Over 75 friends and neighbors came together at 8 p.m. in Andrews Park on the corner of Rockefeller and Aviation Way in Redondo Beach to remember Vicki Bergman, 59, and her daughter Courtney, 19. The two were killed early Tuesday morning.
Next of kin have still not been contacted about the pair’s death because police have been unable to located them. “Every effort has been made to contact the next of kin, to no avail,” Redondo Police Sergeant Fabian Saucedo said.
Ariel Gronski knew Courtney since middle school and only remembers her visiting grandparents in San Diego once during their friendship. “She doesn’t really have family,” said Gronski. “Her friends were her family, that’s why there are so many people here.”
Lauren Hutchinson lived down the street at their old house on Curtis Ave. and remembered burying a lizard with Courtney when they were younger. “She was fun no matter what,” said Hutchinson. “We were always laughing, and it was easy to be with her.”
Early Wednesday, the main suspect in the deaths, Courtney’s boyfriend Jonathan Chacon, was located in Mexico and brought back to the U.S. with the help of Mexican Authorities, Homeland Security Investigations and Customs and Border Protection. He was transported to the Redondo Beach Police Department and booked for murder.
Gronski, who is friends with Chacon’s family, said that they were saddened and overwhelmed by what he had allegedly done.
“Nothing is confirmed,” she said. “And the situation is tough for them.”
