Unusual Circumstances Surround Young Mother's Death

LAKE ELSINORE, Oct. 19, 2007 (KABC-TV) (KABC) -- A young woman was shot and killed in Lake Elsinore, then her car was taken with her baby inside. Now investigators say the victim may have known her killer.

The victim's baby was later found, but the suspects remain at large.

Investigators have released surveillance photos of two women they want to talk to.

Riverside investigators are working this unusual case. It's one case where the public could really help investigators out.

Twenty-year-old Angelina Arias of Lake Elsinore was shot and left on a street in Lake Elsinore Thursday night. The location was Lantern Hill Lane and Westwind Drive.

"My son came downstairs and said it sounded like he heard shots and I said 'yeah I heard something too.' So we actually came right out the walk here and looked right down the street and I saw what appeared to be something in the street and then a car in front of that on the other side. And I told my son to get back in the house and as I walked down there I could see it was a body," Thomas Hardy, a witness, said.

Riverside County Sheriff's investigator Jerry Franchville said the victim's baby was in the car.

"When the vehicle sped off, there was also an 11-month-old baby that belonged to the victim inside the vehicle. We were getting our Amber Alert prepared to notify the public when the child was found in the city of Perris at someone's doorstep," Franchville said.

Another most unusual aspect of this incident, investigators have released surveillance pictures of two women who were believed to be with Arias earlier in the evening. They are wanted for questioning.

"Hopefully someone will recognize them ... and be able to call us with any leads or tips of identifying them," Franchville said.

The missing vehicle is a 2005 white Chrysler 300M with tinted windows and California license plate 5LUJ778.

The Lake Elsinore Sheriff's station can be reached at (951) 245-3300.

The witness in this case and the investigators say they're not sure whether this vehicle was driven by a man or a woman. But Franchville said they consider the driver of the vehicle to be armed and dangerous.

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