BRIGHAM CITY, Utah — Residents in Box Elder County and beyond are coming together to support the family of Mayra Catalan-Dimas, the Riverdale woman found dead after the father of her children allegedly set their home on fire before abducting the children, prompting an AMBER Alert.
Cassie Young owns Miscellaneous Marketplace in Brigham City. She was in her store last week when the alert set off phones, sharing that Ricardo Trujillo Rojel had taken the young children.
"We have a good tight community here," Young said. “Everybody was looking at it and talking about it.”
Trujillo Rojel and the children were found hours later, and he has since been charged with killing Mayra, whose family owns a Pokemon store next to Young’s.
"The next day, I had a family member of hers come over and read me a note that they put up on their door," she said.
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Catalan-Dimas's family store, Poke Family, is temporarily closed while the family grieves.
"Mayra would come in every day to pretty much get a Red Bull before her shift started, so we got to talk to her a lot about her store opening up and her dreams," said Young.
Miscellaneous Marketplace has a jar by the register that is being used to collect donations for the family, and there are flyers around the store with ways to help. A large community fundraising event is scheduled for Saturday at 3 p.m. in the store's parking lot.
Young is collecting items to sell at the fundraiser, with all proceeds going to the family. A candlelight vigil will also be held as everyone is making efforts to help those mourning the loss of Catalan-Dimas.
The science and success of Utah's AMBER Alerts explained:
"I had an idea, let’s do a fundraiser, and I had so many people jump in and support and jump on board with it,” added Young. "I'm a mother myself. I couldn't imagine being in their position, and I know the world can be dark and I just want to spread a little light and love in the middle of all of it."
All donations are still welcome at the store, and donations are still being accepted here.
