Although the police have spent over a decade investigating the 2012 murder of Faith Hedgepeth in her college apartment, they didn't arrest a suspect until 2021 — and there have still been no convictions in the case.
Hedgepeth FamilyFaith Hedgepeth, the 19-year-old student who was slain in her apartment at UNC Chapel Hill.
The murder of Faith Hedgepeth shocked the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in September 2012. The 19-year-old student was beaten to death in her bed — and nobody knew who did it.
Hedgepeth’s killer left behind the murder weapon — a bloodied glass bottle — and a bizarre message on a paper bag that read, “I’M NOT STUPID B—CH JEALOUS.” The initial suspects were quickly cleared, however, and the case soon went cold.
Then, nearly 10 years later, the police arrested Miguel Enrique Salguero-Olivares in connection with the grisly crime. They claimed his DNA matched that found at the scene, but the 28-year-old had no known connection to Hedgepeth, and he adamantly denied his involvement.
Although Salguero-Olivares was charged over three years ago, he still has not faced trial — and the mystery of who killed Faith Hedgepeth endures to this day.
Who Was Faith Hedgepeth?
justiceforfaith.comFaith Hedgepeth, pictured here as an infant, had a tight-knit relationship with her family, who described her as “a true joy.”
Faith Danielle Hedgepeth was born in North Carolina on Sept. 26, 1992. She was a member of the Haliwa-Saponi Native American tribe.
She was very active in her church as a child, even joining the youth choir. In high school, Hedgepeth continued to shine. She was a member of the National Honor Society, the Native American Student Society, and the cheerleading squad. Her schedule was always full of extracurricular activities that sought to help her community.
Facebook/Remembering Faith HedgepethA young Faith Hedgepeth with her family.
Her impressive academic performance granted her admission to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on a full scholarship. Hedgepeth hoped to become the first person in her family to graduate from college. Her ultimate goal was to become an elementary school teacher or a pediatrician, and her plans seemed to be panning out as she successfully navigated her first two years at the university.
However, tragedy struck on Sept. 7, 2012, just days before her 20th birthday.
A Brutal Crime Rocks The UNC Chapel Hill Campus
Chapel Hill Police DepartmentWhen Faith Hedgepeth’s roommate left this apartment on Sept. 7, 2012, she thought Hedgepeth sleeping safely inside — but when she returned several hours later, Hedgepeth had been murdered.
On Sept. 7, 2012, Marisol Rangel arrived at the apartment Faith Hedgepeth shared with her roommate, Karena Rosario. Rangel was friends with both of the young women, and she was giving Rosario a ride home after Hedgepeth had failed to answer Rosario’s calls to pick her up from the place where she’d spent the night.
When Rangel and Rosario arrived, they called out for Hedgepeth, but they received no response. Rangel was the first to open Hedgepeth’s bedroom door — and what she found horrified her.
Hedgepeth was bloodied, naked from the waist down, and wrapped in a quilt. She did not appear responsive. Rosario called the police, and soon, officers descended on the scene.
“So Faith was found deceased, partially nude… There was a lot of blood in the bedroom, and she had suffered what appeared to be severe head trauma,” Lieutenant Celisa Lehew of the Chapel Hill Police Department told ABC News in 2016. “Faith was wrapped, partially, in a comforter that had been located on the bed. There was some blood splatter throughout the bedroom as well as where the pillow might be.”
Investigators determined that Faith Hedgepeth had died of blunt force trauma from an empty rum bottle they found nearby. A rape kit revealed the presence of semen.
Chapel Hill Police DepartmentThis chilling message scrawled on a paper take-out bag left investigators stumped.
Interestingly, investigators discovered a white paper bag at the scene with the words “I’M NOT STUPID B—CH JEALOUS” written on it. Police believe this bag originated from a fast food establishment called Time-Out near The Thrill, the nightclub where Hedgepeth and Rosario had partied the night before Hedgepeth’s murder.
After collecting the physical evidence at the gruesome scene, detectives began their long and convoluted investigation into the murder of Faith Hedgepeth.
The Hunt For Faith Hedgepeth’s Killer
Detectives began their investigation by building a timeline of the night before the murder. According to Karena Rosario, Faith Hedgepeth’s roommate and friend since freshman year of college, Hedgepeth had attended a sorority event that evening before joining Rosario in the campus library.
The two studied there until 11:30 p.m. Then, they went back to their apartment and got ready for a night out. They arrived at a nightclub called The Thrill and partied there until 2 a.m. Security footage showed Rosario leaving the club followed by Hedgepeth.
Around 3 a.m., Hedgepeth and Rosario returned to the apartment. According to Rosario, Hedgepeth helped her get to bed before turning in for the night herself. Then, around 4:30 a.m., Rosario said she called a man named Jordan McCrary to pick her up. When she returned to the apartment in the morning, she found Hedgepeth dead in her room. A woman living below the apartment told the police that she heard three loud thumping noises at 3 a.m., around the time when Rosario claimed to have returned with Hedgepeth to the apartment.
Hedgepeth FamilyFaith Hedgepeth (left) with her roommate, Karena Rosario.
Investigators found evidence that Faith Hedgepeth’s Facebook account was accessed around this same time. A text also came from Hedgepeth’s phone to someone named Brandon Edwards at 3:40 a.m. that read, “Hey b. Can you come over here please. Karena needs you more aha. You know. Please let her know you care.” Rosario’s phone records show that she was trying to contact Edwards around the same time.
The police also interviewed Eriq Takoy Jones, Rosario’s ex-boyfriend. Jones had previously threatened to kill Hedgepeth when she helped Rosario break up with him and get a protective order against him.
Jones claimed to have no knowledge of the crime, and his DNA did not match that found at the scene. With this dead end, detectives turned to building a profile of the unknown man whose DNA was discovered at the scene. With the help of a genetics company, the police discovered that the perpetrator was Native American with possible European or Latino heritage.
Developments in the investigation stalled over the years, and at times, it seemed as if the case would remain cold — but in September 2021, the police finally made an arrest.
Did Miguel Enrique Salguero-Olivares Kill Faith Hedgepeth?
On Sept. 16, 2021, officers arrested 28-year-old Miguel Enrique Salguero-Olivares and charged him with the first-degree murder of Faith Hedgepeth. The previous month, Salguero-Olivares had been arrested for driving under the influence, and the police had obtained his DNA. It came back as a match for the DNA found at the murder scene.
Raleigh/Wake City County Bureau Of IdentificationMiguel Enrique Salguero-Olivares reportedly had no known connection to Faith Hedgepeth, but investigators say they connected him to the crime scene using fingerprint and DNA evidence.
“I want to thank God for allowing me to see this day,” stated Hedgepeth’s father, Roland Hedgepeth, according to a 2022 report by local Raleigh-Durham news station WTVD.
In January 2022, new documents revealed that Salguero-Olivares’ hand prints matched those found on the murder weapon. Authorities also seized the suspect’s phone and laptop to search them for any additional information about the crime. Still, a trial date has yet to be scheduled.
Connie Hedgepeth, Faith Hedgepeth’s mother, told the public, “Everything will be revealed that happened in Faith’s death.”
So far, Olivares-Salguero is the only suspect who has been arrested for Hedgepeth’s murder. Only time will tell if he really knows what happened to Faith Hedgepeth that September night in 2012.
After reading about the murder of Faith Hedgepeth, go inside the story of Lauren Spierer, the Indiana University student who disappeared after a night out. Then, read about the eerie disappearance of Ohio medical student Brian Shaffer.
