Victor Gonzalez and his 19-year-old daughter, Serenity, were found with fatal wounds inside their vehicle on a remote gravel road in Mississippi. Family members said the two were on a trip to buy a PlayStation 5 listed on Facebook Marketplace.
The Panola County Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded around 7 a.m. last Sunday (March 1) to River Road near Sardis after a passerby called 911 to report what looked like a one-car crash.
Highlights
- Victor Gonzalez and his 19-year-old daughter Serenity were found with fatal firearm wounds inside their van on a remote road in Panola County, Mississippi.
- Family members say the pair had been traveling to buy a PlayStation 5 listed on Facebook Marketplace.
- Investigators found muddy tire tracks suggesting the van may have been trying to flee before the attack.
When authorities arrived, they discovered the bodies of Gonzalez and his daughter inside the vehicle.
Investigators said both appeared to have passed away after being attacked with a firearm. The discovery has left investigators searching for answers, and the family grappling with the possibility that the father and daughter walked directly into a trap
A father and daughter were reportedly ambushed after traveling to buy a gaming console from Facebook marketplace
Image credits: WREGNewsChannel3
“If I was to ask a question, it would be: why? All of this doesn’t make any sense,” said Jessie Waterman, Victor’s biological son and Serenity’s brother.
Waterman said the pair had been working earlier that day as electricians in the Memphis area before making plans that evening to meet someone connected to a Facebook Marketplace listing.
Image credits: WREGNewsChannel3
“They were working on that day, and they were going to eat, and after that they were going to pick up a PS5 from Facebook Marketplace,” Waterman said.
Victor and Serenity had reportedly last been seen on Friday (February 27) at a job site. According to the family, the two were traveling in a white work van that still contained their electrical equipment.
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At some point during that trip, they ended up on River Road in Panola County, where their vehicle was later discovered.
Authorities have not confirmed who they were planning to meet, nor why the exchange appears to have taken place on a quiet rural road far from the busier areas where such transactions typically occur.
Family members believe the pair were lured into a setup, and the marketplace offer was used as bait
The crime scene itself has raised troubling questions about what happened in the moments before the attack.
By Tuesday (March 3), little remained at the location beyond muddy tire tracks and scattered pieces of broken glass.
Image credits: Solen Feyissa / Unsplash (not an actual photo)
Waterman said investigators told family members that the tire marks suggested the van may have been moving erratically before coming to a stop.
“Normally, they don’t have mud and stuff like that on the van and on the sides. It looks like they were trying to flee from the scene,” he said.
Image credits: User_Pascal / Unsplash (not an actual photo)
Based on what he has been told, Waterman believes the encounter may have been planned from the start.
He said he suspects the pair were deliberately lured to the location.
“I believe it was a setup,” he said.
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Panola County Sheriff Shane Phelps confirmed he has spoken with the victims’ family but declined to comment on whether the victims were fleeing from someone, whether robbery played a role, or whether investigators believe the Marketplace meeting was used as bait.
Phelps said only that the case remains an active investigation.
Residents who live near River Road said the location itself makes the situation even more puzzling
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The gravel road, according to neighbors, is not a place outsiders would normally stumble upon.
“It’s got houses up that end and houses up the other end, but very few in between,” neighbor Connie Donahou said.
“It’s not a really busy road, but if you live around here, you know about this road. You pretty much have to live around here to know about this road.”
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For the Gonzalez family, the shock of losing both a father and a daughter in the same moment has been overwhelming.
Waterman said the two had no enemies and were simply trying to go about their day before the sudden violence ended their lives.
“Everybody is in shock and disbelief,” he said. “But we’re also grieving at the same time because it all happened all of the sudden.”
Image credits: WREGNewsChannel3
Authorities are urging anyone with information about the case to contact Crime Stoppers of Panola County at 662-209-2011.
Investigators also advise anyone arranging purchases through Facebook Marketplace to meet in public locations, bring another person along, and choose well-lit areas where police patrols are common.
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