‘America's Next Top Model’ Contestant Mirjana Puhar Found dead, Victim in an Apparent Triple Homicide Case
Mirjana Puhar, 19, a contestant in last year's edition of The CW's America's Next Top Model reality TV competition show was found Tuesday dead with her boyfriend Jonathan Alvarado, 23, and his roommate and best friend, Jusmar Gonzaga-Garcia, 21, in a home in Charlotte, North Carolina.
A source reportedly confirmed to TMZ that Mirjana was one of the three victims found dead in a home that belonged to Mirjana's boyfriend Jonathan. The source reportedly said a friend of the couple went to the house after getting a call that gunshots were heard. The friend reportedly saw two of the dead bodies and some money scattered around the house before calling the police.
According to E!Online, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police have arrested and charged a certain Emmanuel Jesus Rangel with the murders of Mirjana, Jonathan and Jusmar. Rangel was reportedly located Wednesday morning and transported to police headquarters. After completing an interview with law enforcement, he was charged with three counts of first-degree murder. He has also been additionally charged in connection with another murder that took place in Matthews, North Carolina, on February 22, 2015. Rangel is presently being kept in police custody.
Mirjana participated in cycle 21 of America's Next Top Model. She was the youngest contestant and she made it up to episode 10 of the reality TV modeling competition show. Executive producers Tyra Banks and Ken Mok in a statement said: "We are deeply saddened to learn of the tragic news about Mirjana Puhar. She was a vivacious and promising young woman. Our hearts and prayers go out to her loved ones."
Tributes to Mijana continue to be posted on social media from her fellow Cycle 21 cast mates and the America's Next Top Model production crew. A finalist, Adam Smith, tweeted: "RIP Mirjana, we love you. Such an unbelievably tragic day. #ANTMfamily" Miss J Alexander, a judge in the last season, also tweeted: "Saddened to learn about #ANTM Cycle 21 contestant Mirjana Puhar's murder. Remembering her fondly. RIP."
Mirjana's family immigrated to the United States from Serbia when she was five, during the Kosovo war in 1999.