CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Channel 9 anchor Stephanie Maxwell sifted through search warrants Wednesday for a triple homicide in Charlotte that police said is connected to a homicide in Matthews.
There is a memorial outside the home on Norris Avenue where three people, including former "America's Next Top Model" contestant Mirjana Puhar, her boyfriend, Jonathan Alvarado, and another friend were shot to death.
A week later, emotions are still raw for neighbors.
"I wasn't around when it happened, but they were good neighbors," said Al Thomas. "It's unreal, but all we can do is pray and keep it moving."
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Emmanuel Rangel, 19, was charged with the homicides.
Police collected evidence at the home, on Norris Avenue and in Concord, according to search warrants.
A reliable informant reported the Norris Avenue crime scene to Charlotte-Mecklenburg police and they found a marijuana-like substance in a plastic-bag, another brownish-red substance in plastic, numerous shell casings and $140, warrants stated.
One of the victims had several pairs of sneakers stolen from the home, and police confiscated sneakers at Rangel's mother's home, in Concord, records indicated.
The case is drug-related, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officials said.
Meanwhile, investigators are anxious to talk to the two suspects picked up in Texas in a separate case.
They, along with Rangel, were charged in connection with the shooting death of a man outside the Microtel Inn & Suites in Matthews two days before the triple-homicide.
"We're just waiting for the extradition process to take place out there," Officer Tim Aycock, with the Matthews Police Department, said. "It is in progress, and we're just waiting for them to get here."
Police said the cases are connected, but they aren't revealing how.
Warrants from Matthews police showed police confiscated three cellphones for the investigation.
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