RIVER ROUGE (WXYZ) — "I can't believe that someone would want to even hurt her," said Sylvia De Lap, the mother of 36-year-old Natalie Ramstrom. "She was a beautiful soul."
Ramstrom was found dead in her boyfriend's River Rouge apartment on October 27, a day after she missed picking her two teenage daughters up from school in Lowell, Indiana.
"She had been shot in the head execution-style and her body was wrapped in plastic," U.S. Marshal Owen Cypher told 7 Action News Monday.
U.S. Marshals are now searching for Natalie's boyfriend, 41-year-old Efrain Medina, the prime suspect in her murder.
River Rouge Police said Medina has been charged with her murder and court records show he's facing a charge of First Degree Premeditated Murder and Felony Firearm.
"I would like to know why he did it," said Natalie's mother. "I don't understand it."
Ramstrom was a beloved teacher's aide at an elementary school in Lowell, Indiana, and she was in Michigan visiting Medina who had an apartment in Lowell and one in River Rouge.
Efrain Medina is an electrician and he was working at the FCA Mack Avenue Engine Plant when police went to talk to him after finding Ramstrom's body.
"Suspect Medina was alerted to the presence of River Rouge Officers by fellow employees," River Rouge Police said in a statement. "He was able to evade security personnel and exit the facility through an adjacent building undetected."
U.S. Marshal Cypher said Medina fled to Illinois in a maintenance vehicle he stole from the plant and they believe some of his friends and relatives are helping him hide out in the states or in Mexico where he has ties.
Ramstrom was a beloved teacher's aide in Lowell, Indiana where she lived about a block away from Medina. The two met at a local bar and their relationship was on and off again until about four months before she was killed.
A friend of Ramstrom's said she'd seen marks on her body but that Ramstrom always tried to explain them away. Then, just about three weeks before she was killed, Ramstrom told that same friend that Medina choked her, slapped her and threw her down the stairs.
"He's the prime suspect in a very brutal murder here in River Rouge, so I would approach this person, if you know where he's at, with extreme caution and I recommend that you reach the authorities, call the police, call 911 and report his whereabouts," Cypher said.
There is a federal warrant out for the arrest of Efrain Medina.
"We would just like to see Mr. Medina brought to justice for this horrible crime," Cypher said. "The victim and her family deserve justice."
If you have information on the whereabouts of Efrain Medina, please call the U.S. Marshals 24 hour tip line at 313-234-5656.
