crime scene tape

New, strange details in suspected murder of 20-year-old student found dead in her locked bedroom

The parents of a young student who was found dead Sunday spent the night before she was found dead keeping vigil in her apartment building, hoping for some sign of their daughter.

Information in a new report on the death of Christina Maria Matos indicate she may have been dead the day before her body was found; possibly as early as Friday, which was her 20th birthday.

Her parents told WRAL they last spoke to her on Friday, when she called and texted them, in good spirits. But Geraldo and Yolanda Matos later became concerned when they couldn’t reach Christina. On Saturday, they drove to her apartment in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she lived with two roommates. When no one answered the door of the apartment, the parents waited in a building common area overnight. By Sunday morning, there was no sign of their daughter, and the parents called police.

Responding officers found Christina’s body in a locked bedroom, WRAL reports. Her roommates’ bedroom doors were also locked in the suite-style apartment unit, but it is unclear if anyone else was at the apartment when Christina was found. The report suggests that the doors can be locked from the outside.

Christina’s father said she was a student at  Wake Technical Community College and worked multiple jobs, as she was saving money for travel.

“Who killed her?” Geraldo Matos said o WRAL. “They have to go to jail, they have to pay for the damage they made in our family.”

Police have not publicly named any suspects or a person of interest,

Anyone with information is urged to call Raleigh Crime Stoppers at 919-834-HELP or visit raleighcrimestoppers.org.

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