Woman Moved Across Country to Be With Man She Met Online Who’s Now Accused of Killing Her
A memorial was held over the weekend for a 24-year-old woman who was killed earlier this year after moving across the country to be with a man she met online who’s now accused of murdering her.
It was nearly a year ago that Haley Lorenzen moved from her home in Oregon to Pennsylvania to live with Phillip Walters, 32, at his residence in Mill City.
But authorities allege Walters killed Lorenzen in December 2018, dumping her body in a nearby river. Her body was not found until July of this year.
In late December, Walters allegedly called the police to report Lorenzen missing.
However, another woman police say Walters was romantically involved with allegedly told them he’d killed Lorenzen.
Investigators charged Walters with criminal homicide. He has pleaded not guilty.
“She was so beautiful, so beautiful with a big heart,” said Traci Dominguez, Haley’s aunt, during the memorial Sunday in Troutdale, reports KGW8.
The aunt added that “Haley was funny, very dry sense of humor, very funny, again beautiful, outgoing, she had so much more life to live.”
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“It’s tragic, it is tragic,” Dominguez told the station.
Haley’s family plans on returning in November when Walters’ trial is set to commence.
“When you see it snow this winter, everybody thinks of her,” Dominguez explained. “She loved snowflakes. She made snowflakes, hundreds of snowflakes, and that’s one thing I could say as a positive to take with you. When it snows, look out and that’s Haley.”
PEOPLE was unable to reach Walters’ attorney.
