Authorties in Washington state are still working to determine how to two teen girls and their father died, more than two months after all three bodies were found in a Renton apartment.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, 17-year-old Adriana Gil, 16-year-old Mariel Gil, and their father Manuel Gil, 33, were found dead on December 11. The building landlord had reportedly gone into the apartment the day after police responded to a welfare check request, but did not enter the residence. The landlord was the first to find the three bodies.
Investigators reportedy believe the girls died days before their father and have ruled out carbon monoxide poisoning. According to the Seattle Times, there were no signs of visible trauma and no immediate indications of foul play. All three autopsies were inconclusive, and the medical examiner’s office is awaiting results of additional testing in an effort to determine the cause of death.
The girls’ mother, Betsy Alvarado, is frustrated by the lack of answers and says authorities ignored her concerns about her daughters’ well-being until it was too late.
Alvarado told the Seattle Times that she is convinced the girls’ father had something to do with their deaths, and believes he used his religious beliefs to further isolate the girls from their mother. She claimed that Manuel Gil did not maintain the custody agreement, but that she could not afford adequate legal help.
“If you don’t have thousands of dollars to go out and hire a lawyer to enforce your parenting plan, then you’re stuck,” Alvarado told the newspaper. “You’re going in circles dealing with this. This is how it is for people that don’t have money.”
Alvarado said that the girls lost up to 50 pounds while living with their father and that she contacted CPS with concerns last spring. Renton police Detective Tracie Jarratt told the newspaper that the agency reviewed the report but did not contact police because “the situation did not meet the threshold for assessment.”
There appear to have been additional concerns that were not pursued. According to the Seattle Times, Manuel Gil quit his job at a moving company on November 1, telling human resources “needed to make things right with his maker.” Also, the report states that the girls attended school “sporadically,” and it is unclear if any school officials looked into why.
The mother told the newspaper she believes Manuel Gil’s devotion to the Black Hebrew Israelite faith significantly influenced his daughters.
“I cried so many nights trying to convince them to come back but they felt like if they lived with me they would burn in hell because they wouldn’t be able to follow God’s word the way they’re supposed to,” Alvarado told the Seattle Times.
“People didn’t want to touch it. Nobody wants to get in trouble for messing with somebody’s religion, but now my kids are dead.”
Alvarado said she believes the police did not take her concerns seriously when she repeatedly asked them to check on the home, and says they have continued to dismiss her as she desperately searches for answers.
“I feel like I have no trust with the police,” she said. “I was ignored and I’m still being ignored.”
Renton Police Detective Robert Onishi told the newspaper that his department is still looking for answers in the unusual case.
“We’re down to things like toxicology … We don’t have any clearer resolution than we had a month ago, or even a couple of months ago at this point,” Onishi said. “There is not much to update the family on.”
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[Feature image: Mariel and Adriana Gil/GoFundMe]
