A Valley mother is on a mission to get her daughter's murder case solved. ABC15 has been closely following the investigation into the death of Rachel Hansen since 2022. The 19-year-old was shot in her own gated Gilbert Apartment near San Tan Village Parkway and Ray Road. The teen was rushed to the hospital but later died.
No arrests have been made, but her family has worked hard to increase the reward for information up to $15,000.
"This one is a close-up that shows her face, and her expression all the time," said Kim Hansen as she looked at one of the new Silent Witness flyers for her daughter's case.
Rachel's smile and love for horses is how Kim remembers the teen whose life was cut short.
"I, first of all, I want people to realize that this happened in our community," said Kim, who met ABC15 not far from Rachel's former apartment.
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The last two years have come and gone with little updates for the family. In February, Gilbert police wrote in their report they had exhausted all their investigative leads, and the case was turned over to Silent Witness. But just a few months ago, private investigator Justin Yentes started working with the Hansen family pro bono.
In August, body camera video from the early morning shooting along with the 911 transcript from the call Rachel made herself was released.
Weeks later ABC15 received Gilbert Police Department's over 300-page police report, which detailed multiple strange things in the days before the shooting. Both the report and Kim say this was all happening as Rachel was moving back into the apartment that she had been subletting.
"At this point, we don't have a solid idea of who committed this crime," said Yentes. "There's a lot of theories that have floated around."
Kim told ABC15 it's heartbreaking when she meets people in Gilbert who haven't heard about her daughter's case.
"Getting the word out is extremely important for all of us," said Yentes.
Through donations and grant money, Rachel's family was able to increase the Silent Witness reward amount from the original $2,000 to $15,000.
"We have no leads, no weapons, no witness, no cameras, nothing," said Kim. "And we just need the community's help in finding answers."
With the reward increase, Rachel's mom is putting up Silent Witness flyers first locally in Gilbert. She hopes soon they'll be all over the Valley. She and her family said they are willing to print and deliver flyers to anyone who wants to help.
"As we've said from the very beginning, somebody knows something," said Kim.
She said they are going to continue to collect donations and try to keep increasing the reward.
"We've seen the community come together, especially in Gilbert, to try and solve unsolved crimes," said Yentes. "And we're asking them to do it again."
Gilbert Police are still calling Rachel's case an active homicide investigation. ABC15 has been checking in continually with the department over the last few weeks, asking if there are any persons of interest or updates. Police have not answered many of our team's questions but insist their investigators have and will follow up on any leads.
"We're just asking people to be courageous," said Yentes.
Yentes said tips can be submitted through Silent Witness or his PI website.
