After the Elkhart Martin’s shootings, rumors continue to linger on social media that 19-year-old victim Annie Rocha had known the man who killed her, or that he had been harassing her. As mourners gathered Friday at Rocha’s funeral, Becker agreed to address the rumors in an interview.
The rumors had spread like wildfire in the week after the January 27 shootings, filling the vacuum created by the absence of official information as investigators worked the case.
Did shooter Juan Sanchez know her? Had he been harassing her and she complained but no one at the store listened?
No and no, Becker says.
"None of the investigation has demonstrated any kind of a connection, familial or otherwise, in any way, shape or form," Becker says. "They have interviewed Annie's mom and there's no basis for these rumors."
Becker says Rocha told her mother, but not co-workers or management, that a man had recently been bothering her at the store but they don’t know if it was Sanchez.
"Of course, you know we have video surrounding the events that day but I'm not going to ask investigators to go back and scan hours and hours of video to see if it was."
