TOLLESON, AZ – An 18-year-old Phoenix woman was found dead inside an Arizona apartment after she left to meet a man she had connected with on a dating app, authorities said. The suspect was arrested more than 1,500 miles away in Mississippi following a multi-state manhunt.
Yessenia Gabriella Norman left her transitional housing in Phoenix on the evening of January 15 to meet Randal Basilio Santillan, 27, with whom she had been exchanging text messages through a dating app, according to the Tolleson Police Department. A doorbell camera captured Norman leaving the residence carrying only her purse. She was never seen alive again.
Norman’s roommate reported her missing on January 19 after she failed to return home. Detectives traced the dating app connection and text message exchanges between Norman and Santillan, eventually discovering Norman’s body inside an apartment leased to Santillan near 91st Avenue and Interstate 10 in Tolleson.
Police believe Norman was killed in the early morning hours of January 16, the day after she left to meet Santillan. Authorities said she had been stabbed multiple times.
Investigators used license plate reader technology to track Santillan’s vehicle across multiple states after the discovery. A coordinated effort involving the Tolleson Police Department, the FBI, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, and the Biloxi Police Department led to Santillan’s arrest around 7 a.m. Friday in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Santillan has been charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping. He is being held at the Harrison County Adult Detention Center in Mississippi while awaiting extradition to Arizona.
Friends told investigators that Norman had been excited about her future and was preparing to start classes at Glendale Community College that same week. Her death has shaken the Phoenix community and raised renewed concerns about the dangers of meeting strangers through dating apps.
The Tolleson Police Department said the investigation remains active as authorities work to build the case ahead of Santillan’s return to Arizona.
