Suspect Arrested in Mirjana Puhar Murder Investigation

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CHARLOTTE, NC — An America’s Next Top Model contestant was among three people found dead in a north Charlotte home.  A suspect is in custody, also tied to another murder in Matthews.  Police are calling it a drug-related killing.

One of the victims: 19-year-old Mirjana Puhar, a former America’s Next Top Model contestant who appeared on WCCB News Rising in August.  “I got into modeling,” she said in the interview.  “I was very inspired by the fashion, by the models.  I was looking up to Tyra, Heidi Klum, like, all of them.”  Puhar lived in the house with her boyfriend, Johnathan Alvarado, and his best friend, Jusmar Gonzaga-Garcia.  

19-year-old Emmanuel Jesus Rangel is charged with three counts of first degree murder.  Rangel is also charged in connection with a murder in Matthews Sunday morning.  

Police presence was heavy at the murder scene on Norris Avenue in north Charlotte throughout the day Wednesday.  A police report tells us that cash and a Smith and Wesson handgun were found inside the home, along with the bodies of the three victims.

Gonzaga-Garcia posted a picture on his Facebook page Sunday with $20 bills spread out across a table.  Police say Rangel and the victims knew each other.  Neighbors say Puhar, Alvarado and Gonzaga-Garcia moved into the home a few months ago, and that there were always people coming and going.

Top Model executive producer Tyra Banks tells WCCB Charlotte: “She was a vivacious and promising young woman.  Our hearts and prayers go out to her loved ones.”

Rangel is being held in the Mecklenburg County Jail and is scheduled to make his first court appearance on Thursday.