A look back at the kidnapping of Hania Aguilar, a case that gripped NC — and beyond
Hania Aguilar loved purple and science. She played the viola.
On Nov. 5, 2018, the 13-year-old disappeared from her mobile home park in Lumberton in a case that gripped her home of Robeson County and North Carolina.
Her kidnapping quickly gained national attention. The FBI named her disappearance its “Most Wanted: Case of the Week.” The FBI and Gov. Roy Cooper’s office offered a reward of up to $30,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a suspect.
People anxiously searched and prayed for her to be found. But 23 days later, they learned she had been killed in brutal fashion.
Here’s a look back at the case, based on reporting from News & Observer staff.
Who was Hania Aguilar?
▪ On Nov. 5, 2018, about 7 a.m., 13-year-old Hania Aguilar was standing outside her family’s mobile home in Lumberton, waiting for a ride to Lumberton Junior High School. Her family’s SUV was running when a man in dark clothing and a yellow bandanna forced her into the car and drove away. A witness heard her scream — the last time she was heard from.
Lumberton, her home in Robeson County, is about 100 miles southeast of Raleigh.
▪ On Nov. 8, a green Ford Expedition spotted at her home was found abandoned near Quincey Road, about 10 miles from the mobile home park. That same day, the FBI released surveillance video showing a man walking in the area of the mobile home park in the hours before the kidnapping.
The FBI followed hundreds of leads and conducted hundreds of interviews in their search. They sought every bit of surveillance footage they could find.
▪ On Nov. 27, Lumberton police detectives and FBI agents discovered a body in an area near Wire Grass Road in Lumberton, several miles south of Hania’s home. The body was taken to the state crime lab for identification, and while police didn’t indicate whether it may have been Hania, the community anxiously waited for results.
▪ The next day, on Nov. 28, authorities said the body belonged to Hania. She had been raped and most likely asphyxiated. They did not have any suspects.
“We’re absolutely devastated,” Lumberton Police Chief Michael McNeil said that day, The News & Observer reported.
▪ Nearly 1,000 people attended Hania’s funeral in December.
Who is the suspect in Hania Aguilar’s death?
On Dec. 8, 2018, Michael Ray McLellan was charged with her murder, rape, kidnapping and several other felonies. He had been released from prison in June and was under post-release supervision.
At the time of his arrest, he was in law enforcement custody on unrelated charges, the FBI said.
Then-District Attorney Johnson Britt said Hania “might be alive” if authorities hadn’t overlooked DNA evidence.
According to investigators, on the day Hania disappeared:
▪ Robeson County sheriff’s deputies had evidence from the state crime lab connecting him to a separate 2016 rape. They never acted on it until December 2018.
▪ Police in neighboring Fairmont had a warrant for McLellan’s arrest for robbery and kidnapping in a carjacking gone wrong on Oct. 16, three weeks before Hania’s kidnapping. That warrant went unserved until Nov. 13, eight days after Hania disappeared.
▪ The state Post-Release Supervision and Parole Commission had a second warrant for McLellan’s arrest on Oct. 17 because he had violated terms of his recent release from prison. Nothing happened.
What is the latest on Hania Aguilar’s case?
Celsa Hernandez, Hania’s mother, asked a judge at an April 27 pre-trial hearing for the case to go ahead as scheduled in September.
But on Thursday, McLellan’s attorney Harold “Butch” Pope said COVID-19 had severely limited contact with his client, and that experts on the defense team were both restricted and reluctant to visit during the pandemic.
The defense also is contending with McLellan’s two unrelated felony cases on top of the 10 charges stemming from Hania’s death.
The case was continued and rescheduled for early 2024.
Superior Court Judge Greg Bell told Hernandez that it can take five years post-pandemic for a murder case to go to trial. He said he’d rather delay now than days before a trial in September, or make a mistake and have to do it all again.
McLellan, now 38, remains in Central Prison awaiting trial.
More on the case
Man charged with killing 13-year-old Hania Aguilar in Robeson County
A wanted man remained free. A girl was murdered. How the system failed Hania Aguilar.
Could Hania’s murder have been prevented? 2016 evidence ‘fell through the cracks.’
Additional reporting by Abbie Bennett, Mark Schultz, Camila Molina, Ron Gallagher and Autumn Linford was used in this story.
