Mandy Matula update: Family creates memorial at park where remains of Minn. woman were discovered, report says
(CBS) The family of Mandy Matula, the Minnesota woman whose remains were discovered in a park Saturday six months after she went missing, Monday went to the site where her body was found and built a makeshift memorial, reports UPI.
Matula, 24, was last seen May 1 as she was leaving her house with her ex-boyfriend, David Roe. Matula's father said police told him the autopsy showed his daughter died of a single gunshot wound to the head, reported CBS Minnesota.
Investigators believe Roe murdered her that night and buried her in a shallow grave in the Mississippi River County Park, north of St. Cloud, reports UPI. Roe fatally shot himself in the parking lot of the Eden Prairie Police Department before he was to meet with authorities to discuss her disappearance.
Roe is the only suspect in the case, reports UPI. Investigators are leaving the case open.
The family left balloons at the park and carved a number 14 into one of the trees, reports UPI, the number Matula wore on the University of Minnesota-Duluth softball team.
Matula's father Wayne confirmed that Mandy's class ring she often wore and a sweatshirt with the University of Minnesota-Duluth logo and the number 14 were found with her remains, CBS Minnesota reported.
At the site, family had a moment of silence, said prayers, left flowers and shared stories about Matula, reports the St. Cloud Times.
Crews spent months searching for Matula, and some searches, including one that involved Matula's brother Steven, came within about 30 yards of the location of the body, reports the St. Cloud Times.
"Beautiful and tranquil," Wayne Matula said of the location, reports the paper. "For today, what we saw was very tranquil and gave us some closure."