Police are on the hunt for the man they believe killed 24-year-old London woman Vanessa Anne Fotheringham.
Fotheringham was reported missing in February of 2012.
Police say her body has never been recovered, but Antonio Valentin Resendez Cortez has officially been charged with second degree murder in her death.
Cortez is at-large and police say the investigation is still very active. Anyone with information about where he may be is asked to contact police or CrimeStoppers.
Police say the two were known to each other, but did not disclose the nature of their relationship.
The family has released the following statement:
"At this time, we, Vanessa's family, would like to ask the media and public to please respect our preference to remain private as these charges unfold. As you can imagine, this is a very difficult time for the family. This is a real tragedy for us and Vanessa is in our thoughts and prayers daily.The definition of the word tragedy to me is: when you are a parent of a victim, not only do you feel utterly helpless and abandoned by the world, you also know that very few people can understand, or even begin to believe that life can be this painful. The destructive impact that we felt when reading articles that have been written about your child that went missing throughout the years did not help the situation. The writings will always be there to read with the access to look at, and now you'll have families and their innocent child(ren) growing up having to live their life in pain. There is nothing I can think of that is quite as devastating as this.
We greatly appreciate and thank the City of London Police Department for their work through this case and in bringing us to where we are today. And we also would like to thank family and friends for their comforting kind words and prayers. It will be that support and love we recieve that will make is be survivors through all of this."
Photo of Vanessa Fotheringham courtesy of Facebook.