Apex police find body of missing woman whose boyfriend is charged with murder
Apex Police have found the body of a missing 26-year-old woman who investigators say was killed by her boyfriend.
Emily Montgomery’s body was found Saturday near the 7300 block of ACC Blvd. in Raleigh, according to an announcement from the Apex Police Department. Her body was sent to the state Medical Examiner’s office in Raleigh.
Montgomery was reported missing after her family hadn’t seen or heard from her since Nov. 25, the night before Thanksgiving, when she was last seen in her west Apex home, The News & Observer reported. The North Carolina Center for Missing Persons issued an alert for Montgomery, a single mother, on Dec. 2.
Police began investigating Nov. 27, and would go on to charge her boyfriend, Jose Carlos Jacome-Granizo, 29, of Sumter Heights Court in Raleigh with first-degree murder. It’s a crime for which he could face the death penalty or life in prison if convicted.
According to search warrants, Jacome-Granizo picked up Montgomery on the night of Nov. 25, The N&O previously reported. The next day, Montgomery texted a friend that she and her boyfriend were not getting along, warrants said. According to warrants, one text message said that “She was going to kill Jose before he killed her.”
‘He is going to kill me’
Later that night, warrants said, Montgomery sent another text which said, “It is going to happen he is going to kill me first.”
On the same night, her mother received a text telling her Montgomery would be checking into detox, warrants said. Her mother doubted Montgomery would make such a statement without more explanation, warrants said.
Her mother told police Jacome-Granizo had a history of physical violence against Montgomery and that she had picked her up in September after he had beaten her up, warrants said.
Apex police questioned Jacome-Granizo on Nov. 28, and he said he had taken Montgomery to Thanksgiving dinner at his mother’s house in Cary but she refused to go inside because she hadn’t done her hair, warrants said. When he came back outside after 30 minutes, she was gone.
Warrants said GPS reports showed both of their phones were together after being at his mother’s house, first on U.S. 540 and then on U.S. 64. After showing up near her house in Cary, warrants said, Montgomery’s phone shut off near WakeMed in Cary.
“This disproves Jose’s story that he was not with Emily when she left his parents’ home,” the warrant said.
Because he made those statements, police searched his Jeep Wrangler and found large amounts of blood in the front seat, warrants said.
Jacome-Granizo is being held without bond in the Wake County jail.
