25-year-old worker found shot to death behind restaurant’s bar, NH officials say
A 25-year-old woman was found shot to death inside the New Hampshire restaurant she worked at, according to law enforcement officials, who believe she was killed in a murder-suicide.
Officers discovered Sandra Marisol Fuentes Huaracha fatally shot behind a bar inside La Casita, a Mexican restaurant in Berlin, the morning of July 6, according to a news release from the New Hampshire Department of Justice.
Police responding to a report of gunshots arrived at the restaurant at around 9:45 a.m. before they located Huaracha, who was declared dead at the scene, officials said.
While investigating, a man, 50-year-old Michael Gleason, Jr., was found dead inside the restaurant’s bathroom, according to the state Department of Justice.
It appeared he died by suicide, officials said.
Huaracha and Gleason had been in a previous “domestic relationship,” according to authorities. They said there “does not appear to be any threat to the general public in connection with these two deaths.”
Berlin Mayor Robert Cone called the news of Huaracha’s death “devastating” in a July 6 statement shared to Facebook, in which he described her as “a beloved” community member and a “beacon of light.”
Cone said he was “lucky enough to call her a friend.”
“From the time that I met Marisol, what struck me most was how she always made it a priority to bring the community together,” Cone wrote.
The mayor recalled how Huaracha would take part in fundraising efforts led by La Casita and helped with a local soup kitchen. He also commended her for her work in organizing a celebration for Dia de Los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, in the prior fall.
Authorities are expected to share further information after Huaracha and Gleason’s autopsies, which were scheduled the morning of July 7, the state Department of Justice said.
In a July 7 Facebook post shared by La Casita, the restaurant wrote that it “is in shock and mourning” Huaracha’s death.
“Marisol was a truly kind individual with a contagious smile, always wearing her heart on her sleeve,” the restaurant said. “For the past few years, she proudly called Berlin home and cherished every person who walked through the doors of La Casita.”
La Casita invited Berlin residents to leave flowers outside the restaurant in remembrance of Huaracha. The eatery will be closed in the meantime, according to the post.
“This is a devastating loss for our entire team and family,” the restaurant said.
Berlin is in northern New Hampshire, about a 95-mile drive northwest from Portland, Maine.
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