Siblings Shot Dead, Bodies Left Beside Georgia Interstate Highway

Police in Georgia are looking for two men they say shot a young mother and her 16-year-old brother, leaving their bodies on the side of an interstate highway in Gwinnett County.

Maria Rosaria Montes Dorantes, 23, and Juan Angel Montes were found dead last Sunday beside Interstate 85.

Gwinnett County police say they have charged Manuel Lorenzo Sanchez, 41, and Ricardo Lorenzo Montes, 24, in connection with the deaths.

Manuel Lorenzo Sanchez and Ricardo Lorenzo Montes/Gwinnett County Police Department

Sanchez faces two counts of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Montes has been charged with tampering with evidence.

Friends told WSB that Sanchez was a friend of the family and that Rosaria trusted him.

Police say he shot Rosaria and her brother on the side of the road sometime between 3:30 a.m. and 6 a.m. on Sunday. A passerby found the bodies in the grass at about 7:30 a.m.

Police said both Sanchez and Montes had been living near the Georgia-Alabama state line but could be anywhere at this point.

A friend, who spoke with WSB on condition of anonymity for safety concerns, said that Rosaria moved to Griffin, south of Atlanta, four years ago to provide a better life for her three children, two of whom still live in Mexico with her mother.

“She was the only one that was supporting the kids in Mexico,” the friend said. “She was the one who was sending money.”

Tragically, friends said, two other siblings had been murdered in Mexico.

Family members are working to raise money to  send the siblings bodies back to Mexico.

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[Featured image: Juan Angel Montes and Maria Rosaria Montes Dorantes/handout]