In the span of a few weeks, an 18-year-old’s attempt to build a new life turned into a cross-country homicide case that now has a man in custody. Investigators say Arizona teen Yessenia Norman met a man on a dating app, vanished after leaving the supervised housing where she lived, and was later found dead in a Tolleson apartment. The man she allegedly met, 27-year-old Randal Basilio Santillan, is now under arrest in another state and facing serious charges tied to her killing.
Norman’s death has rattled families who see their own kids in her story: a young woman trying to move forward, using the same apps and tools that define modern dating. It has also raised hard questions about how quickly online connections can turn dangerous, and what safety nets exist for teens in transitional programs when something goes very wrong.
From dating app match to missing person
Before anyone knew her name from headlines, Yessenia Norman was an 18-year-old in Arizona working through the slow, everyday process of getting stable. She was living in a transitional facility in Arizona, a setup meant to give young people structure while they transition out of state oversight. According to investigators, she allegedly connected with a man named Randal Santillan through a dating app, a detail that now sits at the center of the criminal case.
Staff at the facility reported that Norman did not come back when she was supposed to, and she was officially listed as missing on Jan. That missing person report kicked off what loved ones described as an agonizing search, with family and staff trying to retrace her steps and figure out who she had been talking to. The early focus on her online connection with Santillan came from those close to her, who told investigators that the man from the app was one of the last people she was believed to have met up with in person.
Discovery in Tolleson and a brutal crime scene
The search for Norman ended in Tolleson, a small city on the western edge of the Phoenix metro area, where police were called to an apartment complex after someone reported a “possible deceased person.” Officers arrived at the complex near Interstate 10 and 91st Avenue, where they found the teen’s body inside a unit that investigators say was tied to Santillan. The discovery confirmed the worst fears of her family and the staff who had been hoping she would simply walk back through the facility doors…