Background: News footage of the residence in Washington City, Utah, where Andreea Mottram was found dead (KUTV). Inset (left): Andreea Mottram (GoFundMe). Insets (right, from left to right): Mihaela Gabriela “Bella” Sorescu and Abigael Paige “Jay” Flanagan (Washington City Police Department).
A mother found stabbed to death at a Utah vacation home last month was killed by her own teenage daughter and her friend, police said.
In a press release from the Washington County Attorney’s Office, the Washington City Police Department provided the names of two suspects identified as the alleged killers of 47-year-old Andreea Mottram. Mihaela Gabriela Sorescu, 16, who also uses the name Bella, is Mottram’s daughter. The other suspect, Abigael Paige Flanagan, 17, who also uses the name Jay, was also staying at the home at the time. Police said in probable cause affidavits for both girls that they are “unaccounted for at this time.”
Mottram was found at the VRBO vacation rental home on March 23 by a cleaning crew who entered the home in order to provide cleaning services. According to court documents obtained by Law&Crime, they noticed that the garage door was open and that there were still “a lot of belongings left in the residence.” After going upstairs, they found Mottram’s body. Authorities said that she had been stabbed 14 times.
When officers arrived on the scene, they found two phones and a purse in the toilet that contained Mottram’s identification. Police determined that the phones belonged to Mottram and Flanagan. The documents stated that evidence technicians also located a number of knives on the property, including one in the sink that had been “washed off.”
According to authorities, a bloody pair of pants “crumpled up in a ball” in the master bathroom was a size that matched the physical description of Sorescu. On the left leg, investigators observed a “bloody imprint of a knife blade.”
Further investigation revealed more about the background of the two girls and Mottram. Both teenagers had spent time in residential facilities; Flanagan had recently been checked out of one by her parents, while Sorescu was currently enrolled at a facility for the past three years. The reasons for their treatment were not provided.
The documents stated that Sorescu also kept a diary. Back in November, she reportedly wrote about “how much she hated her mother” and that she “wanted to kill her.” Sorescu also reportedly had a history of violent behavior and self-harm.
Police stated that a red Hyundai Kona had been rented by Mottram on March 20. The car was spotted by an automated license plate reader in Cedar City, Utah, just after midnight on March 23. Hours later, the car was spotted by a reader in Las Vegas, Nevada. The final reading tracked the car to Paramount, California, at 9 a.m.
Despite their still being at-large, Washington City Police charged both Sorescu and Flanagan with murder, obstruction of justice, and theft of a motor vehicle. According to Utah law, both will be charged as adults.
