1 year later, Gilbert teen's slaying remains unsolved
Jun. 4—Nineteen-year-old Rachel Hansen was ready to begin the next chapter of her life — she was engaged to be married, had earned a real estate license and recently moved to a new Gilbert apartment.
On Rachel's second day in her new home in the Redstone at San Tan Village, someone entered her apartment after midnight, shot her once while she was in bed and left. Rachel was later pronounced dead at Chandler Regional Medical Center.
Today marks the one-year anniversary of Rachel's death. No suspect has been publicly identified and "the investigation remains ongoing," according to police.
"She was sleeping on her back," Kim Hansen said of her daughter. "The bullet went in the lower left abdomen and went out her top right shoulder.
"There's some question if the main door was unlocked or someone had a key. But her bedroom door was shut because she had two pups in there she was fostering."
In her 911 call at 2 a.m., Saturday, June 4, 2022, Rachel told Gilbert Police dispatch that she had been shot by a stranger in her apartment.
"They didn't take anything," Hansen said. "Nothing was stolen, nothing was missing."
A resident living at the complex noted she heard no noise from Rachel's apartment.
"My apartment is wall-to-wall with hers and it breaks my heart that we didn't hear anything and therefore didn't call for help," she said.
"We had no idea anything had happened until police banged on our door. According to what I've heard from others, the people below her didn't hear anything either. I have no clue how nobody in our building was able to hear any of it."
Hansen is no closer today than in 2022 in learning who killed Rachel and "absolutely can't imagine" who would want to do so.
"She didn't have any enemies," Hansen said. "She didn't have any bad things going on in life. She did not use drugs.
"I wonder if it was the wrong place at the wrong time. I can't imagine anybody intentionally taking her life at all."
Upon news of Rachel's death, tributes poured in on social media with comments like "motivated, sweet, precious and nice."
Even one woman who didn't know Rachel but lived in the apartment downstairs felt compelled to comment.
"I've been heartbroken since 6/5," she wrote. "I've heard how great she was here, I can only imagine the angel she is now."
Hansen described Rachel as "strong-willed and determined and just so giving."
She was always raising money, supplies or support for a cause, Hansen said.
"When she was young, 10 years old, she would take her wagon and walk around the block and go to neighbors to ask for food donations," Hansen recalled. "She helped with several barrel races (and) auctioned items for a friend of hers with a serious medical condition. She was always going above and beyond to supporting causes of people she loved."
Rachel's early years
Rachel arrived at the Hansen Family's home on an acre lot as a 6-year-old foster child with "lot of early childhood trauma," according to Hansen.
One day while Rachel was sitting on the fence, she remarked, "I just wish we could have a horse."
"We went back into the horse business for her and she flourished," Hansen said. "That is one of the best therapies for kids with very traumatic experiences — to learn to love and care for another living creature."
Before Rachel joined the family, Hansel had sold and re-homed four horses because the older children were married or off to college. Kim and husband Todd had 13 other kids, most of whom they adopted.
The couple adopted Rachel three months after her arrival.
The horse whisperer
Although Rachel never had lessons in horse riding and training, she quickly became an accomplished equestrian and was well-known in that community.
"She had a natural gift," Hansen said. "She was very good with horses. She never met a horse she couldn't get on.
"She scared me all the time. I would hold my breath and she would call me and say, 'mom, I'm going to ride the yearling, pray for me.' She was so brave and so determined."
At 14, Rachel began giving lessons to younger kids. At 16 after graduating from high school a year early, she started her own business of training, riding, hauling, selling and finding horses for clients.
She also rescued abandoned horses and she saved wild mustangs on federal land by training and re-homing them, according to Hansen.
At the time of Rachel's death, her registered quarter horse, Dash, was in foal. Today, the mare and her baby live on the property dubbed "Hansen Ranch."
Rachel's death
Hansen said she was in Indiana babysitting two grandchildren when she learned of Rachel's murder.
"My husband woke up to two Gilbert Police officers knocking on the front door and said, 'Are you Rachel's dad? Can we come in and talk to you?' and told him what had happened," Hansen recalled. "And then he called me in Indiana to tell me I had to quick as I could get a flight home."
Rachel was killed eight days before her 20th birthday, which was June 12. She was going to celebrate with her family at her favorite place — Canyon Lake where she would go tubing, skiing, diving off the board and cliff jumping.
Besides horses, Rachel also loved wrestling soccer and she was the only girl on the football team in the 8th grade, according to her family.
Rachel was set to marry her finance Jomet Bailey in the fall and she planned to use her newly acquired real estate license to sell horse properties to people who wanted that kind of lifestyle, according to Hansen.
"The first six months after we lost her, there were days I didn't even know what day it was," Hansen said. "A couple of our kids went to therapy. I did for a short time.
"We took in her fiancé, he stayed with us three months. He felt closest to Rachel being here."
Although Bailey no longer lives with the Hansens, he stops over nearly every day to have dinner with the family.
"He's part of our family," Hansen said. "We love him as a son."
The investigation
Although it's been a full year with no arrest, Hansen said she is "very optimistic" that the police will close the case.
"We do meet with the detective every couple of months," she said. "He kinds of says, 'We are working on it, we done some things. We go down one rabbit hole and something else pops up.'
"They have been following a couple of different leads but that is all they can tell us. They don't want anything to get out.
"I think it's going to take some time. And we are just continuing to keep her story alive and known and out there so that people don't forget about it. I want people to be aware. We think of Gilbert as a safe community and yet this tragic thing happened."
Although her daughter is gone, Rachel's legacy continues on with the creation of a nonprofit animal rescue.
Hansen in May began setting up a nonprofit dog and puppy rescue called Rachel's Rescue.
"Rachel fostered and cared for dogs and puppies with me," Hansen said. "And she always wanted to start a rescue."
A grim anniversary
With the anniversary of Rachel's murder, Hansen said what really stood out for her was the mass shooting of 19 students at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas on May 24, 2022.
"She spent this day last year sobbing and sobbing," Hansen said. "It affected her so, so much that innocent children were shot and killed. It was just a very emotional that day and for several days she was questioning and trying to understand how could that happen? We had no idea that a short time later..."
