Relatives remember Las Vegas victim as sweet, caring woman

Lesly Palacio had dreams of earning enough money to live in a large house and take care of her family.

But on Wednesday, 11 days after the 22-year-old Las Vegas woman was last seen at a casino, her family realized those dreams wouldn’t come true. Palacio’s body was found in the desert outside of the Valley of Fire State Park, and police have yet to find the suspect, whom family members said is a family friend.

In an interview hours before a vigil for Palacio on Thursday night, family members said they believe that 25-year-old Erick Rangel-Ibarra, whom the Metropolitan Police Department has named as a suspect in Palacio’s death, is the reason she’s gone.

“She was finally in a good place in life,” said her 16-year-old sister, Nayelli.

“And they took that from her,” added Blanca Garcia, Palacio’s cousin.

In a Sept. 1 news release, Metro announced that Rangel-Ibarra and 45-year-old Jose Rangel were both missing and had last been seen Aug. 29, the same night Palacio disappeared. Homicide Lt. Ray Spencer said Thursday that Jose Rangel is Rangel-Ibarra’s father but that the older man was not a suspect in Palacio’s death.

“However the investigation is still very active,” Spencer said in a text message Thursday.

The Clark County coroner’s office has not officially identified Palacio or released her cause and manner of death.

Missing since Aug. 29

According to her family, the 25-year-old went to get drinks with Rangel-Ibarra on Aug. 29 at the Longhorn hotel-casino, which is about 2 miles from where she lived in the southeast valley.

“A lot of people think she was out with a stranger,” said Garcia, adding that Rangel-Ibarra is the son of Palacio’s godmother, and the two have known each other for at least 15 years.

For more than a week, her family has scoured social media and walked through the heat to distribute missing-person’s flyers. Palacio’s new white car sat in front of their house on Thursday, with flyers taped to the back windshield.

The family said police at first believed Palacio just decided to leave town.

But her sisters said that was out of character for their sister, who was going to graduate from a phlebotomy program at Las Vegas College this year and who planned to start working in a cleaning business with her mother just two days after her disappearance.

Palacio was the responsible one, who always insisted on texting her parents when out, they said.

“This is not the type of person just to go missing,” Nayelli said.

While Garcia said she feared the worst as the days passed, others were optimistic Palacio would be found.

“I had dreams of her coming back to us, which made me carry so much hope that I was going to see her again,” said Palacio’s youngest sister, 11-year-old Ashley.

Three of Palacio’s four sisters — Nayelli, Ashley and 25-year-old Karely Palacio — all said on Thursday that they don’t know what could have happened between Rangel-Ibarra and their sister, although they said they believe he is the person police should arrest.

‘She was loved’

A family friend on Wednesday set up a GoFundMe account, which Palacio’s family said is going to be used toward funeral expenses. As of Thursday afternoon, it had raised more than $7,000.

Garcia said they want to have a large, beautiful celebration with lots of flowers and live music that Palacio loved — Mexican banda songs, hip-hop and R&B.

Pictures and candles were laid out in the family’s living room on Thursday, showing Palacio as a smiling 15-year-old in a bright-pink quinceanera dress.

“She’s the motor of this house, so right now everything’s a mess,” Garcia said.

Nayelli said that since learning of Palacio’s death, she and her sisters have circled from bouts of crying to sharing funny stories.

“I don’t want to believe that she’s gone,” Nayelli said.

Palacio was great with children and bonded with Garcia’s 5-year-old daughter. She dreamed of getting married and starting a family after settling into a career, Garcia said.

Since Wednesday, Palacio’s friends have stopped by the house and repeated how she was a sweet, caring person.

“She was loved, what more can we tell you?” Garcia said.

‘Joy of the family’

On Thursday night, an estimated 200 people gathered in the family’s backyard for a vigil honoring Palacio.

Palacio’s youngest sister, Ashley, speaking in both Spanish and English, said her sister was always there for her and constantly making her meals.

“She’d take care of me when I was sick. She was the joy of the family,” she said Thursday night.

Now, Ashley said, all her family wants is justice.

Michelle Crawford, Palacio’s teacher at Las Vegas College, and several students teared up as the family placed Palacio’s scrubs on a table filled with candles and flowers at the vigil.

The teacher said she had emailed Palacio to schedule her final graduation meeting for Tuesday. Palacio never showed up.

“In my email I told her I was proud of her,” she said.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter. Review-Journal reporter Sabrina Schnur contributed to this report.