Two women wanted for murder were caught after a Good Samaritan who offered them a place to stay realised they were on the run, according to reports.
Vanessa Tjongarero-Henderson, 29, and her girlfriend Samantha Raebel, 36, were charged with first-degree murder after the former’s mother was found dead in Silver Spring, Maryland, last month, Montgomery County Police Department said.
While cops put out an appeal to track the pair down, unsuspecting Adrienne Behrman said she met the couple at the fast-food restaurant she worked at in Genoa, Ohio, around 440 miles away.
“They said they were homeless,” Behrman told CBS News Baltimore. “They were living in Maryland. They had taken what little money they had and left a toxic living situation, and they were headed to Arizona.”
Behrman told CBS she noticed “no vibes of anything bad” when she first met them. “They talked very nice,” she said, adding that they were “soft spoken.”
The couple’s benefactor said she had experienced homelessness herself, telling the outlet she had once been “down and out.”
“I just know the feelings deep down, and I didn't want them to feel like nobody cared, nobody was listening, nobody was here,” she explained.
Behrman said she offered the pair a sofa bed to sleep on, before leaving them home alone while she attended a Christian retreat. However, when she returned from her trip Behrman had a feeling something was wrong.
“Before I even opened the door, I felt like there was some kind of darkness, like a heaviness, and I could not explain it,” she said.
Her concerns grew after Tjongarero-Henderson offered to pay for some cigarettes through a cash app. A friend of Behrman’s suggested she Google the name to check it was real, and news reports about the couple came up.
Behrman said when she called 911 half a dozen officers arrived to arrest them, at least four of the officers with shotguns drawn. Montgomery County Police Department said the arrest unfolded June 10, around two weeks after 67 year-old Hilde Henderson’s body was found.
In a prior statement appealing for their whereabouts, the department said: “On Tuesday, May 26, 2026, at approximately 11:11 a.m., 3rd District officers responded to the Charter House in the 1300 block of Fenwick Lane for a check the welfare of a resident.
“Upon arrival, officers located Henderson, a 67-year-old woman, dead on scene,” the statement continued.
“Henderson was transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, where an autopsy was conducted. The cause of death was ruled a homicide.
“Through the course of the investigation, detectives identified Henderson’s daughter, Vanessa Tjongarero-Henderson, and Vanessa’s girlfriend, Raeble, as the suspects.
“Detectives obtained an arrest warrant against Tjongarero-Henderson and Raeble, charging them both with first-degree murder.”
Police and the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office told CBS News the pair remained in custody in Ohio, awaiting extradition.
