Did This Murderer Give Himself Away on Yelp?

Almost three weeks ago, a 36-year-old Iraq war veteran named Maribel Ramos went missing. According to Vice, her friend, Emily C, created a Yelp thread dedicated to finding her—because, yes, Yelp is apparently more than a collection of pissy one-star reviews.

The thread quickly gained some attention. One guy who commented, lo and behold, was Ramos' roommate, KC. KC is originally from China, so his English isn't that great, but he did want to convey, through the magic of a Yelp thread, how much he “loved” Ramos.

KC, aka Kwang Choi Joy, showed a strange use of past-tense verbs while relaying his messages. Other user Grant K. was on the case: He pointed out that Ramos was still missing—not confirmed dead—and isn't it a little weird that the heartbroken roommate had already made that logical leap?

KC reminded everyone that English isn't his first language, so don't hold the past-tense verbs against him. He'd also been stressed, he said, because Ramos was his “BFF” and “only family.”

Then, there was this: 

Pretty crazy, right? Why would you share this? Don't you know that you're probably the biggest target of the investigation? Daniel J points this out:

A day later, Maribel's body was found. KC was charged.

Shiiiiiiit. Wild. This isn't an easily Snopes-able case, by the way. Joy has really been charged in the murder. It's possible that his semi-confessions on Yelp led the cops to treat him as a suspect.

From the LA Times:

Kwang Choi Joy, 54, has been charged with one felony count of murder, according to a statement from the Orange County district attorney's office. He faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in state prison if convicted.

Joy, who was arrested Friday after being questioned by investigators, is being held on $1 million bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday.

Joy lived in an Orange apartment with Ramos, a 36-year-old about to graduate from Cal State Fullerton with a criminal justice degree.

 

Chalk this up as one of the first times Yelp has actually helped.

[H/T: Vice]