The high-profile case of a missing and murdered Indigenous person (MMIP) was finally resolved with the conviction of Miguel Salguero-Olivares, 33, on Friday, October 23, 2026, in the killing of Faith Danielle Hedgepeth, 19, a citizen of the Haliwa-Saponi Tribe, in September 2012.
Hedgepeth was a sophomore at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill when she was killed. She had ambitions of becoming a pediatrician and returning to her home tribal community in rural North Carolina to provide medical care.
“While nothing can ever take the place of having Faith live out her natural life, I am prayerful that this verdict will give some sense of closure to her immediate family, extended relatives, and our tribal nation,” Haliwa-Saponi Tribal Chairman Earl Evans told Native News Online on Friday evening.
Faith’s death ended a promising future and left her family searching for answers for more than a decade.
A young Native woman with big dreams
Born September 26, 1992, Hedgepeth grew up in Hollister, North Carolina. She was the daughter of Connie and Roland Hedgepeth and had an older sister, Rolanda, who played an important role in her life.
Hedgepeth attended UNC-Chapel Hill on a Gates Millennium Scholarship, which supports students from underrepresented backgrounds pursuing higher education. While studying, she also worked part time to help pay her expenses.
Her goal was to become a pediatrician and return home to serve children and families in her community.
For her family and tribal community, Hedgepeth represented the promise of a young Native woman determined to pursue higher education while maintaining a connection to her people.
A murder that remained unsolved for years
On the night of September 6, 2012, Hedgepeth went to a nightclub with her roommate, Karena Rosario, after spending time on campus.
In the early hours of September 7, Rosario left the apartment with a friend. When she returned later that morning, she discovered Hedgepeth’s body.
Investigators determined that Hedgepeth had suffered a fatal beating. Evidence collected at the scene, including DNA, would eventually become central to the case.
Despite an extensive investigation, authorities did not make an arrest for nearly nine years. The case attracted national attention as Hedgepeth’s family continued to seek answers and urge investigators to identify the person responsible for her death.
DNA evidence leads to an arrest
In 2021, authorities arrested Salguero-Olivares after a traffic stop led investigators to obtain a DNA sample that they said matched evidence collected in the Hedgepeth case.
Prosecutors later presented forensic evidence connecting him to the crime scene. Evidence included DNA recovered from Hedgepeth’s body and from objects found in the apartment, including a blood-covered rum bottle that prosecutors identified as the murder weapon.
The defense challenged aspects of the investigation and the interpretation of the evidence. After hearing the case, however, the jury found Salguero-Olivares guilty of first-degree murder, rape, a sexual offense and burglary.
He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder, along with additional prison sentences for the other offenses. His attorneys indicated that he intended to appeal.
A family’s long wait for justice
The verdict marked the end of a painful chapter for Hedgepeth’s parents, who spent years living with the loss of their daughter and waiting for the case to be resolved.
During court proceedings, her mother, Connie Hedgepeth, spoke about forgiveness, saying she had forgiven her daughter’s killer just three weeks after Faith’s death. Her words reflected a deeply personal response to an unimaginable loss, even as her grief continued.
Her father, Roland Hedgepeth, also described the devastating impact of losing his daughter and spoke about forgiveness.
Their statements underscored the complexity of the family’s experience: seeking accountability for a brutal crime while trying to find a way to live with a loss that could never be undone.
Keeping Faith’s legacy alive
Hedgepeth’s story also carries significance for Native American communities, where her life and aspirations remain part of her legacy.
The Faith Hedgepeth Memorial Scholarship was established in her honor to help Native American women from North Carolina tribes pursue higher education. The scholarship reflects the future Hedgepeth hoped to build for herself and the commitment to education that defined her ambitions.
Her dream of becoming a pediatrician and returning home to serve her community was never realized. But efforts to support other Native students offer a way to carry forward the possibilities she represented.
For the Haliwa-Saponi Tribe, her family and those who followed the case, the conviction provides a long-awaited legal resolution. It cannot restore the life taken from Hedgepeth at 19, but it brings an end to years of uncertainty over who was responsible for her murder.
Faith Hedgepeth is remembered not only as the victim of a crime that remained unsolved for years, but also as a young Native woman with ambitions, a family who loved her and a desire to make a difference in the lives of others.
