Before her life began to spiral, friends and family say, Tanya Gonzalez lived a normal, peaceful existence in a suburban New Jersey community with her family, studied to become a teacher, and spent days with friends on the beach, or time alone at the gym.
After high school she enrolled at Queens College, earning a masters degree in early childhood education. Tanya Gonzalez often visited the family-owned restaurant in Passaic, New Jersey, which her father still helps run.
Back in New Jersey, Tanya Gonzalez kept in contact with Blanco. Over the next three months Blanco visited the family in New Jersey twice each time with his mother, Marta Blanco-Mendoza, in tow. Gonzalez and his wife Carmen said thats when they met Blanco, and the visits didnt raise any red flags
Six months later, Tanya Gonzalez, 23 at the time, was gone from home for good. Ramon Gonzalez said though his daughter said she was going to Florida for a week, one week turned to two, then two turned to three. Then she broke the news: She was moving to South Florida to live with Blanco.
In June, Tanya Gonzalez finally ended the relationship and moved out. By August she was in her own apartment in Aventura. Three days before she went missing, Ramon Gonzalez said his daughter told him she was dating someone else.
On the afternoon of Sept.9, Tanya Gonzalez and her aunt Yvette Oliver went shopping at Midtown Miami. At 5p.m., they left in separate cars. When Tanya didnt show up for work at 10 the next morning, police were notified.
Ramon Gonzalez enlisted the help of friends and private investigators to try and find his daughter. They determined Blanco had hired a private investigator to follow Tanya Gonzalez and believe he placed a GPS tracking device on her car. That has not been confirmed.
When Blancos named surfaced after Tanya Gonzalezs car was found on Tuesday, Monroe County sheriffs deputies began searching for him. On Tuesday, only a few hours after Tanyas body was discovered, a local business owner notified deputies in the Keys that he had seen Blanco. As police neared, he a
