Three weeks after a grisly holiday murder in Frisco and friends of the victim are still raising money to send her body home.
A GoFundMe for Griselda Lopez, 20, of Frisco, has raised less than $700 in two weeks with a goal of $5500. Local organizers say this money will pay for funeral expenses in her native Guatemala and provide care for her infant son. They describe the young mother as kind and soft-spoken, and devoted to her child.
Earlier today Summit County judge Reed Owens unsealed the arrest affidavit from Dec. 29, the night Lopez was found dead in Frisco. Police discovered her dismembered body hidden under a bed in her apartment. They believe she had been dead for at least 24 hours.
Lopez had a restraining order against her onetime boyfriend and prime murder suspect, 19-year-old Luis Mendez-Hernandez. According to him, the two had been seeing each regularly until the night of her death.
Frisco police and Colorado Bureau of Investigation interviewed Mendez-Hernandez within hours of the gruesome discovery. He told them how he woke up around 3 a.m. on Dec. 28, one day before police arrived, to find Lopez dead in bed next to him.
Investigators say he evaded questions about her death. He believed it was suicide, although he never called 911. A review of his mobile phone showed searches for “how to get rid of what was on his bed” and ways to reach Mexico.
A forensic sweep of the house found blood residue in a bathroom sink and bathtub. Police also found a steak knife covered in blood and a pillow with bloodstains. During his interview Mendez-Hernandez admitted to moving Lopez’s body and asking another man for help.
It was this man who called police and stopped Mendez-Hernandez from fleeing the country.
A different man, a roommate, told investigators he heard an altercation between Mendez-Hernandez and Lopez the night she most likely died. He saw Mendez-Hernandez early the next morning getting a drink of water. He never saw Lopez again.
Mendez-Hernandez remains in Summit County jail on $5 million bond. His next court date is Feb. 9.