Two days turned into two weeks. Then, two weeks turned into two agonizing months.
It was back on September 11th when postal worker Gayla Roy disappeared.
"I knew he had did it because I talk to her when they got off of work, and she told me she was taking him home. I was the last one to talk to her," said Rodney Rigmaiden, Gayla's father.
Today, the Rigmaiden family's worst fears were realized.
Investigators said 30-year-old Don Gaines, who is also the father of Gayla's two kids, kidnapped her and drove her to Louisiana.
Authorities say Gaines choked the young mother until she stopped breathing. He thought she was dead, but Gayla regained consciousness during the trip.
Detectives say that's when Gaines took Gayla into a wooded area along I-10, shot her in the head and left her there to die.
Boyfriend of missing postal worker speaks from jail
Tonight family members leaning on each other, trying to make sense of it all. It's bittersweet, they tell me.
They say it is a big relief to finally get closure, but then the pain still lingers as they prepare to finally put Gayla to rest.
They still want to know why she was taken from them.
"She was a good girl she took care of her kids she'll give you the shirt off her back," Rigmaiden said.
Missing postal worker's ex charged in unrelated case
Missing postal worker's husband charged in unrelated case
Postal worker and mother of two vanishes in N. Houston
Postal worker, mother of two vanishes in N. Houston
Report a typo to the ABC13 staff