and rang. And then it went to her voicemail. I hung up and called it right back and it went to
voicemail directly. And since then, I want to say probably about three in the morning,
we haven't had any we haven't been able to get through on her phone. She didn't really think
much of it when Zoe didn't come pick her up. But all that changed the next morning, November 18.
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That morning, Savannah, her sister wakes up and starts getting ready for work. It's a normal day
for her. And she realizes that Zoe's not there. She's not in her room. She's not on the couch.
And at first, she also didn't panic. She gave her sister a call. She didn't answer, but her car was
gone. She thought maybe she had driven home during the night or maybe even in the early morning.
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After she tries to call her a couple times, and the phone keeps going to voicemail, she ends up
reaching out to her mother and realizes that her mom also hasn't been able to get ahold of her,
and that she never showed up to pick her up last night. And that's when the panic starts to set in
and they start calling local hospitals trying to see if maybe she got an accident. They continue
trying to reach her and have no luck. But after hours of no contact and no information about where
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she could possibly be, they end up calling the police at around 5 p.m. and tried to report her
missing. The police did not file a missing persons report, and they didn't want to start an
investigation until 24 hours after her disappearance. The authorities would not accept her as missing and
file a report until the following day at 7.13 p.m. on November 19, 2013. Luckily, though,
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police did put out an APB on her Lincoln Town car on the 18th, and the police also tried to contact
her cell phone provider to see if they could access her current location, but they were
unsuccessful after learning that her phone was either off or the battery had been removed.
Then the craziest and one of the luckiest things happened, and her aunt just happens to see her car
out driving around. Her aunt Monica was just driving through town on November 20 when she
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spotted Zoe's gray Lincoln Town car driving in the area of University and 62nd Street. She
immediately follows the car and can get a visual on the driver, but it's hard for her to make any
identification on this person because the windows are tinted and the car is in motion at the time.
She's able to determine that this is a male wearing a hoodie with a darker complexion,
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and she also said that she thought that this person was around 20 years old. As she's following the
car, she's thinking all types of stuff. Is Zoe in the car? Did the person who has the car do
something to her? Obviously, her mind's going wild, and she's just focused on staying with the car,
and she calls her son as she's following him, but eventually the driver figures out that she is there.
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So obviously, he starts trying to lose her, and eventually she does lose sight of the car after
it made an abrupt turn southbound, but she continued to drive around looking for it,
and eventually her and her son did find the car, but it was abandoned at the Driftwood
Apartments where Zoe lived. Monica immediately calls the police, and they took over an hour to
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get to the scene. Now both thankfully and unfortunately, Zoe was not in the vehicle,
which means she was still missing. However, they did find a couple of things in the car.
They found a phone charger, a black jacket that she was wearing, a male sweatshirt, and some duct
tape. They took the clothing in as evidence, and they dusted the vehicle for fingerprints.
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And because Zoe's dad was an active member of the Marines, Naval Criminal Investigative Service,
or the NCIS took part in helping with the investigation, they ended up taking Zoe's
jacket and conducted forensic testing, hoping that they could find traces of anything that
would lead them to Zoe. So obviously, they need to figure out where Zoe was the night before,
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and if anyone had seen her from 1130 to 230. And although they couldn't trace her current location,
they were able to see where she had been the night before based on her cell phone records,
they were able to ping her final text messages and figure out an approximate location.
And that showed that she was in a one-mile radius of Lowry Field, which was a local football field
that didn't have the best reputation. The area in and around Lowry Field was typically known for its
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drug and sex work activity. But this was really surprising to her friends and family, and they
said that she definitely didn't take hard drugs, and she had no connection whatsoever to sex work.
They were extremely worried when they found out that this was her final location.
Investigators also figured out that the last call that she made was to a man named Ben.
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What's strange about this is this man was someone her mother used to date,
so why would she be contacting her mother's ex? So that is definitely strange, but investigators
brought him in, gave him a polygraph test, and he passed that, and they said they had no other
reason to pursue him further. The next person that the police had in mind was Zoe's ex-boyfriend,
Joe. And obviously ex-boyfriends are investigated when someone goes missing in a lot of cases.
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She and Joe had dated for two and a half years, so they interviewed him, and he was also ruled out.
Next, they investigated a guy named Jacob, who Zoe had also dated. And I guess Jacob was kind of the
bad boy type that Zoe normally didn't date, and her family wasn't super into, and turns out he
cheated on her, and the two of them fought constantly. And he even admitted to the police
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that Zoe, and he had been in contact recently and weren't getting along. However, he had a rock-solid
alibi for that night, so they ruled him out as well. Investigators ended up trying to speak to
everyone who was at April's house that day, and they were hoping someone had seen something weird
or heard Zoe say something. Maybe someone could speak to how she was acting or how her temperament
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seemed. A man named Carlos Rodriguez was one of the people who was at this gathering that day.
They first interviewed Carlos on November 25th, and he tells police that he and Zoe didn't know
each other before they went to this little gathering at April's house, and that they briefly
spoke to each other while they were there. He also said that he and Zoe left around the same time,
but he didn't have much more to provide them with other than that. But something about his story just
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wasn't quite right to investigators. They brought him back in for an additional interview on December
9th, and during this interview, investigators received a sworn statement from Carlos that was
very different from his first. This time, Carlos admits that he had lied to them before and that
him and Zoe did connect via Facebook after they left April's, and that the two of them had
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exchanged a few messages. He said that the two of them chatted about meeting up at his house that
night to smoke a little, but again, he denied any involvement with her disappearance. He said that
she did come over, that they were going to smoke some, but neither of them had any, so she left to
find some and never returned. And that was it. That's all he knew. Now Carlos said his reasoning
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for lying the first time that he talked to police was because of the weed. He didn't want to get in
trouble. But even though he denied having any involvement in her disappearance, Carlos quickly
became the number one suspect in the case. With the way he lied to investigators the first time,
it gave them plenty of reason to believe that maybe he was lying about more. And it turns out
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his house was within a one-mile radius of Lowry Field. We miss her. We miss her very much and we
love her. We want her here. We want her back in our life. We want to see her niece and nephew.
Constantly asking for her. Where's Zoe? Can I go see Zoe? Zoe, we need her back home.
In 2014, there were hundreds of tips coming in about Zoe. Her family hired their own investigator
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to follow up on any leads that they had come across. One tip that came in from this woman
and her husband said that they had seen Zoe outside of the Villa Motel on the night of November 17th.
And this motel is within a one-mile radius of Lowry Field and it was infamously known for being
surrounded by drug dealers and sex work. When the news got out that Zoe was possibly seen at that
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hotel, there was an ongoing rumor that she had been sold into human trafficking. And it seemed
so likely that her family even began believing this theory. There are interviews of her mother
talking about how that's what she thought happened. They thought maybe Zoe went and met up with this
boy, left to find weed and found herself in a horrible situation at or near this motel.
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But investigators still felt strongly that Carlos knew more than he was saying or could have been
involved. So eventually they get a search warrant and they go search his house, which turns out he's
no longer living at this property anymore, which made it way easier. And it turns out the dogs did
find traces of Zoe's sent throughout the entire house and in the alley. They did a thorough search
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of the property. However, they didn't find any evidence, but they were definitely not giving up.
In 2015 and 16, they held many searches for Zoe, physical searches. Their entire community really
came together to help the Campos family. It helps. It really does because her picture out there,
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it's going to show someone, someone's going to trigger and finally say, okay, you know what,
I do know. As the years went by, the community and the entire family really held onto hope that Zoe
would be found. And they said they found their strength from their community. And they even held
a candlelight vigil for her on November 16th, 2016, which marked three years since she first
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went missing. And they still didn't have answers at this point, which was just so hard on them.
Imagine not being able to see your kid, not being able to hear their voice, not being able to see
their smile. During this time, the investigators are still looking into Carlos and he has brought
in a few times for questioning over the years and no surprise as he continues to come in,
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his story continues to change. At first, he says that he didn't even see her after the get together
that they just went separate ways. Then he changes his story saying that they were together that
night. And he talks about them getting together to smoke weed, but then he also says they don't
have any weed at all. But when forensic testing showed that Zoe's DNA was on Carlos jacket from
that night, he had to stick to the story that she had been to his house that night. In an interview
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on December 5th, 2017, Carlos admitted that Zoe was in his room for a period that night.
This interview was conducted in the Lubbock County Detention Center where Carlos was serving a four
year sentence for stalking and threatening an ex-girlfriend of his. Rodriguez no stranger to
the law. Most recently, he was arrested for stalking charges against a former girlfriend.
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According to a restraining order application filed in Lubbock County, that former girlfriend said
Rodriguez threatened her multiple times with violence. At this point, investigators felt
certain that there was more to his story, but they needed to get something more concrete before
they were able to get another warrant. Then another inmate who's also serving time with
Carlos at the Lubbock County Detention Center says that he talked to Carlos, and he told him how the
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police are searching for his house, but that they wouldn't find anything until they quote,
move the concrete. The statement was further supported by a confidential informant who on July
31st, 2018, contacted detectives to let them know that Carlos told him where her body was hidden.
That person was then interviewed on November 6th, and he told them specific details of where they
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could find Zoe's body, and that was enough for investigators to get another search warrant.
And the same team of cadaver dogs that searched the property back in 2014 searched it again,
now in November of 2018. The dogs ended up alerting to an area in the backyard and
investigators started digging, and that's when they found a set of bones. So obviously they send
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the bones in for testing, but before they determine who they are or what they are,
they're not even sure at this point that they're human remains. They bring in Carlos,
they want to talk to him again. They start the interview with Carlos, and as soon as they mention
the bones, he ends the interview, and he says he wants a lawyer present to discuss anything with
them further. The results from the lab came back quickly, and they found out that these were not
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Zoe's bones. They were actually just animal bones. But they decided not to tell Carlos that because
the way he acted after they told him about the bones made them feel like they were getting close
to figuring out what happened to Zoe. In the following days, investigators are keeping a
close eye on Carlos, and they are monitoring everyone that he is communicating with outside
of the detention center. And after listening in on some of his conversations, they realize that
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Carlos really thinks that they have found Zoe's remains. It's obvious, he is talking, even though
little does he know these are just animal bones. They really felt like he knew that she was back
there, somewhere that they just hadn't figured out exactly where. On November 14th, they used
ground-penetrating radar to determine where else they should dig. But two days later, before they
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even start searching, Carlos is asked to speak to the lead detective. And during this meeting,
Carlos completely waived his Miranda rights and gave a full confession. He ends up telling them
that that night when Zoe and he were hanging out, they decided to smoke some K2, which if you don't
know what that is, it's a human-made synthetic version of THC that can be highly psychoactive.
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Carlos claims that after this, he basically freaked out. He started hallucinating and he
struck Zoe hard. Rodriguez said he was smoking synthetic marijuana when he lost control and
struck Zoe in the face. He then says he put Zoe in a choke hold and strangled her. He told investigators
he buried her in his backyard that night. He then moved her body several months later into a deeper
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grave. After telling investigators this, they take him over to the residence and he points out where
her remains are. Just after 10 p.m. on November 16th, 2018, Zoe's decomposed remains are found
and Carlos was arrested and finally charged with her murder. Yeah, the medical examiner is testing
the bones to get a positive DNA match. Right now, investigators believe the body is 18-year-old Zoe
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Campos. Now in that arrest warrant, it states that Carlos Rodriguez confessed to killing Zoe
Campos at this house in the early morning hours of November 18th, 2013. Then they sent Zoe's remains
to the medical examiner's office for a final identification. And because it had been so long
and how decomposed her body was, they had to use forensic dental records to confirm that the remains
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did belong to her. In sitting down with them a few minutes ago and having to tell them that was
Zoe, that was her body. I hope it was a degree of relief. I think it was if for no other reason
than just finally knowing that she's not out lost, she's not out suffering. And so if anything,
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at least that part of this tragedy is now behind them. Now, despite giving a full confession,
Carlos ends up making an initial plea in court that he is not guilty. But after entering this plea,
he released a letter intended for the media that really reiterated his confession and outlined his
guilt. In this letter, Carlos stated that the burden of keeping the secret was just weighing on him,
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that he felt very guilty about what he had done and he wanted to come forward. The letter stated
that he and Zoe had met that night at April's house for the first time. He claims they were
kind of flirty with each other and that there was mutual attraction. He ends up messaging her later
that night on Facebook and the two of them agreed to meet at his house where they planned to smoke.
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And I just wanted to read a section of this letter. He says, she kept saying things and I could hear
her laughing. But my mind was somewhere else. When I turned to face her, her face looked different.
She looked very weird in an evil way. And I started to panic, but I couldn't move. I wanted
to tell her, but I didn't want to sound weak or embarrassed. I started to sweat a lot and I could
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feel my heart pounding so hard in my chest that I couldn't speak or swallow because of this huge knot
in my throat. Zoe kept grinning and asking me if I was okay, but I was certain I was dying.
That's when I started to get lightheaded and my vision started to black out. Then Zoe said,
you're tripping. And when she opened her mouth to laugh, her face started to melt and that's when
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I struck her. She got up and I heard a demonic scream. I remember her running to the door.
So I grabbed what appeared to be a demon from behind in a rear naked choke. I don't know how
long I was choking her gut. When I let go, I started to realize what had happened and my whole
world started to crumble. Carlos went on to say that he has had to live with the guilt of what he
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did to Zoe for the last five years. And he's adamant though he is not a murderer. He claimed
that he would have never done such a thing to her in his right mind. And it was the drugs that made
him kill her. In his letter, he also apologized to the Campos family. He said to the family of
Zoe Campos, I am so sorry for the pain, hurt and suffering I caused. You have every right to be
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upset with me and consider me a worthless enemy who destroyed your lives by taking a life dear
to you. Just remember, don't seek revenge, seek justice and don't hate your enemies. Love them
and forgive them. In my opinion, it's incredibly inappropriate and strange for him to be telling
them how they should feel or how to think of their enemies or whatever he was saying. And the anger
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that her family must have felt. Finding out what happened to her must have just been. I just can't
even imagine. Carlos also admitted that he was the one driving the car when her aunt Monica saw him.
And he also said that he ended up having to move Zoe's body from where he originally put her because
his dog started to dig her up. Despite this full written confession, Carlos maintained his not
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guilty plea and he and his lawyers prepared for trial. And his team tried to get the original
confession thrown out, saying that he had been coerced into making it without a lawyer present.
But a judge ultimately ruled that both the verbal and written confession were obtained legally and
therefore they could use it in trial. A judge will not be throwing out the 2018 confession of
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Carlos Rodriguez and the murder of 18 year old Zoe Compost. This is according to the Lubbock
County District Attorney. The defense team for Rodriguez attempted to get his confession thrown
out in a Lubbock courtroom on Thursday. They argued the confession was obtained by investigators
when his attorney was not present. Monday, August 15th, 2022, Carlos changed his plea from not guilty
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to an open plea, meaning that he didn't reach a deal with prosecutors but would be taking his
chances in court. He faced a minimum sentence of five years and a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Well Matt and Terry, they're asking for the jury for a life sentence, saying Rodriguez had no reason
or motive, just the opportunity. In court today, Zoe's family took the stand telling members of
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the jury about their beloved Zoe and why in no way she deserved what brutally happened to her.
Things moved quickly with this trial. After a very short deliberation, the jury came back with their
decision on August 18th and Carlos Rodriguez was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Zoe
Campos. Zoe's family is still so devastated and always will be about the loss of their beautiful
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daughter. But they do feel peace knowing that they can finally put her to rest and that justice has
been served. This is just such a sad case. It was just completely unnecessary. And what's so
frustrating at the end of the day, we don't even know what really happened to Zoe. We know what
Carlos told everyone happened, but there could be details that are left out and what he actually did
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to her, only he will ever truly know. I think Carlos absolutely deserves life in prison and I
am happy that justice has been served for this family and that they can start to heal from here.
I want to know your thoughts in the comments below of course. So let me know what you think
about this case. Everyone be safe out there and take care of yourself and others also.
How can an 18-year-old, family-loving lady just turn up missing and no one knows where she was?
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We are going to be talking about Zoe Campos, who was 18 years old when she was reported
missing in Texas in 2013. Zoe Gabrielle Campos was born on September 4, 1995, in Lubbock, Texas.
She was the youngest daughter to her parents, Melinda and Alejandro, and she had one older
sister named Savannah. Her father was in the Marines and because of that, Zoe and her family
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moved around a lot. They left Lubbock for a few years and they lived in a bunch of other places
including Honolulu, San Diego, and Brown Rock, Texas. But eventually they ended up settling back
in Lubbock, and at the time her parents got a divorce. Growing up, Zoe had a lot of passion
for life in general, but she especially had a huge passion for animals. Zoe's mom said that she was
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always bringing home strays and that she just had this huge heart, wanted to help all the animals,
and she especially loved cats, dogs, and turtles. And Zoe also had a big heart when it came to her
family. They meant the absolute world to her. She was incredibly close with her mom from a young age.
Her mom said people would always joke about how they still needed to cut the umbilical cord because
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they were that close. She was an incredible daughter, sister, and friend, and she really
loved to make people laugh. Her family describes her as selfless, funny, kind of clumsy, protective,
and warm. She was also very close with her grandma. She called her grandma Candy because when their
family was living in Honolulu, her grandma would send her like care packages in the mail and she
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always loaded it up with candy. And as Zoe grew older, she became a bit of a foodie. She loved to
cook. Her specialty was jambalaya and their family loved to go out to restaurants and she just always
enjoyed having good meals with good people. She loved all types of food. Some of her favorite was
Chinese. And what's funny is her family said one of her favorite restaurants was Hooters.
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And Zoe was really interested in mechanics and spent time working on cars. In fact, shortly before
her disappearance, she began working on an old car that she was hoping to fix up herself. And she
even told her mom that she wanted to become a mechanic one day. Animals, food, and mechanics,
those were some of her biggest passions in life. And her mom said if she could open a pet store
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next to a mechanic shop, she absolutely would have. She was extremely close with her family.
She had a great relationship with her sister Savannah and they spent a lot of time together.
And Savannah had two children and she just loved being an aunt. She especially loved to take her
nephew fishing at a lake that was near their home. And for being only 18 years old, Zoe was
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very mature and extremely responsible. She never partied or stayed out late. And if she did go out,
it was always with a smaller group of friends. She really enjoyed a more intimate setting. Zoe,
by all accounts, was on a great path in life and had a very bright future ahead of her.
I'm not going if you knew her, but Zoe was also just a laid back person. She
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kept herself. Yeah, she, you know, just hung out just here at the house or
she loved being around her sister and her niece and nephew. She also loved,
liked being around, you know, me, but she never, she wasn't the type of person that would go out
to parties or clubs or anything like that. If she did go to a party, it was with a friend and that
(03:29):
was very rare. It's always been out. She was always hanging out with her there. They were in separate
rooms. Tragically, all of that was taken from her on November 17th, 2013. She spent most of the day
with her family. And then later that night, she was going to go over to her friend April's house,
who had just had a baby. And she invited just a couple of friends over a very small gathering to
(03:52):
meet the new baby, not a party by any means. It was a casual hangout. And of course, everyone there
knew April, but not everyone there knew each other. But it was a normal evening. Everyone got along.
And April said that Zoe left around nine o'clock because she had plans to go to dinner that night
with her sister, Savannah. They were going out to dinner with her kids and another friend. And
(04:12):
Savannah said that Zoe was her usual happy go lucky self during dinner. And then afterwards,
they decided to go pick up a movie at one of those old red box machines and watch it together when
they got home. And Zoe was planning on sleeping at Savannah's house that night. And a few reports
have said that that was because she planned to watch her niece and nephew the following day
while her sister was at work. Zoe was very close with her niece and nephew, and she loved them as
(04:38):
if they were her own kids. Savannah said the movie wrapped up around 1130. And during the movie,
Zoe was kind of falling asleep and they decided to call it a night. Savannah went to bed and she
figured Zoe was just going to sleep out on the couch. She goes into her room by herself. And she
has no idea that the next morning her sister would be gone. Zoe ended up leaving the house later that
(04:59):
night after her sister went to bed, which was kind of out of character for her. She normally didn't
do things like that. But we know that Zoe left that night because her mother received a text
message from her between 230 and 239 a.m. Melinda was working at a bar that closed around this time,
and she was pleasantly surprised when she got this text from Zoe asking if she wanted a ride home
(05:19):
because Melinda's car had been in the shop that day. Getting a ride home from her daughter was
going to be super helpful. But after 2 39 a.m., all communication with Zoe stopped and her mom
waited for her to come pick her up and she never showed up, which at first Melinda wasn't too
concerned about. She did try to call Zoe and Zoe didn't answer, but she thought it was late at this
point. Maybe she had just accidentally fallen asleep. She ends up just walking to a friend's
(05:44):
house that was close to the bar and stayed the night there. And her plan was to just go home the
next morning. I received from her was around 2 30 to 2 30 to 39 saying she was on her way to pick me
up. And I said okay. And I waited for about 30 minutes, called her phone. It rang and rang and
(06:05):
rang and rang. And then it went to her voicemail. I hung up and called it right back and it went to
voicemail directly. And since then, I want to say probably about three in the morning,
we haven't had any we haven't been able to get through on her phone. She didn't really think
much of it when Zoe didn't come pick her up. But all that changed the next morning, November 18.
(06:27):
That morning, Savannah, her sister wakes up and starts getting ready for work. It's a normal day
for her. And she realizes that Zoe's not there. She's not in her room. She's not on the couch.
And at first, she also didn't panic. She gave her sister a call. She didn't answer, but her car was
gone. She thought maybe she had driven home during the night or maybe even in the early morning.
(06:49):
After she tries to call her a couple times, and the phone keeps going to voicemail, she ends up
reaching out to her mother and realizes that her mom also hasn't been able to get ahold of her,
and that she never showed up to pick her up last night. And that's when the panic starts to set in
and they start calling local hospitals trying to see if maybe she got an accident. They continue
trying to reach her and have no luck. But after hours of no contact and no information about where
(07:14):
she could possibly be, they end up calling the police at around 5 p.m. and tried to report her
missing. The police did not file a missing persons report, and they didn't want to start an
investigation until 24 hours after her disappearance. The authorities would not accept her as missing and
file a report until the following day at 7.13 p.m. on November 19, 2013. Luckily, though,
(07:38):
police did put out an APB on her Lincoln Town car on the 18th, and the police also tried to contact
her cell phone provider to see if they could access her current location, but they were
unsuccessful after learning that her phone was either off or the battery had been removed.
Then the craziest and one of the luckiest things happened, and her aunt just happens to see her car
out driving around. Her aunt Monica was just driving through town on November 20 when she
(08:03):
spotted Zoe's gray Lincoln Town car driving in the area of University and 62nd Street. She
immediately follows the car and can get a visual on the driver, but it's hard for her to make any
identification on this person because the windows are tinted and the car is in motion at the time.
She's able to determine that this is a male wearing a hoodie with a darker complexion,
(08:24):
and she also said that she thought that this person was around 20 years old. As she's following the
car, she's thinking all types of stuff. Is Zoe in the car? Did the person who has the car do
something to her? Obviously, her mind's going wild, and she's just focused on staying with the car,
and she calls her son as she's following him, but eventually the driver figures out that she is there.
(08:46):
So obviously, he starts trying to lose her, and eventually she does lose sight of the car after
it made an abrupt turn southbound, but she continued to drive around looking for it,
and eventually her and her son did find the car, but it was abandoned at the Driftwood
Apartments where Zoe lived. Monica immediately calls the police, and they took over an hour to
(09:07):
get to the scene. Now both thankfully and unfortunately, Zoe was not in the vehicle,
which means she was still missing. However, they did find a couple of things in the car.
They found a phone charger, a black jacket that she was wearing, a male sweatshirt, and some duct
tape. They took the clothing in as evidence, and they dusted the vehicle for fingerprints.
(09:27):
And because Zoe's dad was an active member of the Marines, Naval Criminal Investigative Service,
or the NCIS took part in helping with the investigation, they ended up taking Zoe's
jacket and conducted forensic testing, hoping that they could find traces of anything that
would lead them to Zoe. So obviously, they need to figure out where Zoe was the night before,
(09:48):
and if anyone had seen her from 1130 to 230. And although they couldn't trace her current location,
they were able to see where she had been the night before based on her cell phone records,
they were able to ping her final text messages and figure out an approximate location.
And that showed that she was in a one-mile radius of Lowry Field, which was a local football field
that didn't have the best reputation. The area in and around Lowry Field was typically known for its
(10:13):
drug and sex work activity. But this was really surprising to her friends and family, and they
said that she definitely didn't take hard drugs, and she had no connection whatsoever to sex work.
They were extremely worried when they found out that this was her final location.
Investigators also figured out that the last call that she made was to a man named Ben.
(10:33):
What's strange about this is this man was someone her mother used to date,
so why would she be contacting her mother's ex? So that is definitely strange, but investigators
brought him in, gave him a polygraph test, and he passed that, and they said they had no other
reason to pursue him further. The next person that the police had in mind was Zoe's ex-boyfriend,
Joe. And obviously ex-boyfriends are investigated when someone goes missing in a lot of cases.
(10:59):
She and Joe had dated for two and a half years, so they interviewed him, and he was also ruled out.
Next, they investigated a guy named Jacob, who Zoe had also dated. And I guess Jacob was kind of the
bad boy type that Zoe normally didn't date, and her family wasn't super into, and turns out he
cheated on her, and the two of them fought constantly. And he even admitted to the police
(11:20):
that Zoe, and he had been in contact recently and weren't getting along. However, he had a rock-solid
alibi for that night, so they ruled him out as well. Investigators ended up trying to speak to
everyone who was at April's house that day, and they were hoping someone had seen something weird
or heard Zoe say something. Maybe someone could speak to how she was acting or how her temperament
(11:41):
seemed. A man named Carlos Rodriguez was one of the people who was at this gathering that day.
They first interviewed Carlos on November 25th, and he tells police that he and Zoe didn't know
each other before they went to this little gathering at April's house, and that they briefly
spoke to each other while they were there. He also said that he and Zoe left around the same time,
but he didn't have much more to provide them with other than that. But something about his story just
(12:06):
wasn't quite right to investigators. They brought him back in for an additional interview on December
9th, and during this interview, investigators received a sworn statement from Carlos that was
very different from his first. This time, Carlos admits that he had lied to them before and that
him and Zoe did connect via Facebook after they left April's, and that the two of them had
(12:27):
exchanged a few messages. He said that the two of them chatted about meeting up at his house that
night to smoke a little, but again, he denied any involvement with her disappearance. He said that
she did come over, that they were going to smoke some, but neither of them had any, so she left to
find some and never returned. And that was it. That's all he knew. Now Carlos said his reasoning
(12:49):
for lying the first time that he talked to police was because of the weed. He didn't want to get in
trouble. But even though he denied having any involvement in her disappearance, Carlos quickly
became the number one suspect in the case. With the way he lied to investigators the first time,
it gave them plenty of reason to believe that maybe he was lying about more. And it turns out
(13:09):
his house was within a one-mile radius of Lowry Field. We miss her. We miss her very much and we
love her. We want her here. We want her back in our life. We want to see her niece and nephew.
Constantly asking for her. Where's Zoe? Can I go see Zoe? Zoe, we need her back home.
In 2014, there were hundreds of tips coming in about Zoe. Her family hired their own investigator
(13:35):
to follow up on any leads that they had come across. One tip that came in from this woman
and her husband said that they had seen Zoe outside of the Villa Motel on the night of November 17th.
And this motel is within a one-mile radius of Lowry Field and it was infamously known for being
surrounded by drug dealers and sex work. When the news got out that Zoe was possibly seen at that
(13:58):
hotel, there was an ongoing rumor that she had been sold into human trafficking. And it seemed
so likely that her family even began believing this theory. There are interviews of her mother
talking about how that's what she thought happened. They thought maybe Zoe went and met up with this
boy, left to find weed and found herself in a horrible situation at or near this motel.
(14:18):
But investigators still felt strongly that Carlos knew more than he was saying or could have been
involved. So eventually they get a search warrant and they go search his house, which turns out he's
no longer living at this property anymore, which made it way easier. And it turns out the dogs did
find traces of Zoe's sent throughout the entire house and in the alley. They did a thorough search
(14:40):
of the property. However, they didn't find any evidence, but they were definitely not giving up.
In 2015 and 16, they held many searches for Zoe, physical searches. Their entire community really
came together to help the Campos family. It helps. It really does because her picture out there,
(15:00):
it's going to show someone, someone's going to trigger and finally say, okay, you know what,
I do know. As the years went by, the community and the entire family really held onto hope that Zoe
would be found. And they said they found their strength from their community. And they even held
a candlelight vigil for her on November 16th, 2016, which marked three years since she first
(15:22):
went missing. And they still didn't have answers at this point, which was just so hard on them.
Imagine not being able to see your kid, not being able to hear their voice, not being able to see
their smile. During this time, the investigators are still looking into Carlos and he has brought
in a few times for questioning over the years and no surprise as he continues to come in,
(15:46):
his story continues to change. At first, he says that he didn't even see her after the get together
that they just went separate ways. Then he changes his story saying that they were together that
night. And he talks about them getting together to smoke weed, but then he also says they don't
have any weed at all. But when forensic testing showed that Zoe's DNA was on Carlos jacket from
that night, he had to stick to the story that she had been to his house that night. In an interview
(16:11):
on December 5th, 2017, Carlos admitted that Zoe was in his room for a period that night.
This interview was conducted in the Lubbock County Detention Center where Carlos was serving a four
year sentence for stalking and threatening an ex-girlfriend of his. Rodriguez no stranger to
the law. Most recently, he was arrested for stalking charges against a former girlfriend.
(16:33):
According to a restraining order application filed in Lubbock County, that former girlfriend said
Rodriguez threatened her multiple times with violence. At this point, investigators felt
certain that there was more to his story, but they needed to get something more concrete before
they were able to get another warrant. Then another inmate who's also serving time with
Carlos at the Lubbock County Detention Center says that he talked to Carlos, and he told him how the
(16:57):
police are searching for his house, but that they wouldn't find anything until they quote,
move the concrete. The statement was further supported by a confidential informant who on July
31st, 2018, contacted detectives to let them know that Carlos told him where her body was hidden.
That person was then interviewed on November 6th, and he told them specific details of where they
(17:19):
could find Zoe's body, and that was enough for investigators to get another search warrant.
And the same team of cadaver dogs that searched the property back in 2014 searched it again,
now in November of 2018. The dogs ended up alerting to an area in the backyard and
investigators started digging, and that's when they found a set of bones. So obviously they send
(17:40):
the bones in for testing, but before they determine who they are or what they are,
they're not even sure at this point that they're human remains. They bring in Carlos,
they want to talk to him again. They start the interview with Carlos, and as soon as they mention
the bones, he ends the interview, and he says he wants a lawyer present to discuss anything with
them further. The results from the lab came back quickly, and they found out that these were not
(18:03):
Zoe's bones. They were actually just animal bones. But they decided not to tell Carlos that because
the way he acted after they told him about the bones made them feel like they were getting close
to figuring out what happened to Zoe. In the following days, investigators are keeping a
close eye on Carlos, and they are monitoring everyone that he is communicating with outside
of the detention center. And after listening in on some of his conversations, they realize that
(18:28):
Carlos really thinks that they have found Zoe's remains. It's obvious, he is talking, even though
little does he know these are just animal bones. They really felt like he knew that she was back
there, somewhere that they just hadn't figured out exactly where. On November 14th, they used
ground-penetrating radar to determine where else they should dig. But two days later, before they
(18:50):
even start searching, Carlos is asked to speak to the lead detective. And during this meeting,
Carlos completely waived his Miranda rights and gave a full confession. He ends up telling them
that that night when Zoe and he were hanging out, they decided to smoke some K2, which if you don't
know what that is, it's a human-made synthetic version of THC that can be highly psychoactive.
(19:12):
Carlos claims that after this, he basically freaked out. He started hallucinating and he
struck Zoe hard. Rodriguez said he was smoking synthetic marijuana when he lost control and
struck Zoe in the face. He then says he put Zoe in a choke hold and strangled her. He told investigators
he buried her in his backyard that night. He then moved her body several months later into a deeper
(19:35):
grave. After telling investigators this, they take him over to the residence and he points out where
her remains are. Just after 10 p.m. on November 16th, 2018, Zoe's decomposed remains are found
and Carlos was arrested and finally charged with her murder. Yeah, the medical examiner is testing
the bones to get a positive DNA match. Right now, investigators believe the body is 18-year-old Zoe
(19:59):
Campos. Now in that arrest warrant, it states that Carlos Rodriguez confessed to killing Zoe
Campos at this house in the early morning hours of November 18th, 2013. Then they sent Zoe's remains
to the medical examiner's office for a final identification. And because it had been so long
and how decomposed her body was, they had to use forensic dental records to confirm that the remains
(20:21):
did belong to her. In sitting down with them a few minutes ago and having to tell them that was
Zoe, that was her body. I hope it was a degree of relief. I think it was if for no other reason
than just finally knowing that she's not out lost, she's not out suffering. And so if anything,
(20:41):
at least that part of this tragedy is now behind them. Now, despite giving a full confession,
Carlos ends up making an initial plea in court that he is not guilty. But after entering this plea,
he released a letter intended for the media that really reiterated his confession and outlined his
guilt. In this letter, Carlos stated that the burden of keeping the secret was just weighing on him,
(21:06):
that he felt very guilty about what he had done and he wanted to come forward. The letter stated
that he and Zoe had met that night at April's house for the first time. He claims they were
kind of flirty with each other and that there was mutual attraction. He ends up messaging her later
that night on Facebook and the two of them agreed to meet at his house where they planned to smoke.
(21:26):
And I just wanted to read a section of this letter. He says, she kept saying things and I could hear
her laughing. But my mind was somewhere else. When I turned to face her, her face looked different.
She looked very weird in an evil way. And I started to panic, but I couldn't move. I wanted
to tell her, but I didn't want to sound weak or embarrassed. I started to sweat a lot and I could
(21:49):
feel my heart pounding so hard in my chest that I couldn't speak or swallow because of this huge knot
in my throat. Zoe kept grinning and asking me if I was okay, but I was certain I was dying.
That's when I started to get lightheaded and my vision started to black out. Then Zoe said,
you're tripping. And when she opened her mouth to laugh, her face started to melt and that's when
(22:12):
I struck her. She got up and I heard a demonic scream. I remember her running to the door.
So I grabbed what appeared to be a demon from behind in a rear naked choke. I don't know how
long I was choking her gut. When I let go, I started to realize what had happened and my whole
world started to crumble. Carlos went on to say that he has had to live with the guilt of what he
(22:33):
did to Zoe for the last five years. And he's adamant though he is not a murderer. He claimed
that he would have never done such a thing to her in his right mind. And it was the drugs that made
him kill her. In his letter, he also apologized to the Campos family. He said to the family of
Zoe Campos, I am so sorry for the pain, hurt and suffering I caused. You have every right to be
(22:56):
upset with me and consider me a worthless enemy who destroyed your lives by taking a life dear
to you. Just remember, don't seek revenge, seek justice and don't hate your enemies. Love them
and forgive them. In my opinion, it's incredibly inappropriate and strange for him to be telling
them how they should feel or how to think of their enemies or whatever he was saying. And the anger
(23:19):
that her family must have felt. Finding out what happened to her must have just been. I just can't
even imagine. Carlos also admitted that he was the one driving the car when her aunt Monica saw him.
And he also said that he ended up having to move Zoe's body from where he originally put her because
his dog started to dig her up. Despite this full written confession, Carlos maintained his not
(23:42):
guilty plea and he and his lawyers prepared for trial. And his team tried to get the original
confession thrown out, saying that he had been coerced into making it without a lawyer present.
But a judge ultimately ruled that both the verbal and written confession were obtained legally and
therefore they could use it in trial. A judge will not be throwing out the 2018 confession of
(24:03):
Carlos Rodriguez and the murder of 18 year old Zoe Compost. This is according to the Lubbock
County District Attorney. The defense team for Rodriguez attempted to get his confession thrown
out in a Lubbock courtroom on Thursday. They argued the confession was obtained by investigators
when his attorney was not present. Monday, August 15th, 2022, Carlos changed his plea from not guilty
(24:26):
to an open plea, meaning that he didn't reach a deal with prosecutors but would be taking his
chances in court. He faced a minimum sentence of five years and a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Well Matt and Terry, they're asking for the jury for a life sentence, saying Rodriguez had no reason
or motive, just the opportunity. In court today, Zoe's family took the stand telling members of
(24:49):
the jury about their beloved Zoe and why in no way she deserved what brutally happened to her.
Things moved quickly with this trial. After a very short deliberation, the jury came back with their
decision on August 18th and Carlos Rodriguez was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Zoe
Campos. Zoe's family is still so devastated and always will be about the loss of their beautiful
(25:12):
daughter. But they do feel peace knowing that they can finally put her to rest and that justice has
been served. This is just such a sad case. It was just completely unnecessary. And what's so
frustrating at the end of the day, we don't even know what really happened to Zoe. We know what
Carlos told everyone happened, but there could be details that are left out and what he actually did
(25:34):
to her, only he will ever truly know. I think Carlos absolutely deserves life in prison and I
am happy that justice has been served for this family and that they can start to heal from here.
I want to know your thoughts in the comments below of course. So let me know what you think
about this case. Everyone be safe out there and take care of yourself and others also.
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