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Vanessa Garcia: Son of woman found BURNED and hanging in Griffith Park denies LAPD's 'suicide' claims

Anthony Espinosa, 21, claims his mother, Vanessa, 36, allegedly wrote in her diary just before her violent death about being drugged and raped

GRIFFITH PARK, LOS ANGELES: Authorities from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) found the body of Vanessa Garcia, a 36-year-old woman burned and hanging from a tree in Griffith Park in Los Angeles, California on August 9. The woman's son slammed the police for calling her death "suicide." The case report suggested that the woman also had thermal burns, and the cause of death was determined to be suicide.

Detective Michael Ventura stated "There are no indicators of foul play," and he added that nothing suggested that someone had performed an act against her will. According to Anthony Espinosa, 21, his mother, Vanessa, 36, allegedly wrote in her journal just before her horrifically violent death about being drugged, raped, and threatened. 

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According to records from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Department cited by The Independent, the initial cause of death was listed as suffocation and self-immolation.

The 21-year-old claimed in an interview with The Independent, "The LAPD said that my mother’s cause of death was suicide, but, a few days ago, I found some notes written by her, where she claimed to be sexually trafficked." He added, "Everything she was experiencing, she wrote down in that diary; there she explains why she did what she did. She was in danger."

Espinosa also shared in his interview, "My mom didn’t work. I remember that when I was younger, she had a good job and earned a lot of money. I don’t know what year she lost his job, but in 2018, everything went downhill. What I know is that she had a lot of savings, and she lived on that for a while."

According to reports, Vanessa preferred to stay with her aunts and cousins, but she had a pattern of showing up before she "disappeared again." Regardless, Anthony stated that the death was provoked by the characters he believes to be involved with sex trafficking and claimed that he is certain his mother filed reports with the police. He claims she detailed it in her diary, but he does not know where they are and there is no evidence of reports. 

According to Sarah Ardalani, chief public information officer for the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Department, Garcia's death certificate indicated that she allegedly had a history of suicide attempts. The official said, "The canister with the fuel that set the fire was near the tree where Vanessa hung herself.” So far, no relatives have reported that she has been the victim of harassment or any other criminal action.

Espinosa said that his mother's greatest dream in life was to travel the world with them and she had three children, including him. Possibly, she could have killed herself because she was injured. They "drugged her and raped her so much that her world came crashing down on her."

To raise money for his mother's funeral, Espinosa started a GoFundMe account. More than $8,000 had been donated as of Friday.