John Jefferson
Insets: Rachel Hansen (Facebook). Background: The apartment in Arizona where Hansen was killed (KNXV).
A bleeding 19-year-old Arizona woman managed to call 911 and tell a dispatcher she had been shot by an intruder who fled while she was asleep in her apartment before she died at a hospital.
“I’ve been shot. Someone broke in and shot me,” Rachel Hansen told a 911 dispatcher on June 4, 2022, according to a redacted transcript of that call, reported independent Phoenix-based TV station KTVK and local CBS affiliate KPHO, which collectively broadcast together as “Arizona’s Family.”
“Please hurry, please hurry,” she said. “I’m bleeding, I’m bleeding.”
Gilbert police responded to Hansen’s apartment in a gated complex at San Tan Village Parkway and Ray Road at 2 a.m. that morning. Police found her inside, suffering from a gunshot wound. She died at a hospital, police said in a news release.
No arrests have been made. The family is frustrated and hurting after years without any information, even after raising money on GoFundMe to hire a private investigator and despite a $7,000 reward being offered for information leading to the killer.
On Monday, Todd Hansen said on Facebook he had printed about 500 copies of a flyer to try to find the person who murdered his daughter.
“Somehow, Someone, Somewhere knows Something regarding the murder of my sweet daughter Rachel Hansen,” he wrote in another post.
Nearly two years after his daughter’s death, he told local ABC affiliate KNXV about his pain.
“Maybe some closure with how or why she died might help us,” he said. “A 19-year-old girl gets murdered in the town of Gilbert was unheard of.”
The outlet reported at the time that the Gilbert Police Department issued a statement saying investigators thoroughly canvassed the area in and around the apartment complex for evidence, and they have relentlessly pursued all tips and leads received over the last two years.
“As we approach the two-year mark since Rachel Hansen’s unfortunate homicide, this case continues to be of utmost priority for the Gilbert Police Department,” the agency said. “We understand how difficult lengthy investigations can be on the families and friends of victims, as well as our community. We want to stress that this is a highly sensitive case, and we must be cautious that any information shared does not jeopardize our investigation or our steadfast endeavor to bring justice to Rachel and her loved ones.”
Mourners were heartbroken over the loss of the horse trainer adopted at age 6 and who had been engaged to be married in the months before she was slain. She was an animal lover, and her family established Rachel’s Rescue in her honor.
“She was so excited. They were both so excited. Young love, and they were just starting their lives,” her mother, Kim Hansen, recalled about her feelings about getting married to Arizona’s Family.
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