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‘She Was The Sun:’ Single Mom’s Body Found In N.C. Days After Boyfriend’s Arrest
Emily Montgomery was last seen on the eve of Thanksgiving. The single mother’s remains were found in Raleigh last week.
The body of a single mother who vanished around Thanksgiving in North Carolina was recovered last week, days after police arrested and charged her boyfriend with her murder.
Emily Montgomery’s remains were found in Raleigh on Dec. 19, the Apex Police Department said in a press release. Police didn’t disclose how the 26-year-old may have died. An autopsy is pending.
The gruesome discovery came 10 days after investigators arrested and charged Montgomery’s boyfriend, Jose Carlos Jacome-Granizo, in her murder. Authorities suspect the killing was premeditated, but no possible motive has been released in the slaying. Montgomery and Jacome-Granizo were casually dating, friends and family said.
Montgomery vanished from her home in Apex, North Carolina, near Raleigh, on the night of Nov. 25, when she was last seen around 10 p.m. The young woman’s family contacted authorities after not hearing from her.
A Silver Alert, which is normally reserved for missing individuals with dementia or other cognitive impairments, was issued following Montgomery’s disappearance.
A spokesperson for the Apex Police Department declined to release further details or comment on the case on Monday.
“This is still an on-going investigation,” Apex Police Deputy Chief Mitchell McKinney told Oxygen.com.
Montgomery’s mother has described her daughter as a “pure joy.”
“[She] was excellent at everything she did,” Amy Montgomery told WRAL-TV. “There are countless memories of how proud she made me."
The grieving mother also said Montgomery was “fierce,” “loyal,” “sassy,” and had a “smile and laugh that lit up the room.”
“In my little world she was the sun and is greatly missed,” Amy Montgomery told WNCN.
Montgomery was a mother to a 5-year-old son, her family said.
“She [loved] that kid more than anything,” her friend Jamie Boyd told the outlet. “That was her whole, entire world. That was her motivating force for everything in life."
Other friends shared their heartbreak online after learning that her remains had been recovered.
“You are my sister and no one can take that away from us ever,” Lyra Marra wrote on Facebook on Dec. 10. “Someday we will be together again. But for now, until that day, you rest in that beautiful light. Let it envelop you, and hold you, and finally feel free of that pain baby girl.”
Jacome-Granizo has been charged with first-degree murder. He’s being held at a Wake County detention center without bond, according to online jail records. It’s unclear if he’s retained legal representation. His next court date is scheduled for Dec. 31.
Jacome-Granizo has a history of arrests for violent behavior. In 2016, the 29-year-old was accused of assaulting a woman and was charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, records show. He was also arrested on a probation violation in 2008.
