LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – Rachael Hidalgo is mourning and remembering her daughter Alicia Gallegos.
Gallegos’s body was found in White Oak Township Monday. Ingham County Sheriff officials are investigating her death as a homicide.
Hidalgo says her 29-year-old daughter was more than a victim – she was mother to three, a daughter and a sister to 10 siblings. The death of the vibrant young woman has come as a shock for her family.
“She was sweet and spicy,” Hidalgo tells 6 News of her daughter. “She, you know, her and her smile just lit up the room. She was one of the most kindest people ever.”
Despite being “bubbly” and living large with a “big heart” and a generous spirit, Gallegos life journey was not always easy. She battled addiction and fought to address mental health challenges, but her mother says she never surrender to either.
“Man — her strength and resilience — she’s got anybody I’ll ever know beat to that because you could drop her off at any state in the country and she would survive,” her mother says.
On Oct. 12, Gallegos called from Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo. Sometime before 7:30 a.m. she left the hospital.
“She was like, ‘I have to go back to the hotel to get my stuff.’ And I’m like, ‘okay,’” says Hidalgo. “So, I tried calling the hospital and she had already left. I had seen her in the hospital the day before because I went to see her and I was coming back the next day to pick her up and she had already left and that was the last time I seen her alive.”
Four days later, Gallegos’ body was found alongside a rural road in eastern Ingham County.
“There are too many people that loved her,” the grieving mother tells 6 news. “The whole town, the whole city of Lansing, everybody knew and loved her.”
Hidalgo says she doesn’t understand why her daughter was murdered, or who would do it. The family says law enforcement is working on a few leads, but are focusing on the idea Gallegos had been the target of a robbery that had gone wrong.
“Honestly, I just think that someone tried to take something she didn’t want to give up and she fought back and they wasn’t having it,” Hidalgo says. “I don’t know exactly but i feel like that is what it was.”
The family doesn’t have an explanation as to why the 29-year-old mother’s body was found on the rural road.
Sheriff’s officials from Ingham County continue to investigate. They ask anyone with information to call the detectives at the Ingham County Sheriff’s Office or Crime Stoppers.
