Yessenia “Sisi” Norman was just 18 years old, a teenager described by loved ones as bright, kind, and full of promise, when her life was violently cut short in a case that has shaken an Arizona community.

Norman was reported missing on Jan. 19 after she failed to return to the transitional living facility where she had been staying, according to local reports. Friends later told investigators that she had gone to meet someone she connected with through a dating app on Jan. 15 — and then vanished.

More than a week later, on Jan. 28, police found Norman’s body inside an apartment at a complex in Tolleson, Arizona. According to authorities, she had been stabbed 27 times. She was identified as Yessenia Norman, a young woman whose disappearance sparked days of searching and growing fear among those who loved her.

“It is with profound sadness that we share the heartbreaking loss of Yessenia ‘Sisi’ Norman,” wrote family friend Kathryn Gasaway in a GoFundMe created to help cover burial costs. “She was a beautiful and bright 18-year-old… After two weeks of searching, her remains were tragically found.”

Norman had been living in a facility contracted with the Arizona Department of Child Safety, though it remains unclear how long she had been there before her death. Her family said she was trying to move forward with her life, even as she navigated instability and transition.

Police said Norman’s cell phone and the phone belonging to Randal Santillan, a 27-year-old tenant at the apartment complex where her body was found, were both in the area on the night she disappeared. Investigators allege Santillan fled Arizona after Norman’s death, traveling through multiple states before being located in Mississippi.

On Friday, Feb. 6, Santillan was arrested in Biloxi, Mississippi, and charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping. He is being held in the Harrison County Adult Detention Center while awaiting extradition back to Arizona.

For Norman’s family, the arrest offers little comfort in the face of an unimaginable loss. Her mother, Jessica Nuñez, spoke through tears in an interview with local media.

“I can’t imagine,” Nuñez said. “I just can’t imagine who would do that to her. I don’t understand.”