Hampton, Va. - Officials have now ruled the death of a 28-year-old woman who went missing in Hampton as a homicide related to asphyxiation.
Police have not charged anyone with her murder.
Candice Patrice Banks was reported missing on January 25th, and her body was found weeks later in the woods near Dogwood Street on Feb. 4th.
She was last seen by her family on January 12th and just days before that, she told police she was robbed.
"It’s hard for me and my family,” says Aisha Talton, Banks’s sister. “She had kids. It's hard for the kids, it's hard for my grandma, and it’s hard for my mama. Nobody should have to go through this."
The circumstances that lead to Banks’s disappearance and murder are still murky. She was last seen on January 12th, but her family did not report her missing until the 25th. They say she had done this before.
But this time, something was different. Her body was found in a wooded area near Dogwood Street in Hampton. How long she had been there, police aren't saying.
"I know for a fact that she fought for her life,” Talton says. “I know she did."
Talton says Banks had just gotten out of a violent relationship. On New Year’s Day, Banks went to police, saying she was robbed by her ex-boyfriend, Curtis Brazier.
Court documents say he took a laptop, cash and birth certificate then threw Banks to the ground. Brazier was arrested for the robbery two days after Banks was last seen.
Now, four months after she was found, her family wants justice.
"I just want whoever did it to just come forward and just tell the police so my family can rest at peace, my sister can rest in peace," Talton says.
Brazier is still behind bars for the robbery.
Police are still investigating this case and if you have any information that could help, please call the Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.
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Police continue to investigate death of missing Hampton woman
