NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Two people are facing charges in what investigators are calling a love-triangle killing.
Authorities said the two suspects beat a woman to death and then dumped her body off U.S. Highway 98 in Eastpoint.
Investigators said the friends, who worked at Abell Automotive in North Miami Beach, were coming back from a road trip to Texas when they stopped at a motel in the Florida Panhandle last week.
Authorities said Zachary Abell and Christina Araujo killed Aileen Seiden, 31, of Miami, in the motel room where they were staying.
They both face charges of second-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence.
"Her death was a very horrific death," Franklin County Sheriff A.J. "Tony" Smith said.
Detectives said Seiden was severely and repeatedly beaten inside the motel room.
Her body was then dumped on a nearby street, authorities said.
Authorities said the suspects then drove back to South Florida, where they were arrested.
Investigators said they were planning to leave the country.
Records show that both suspects have a troubled past with law enforcement, but nothing to this degree.
Seiden's family said there will be a vigil for the victim Thursday at North Shore Park in Miami Beach.
"She was gorgeous, she loved animals," the victim's sister, Franceasca Seiden, said. "She was a loyal and dear friend to her friends."
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help Aileen Seiden's family pay for her funeral.
