Tiairra Garcia's Friends: We Saw Warning Signs

Tiairra Garcia's Friends: We Saw Warning Signs

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By Rudabeh Shahbazi

PASCO-- A day after prosecutors charged four people in connection to Tiairra Garcia's disappearance, the 19-year-old's friends are coming forward.

"She was a really good friend, one of the only friends I really had, one of the ones that stuck around," said Victoria Mercado, who says she had a bad feeling about the people accused of kidnapping Garcia the moment they came into her life.

"She was a really good friend, and I don't know why someone would do this to her, because she was such a good person to everybody," said Estefani Salas, another friend of Garcia's.

Now those memories are all that remains of Garcia's former life. Her family moved out of their A Street house Saturday, due to financial problems as a result of the tragedy. Garcia's clothes and belongings sat outside the house in a garbage can on the street.

Police presume Garcia dead, and now her loved ones fear the worst as well.

"I guess, just being realistic, we kind of know she's gone," said Garcia's friend Ali Beltrain.

This isn't the first time the people charged in Garcia's disappearance have been behind bars. Marnicus "Pooh" Lockhard, the man Garcia's friends say she was dating, and his friend Ashone Hollinquest have long rap sheets, including warrants in Benton and Franklin Counties.

Mercado said she usually insisted Garcia go out with her, since she feared Garcia was falling into the wrong crowd.

"If I could have made her go out with me that night, she would probably still be here," said Mercado.

The night she disappeared, Garcia had gone out with Lockhard, a 28-year-old self proclaimed gangster with felony warrants for dealing cocaine and possessing a firearm.

Lockhard had a reputation for being destructive and explosive, and according to Garcia's friends, his violent nature stretched into his relationship with Garcia.

"She would call me at two or three in the morning to go pick her up because he had hit her, or he bit her nose once, or they went out somewhere and he did something to her, and he would just leave her in the middle of nowhere," said Beltrain.

"He seemed like he wanted to fight all the time," said Mercado. "I didn't like him. I had a bad feeling about him the whole time."

All of Garcia's friends say they saw the scary red flags in Lockhard as soon as they met him, but despite their pleas to Garcia to leave him, she had faith in him.

"You can never really trust anybody," said Mercado. "You've got to be always on top of your game and know what's going on, know your surroundings and never let your guard down."

Garcia's friends said they didn't know much about Andrea Parr and Verla Spencer, the women charged in Garcia's kidnapping. Parr is reportedly Hollinquest's girlfriend. Garcia's friends say the two women had threatened Garcia before, telling her to stay away from Lockhard.

Garcia's family continues to meet and work with investigators, who say they think more people are involved in Garcia's murder. Garcia's body has not been found.
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