GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A DeKalb County father is hopeful after investigators found his murdered daughter’s car just a few miles from where she died.
Channel 2′s Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Tony Thomas sat down with Tori Lang’s family after they learned of the discovery.
Lang, known to her family as Kiwi, disappeared last week. Her body was found in Gwinnett County’s Yellow River Park early Wednesday morning. She had been shot and left in a picnic area.
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Her missing car was found this week in Dekalb County’s Hidden Acres Nature Preserve. That’s only about four miles from the murder scene.
Police say the car had been set on fire after being pushed or rolled into some woods.
“It’s like Stone Mountain fell on me. Like a ton of bricks. It was clear in evidence that this was planned and somebody did this,” Lang’s father Torrey told Thomas.
Lang’s parents say they went to the park often as a family, but they aren’t sure why she was there last week or with whom.
“It’s just hard every day thinking of this moment.” Lang’s aunt Tamara said. “What would you do if this was your child? If you know something, if you saw something, we just implore somebody to say something because somebody knows something.”
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The family says Kiwi had a very caring spirit, and they believe that’s what may have led to her death.
“We know for a fact in this particular situation all of the wrong people got wind of her caring spirit,” Torrey Lang said. “A good-hearted spirit can be a double-edged sword because it can be used for good and evil. Individuals with bad intentions could use that.”
Kiwi’s aunt Tamara says the 2020 Stephenson High grad was like a daughter to her. The family struggles to think of anyone who might have done this to her.
The family set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for expenses as they hope detectives will soon track down Kiwi’s killer.
“One of the things that I would always try to explain to her is you can’t save everybody,” Tamara Lang said. “She was always trying to help her friends. I honestly believe in my heart someone took advantage of my baby.”
Thomas asked Kiwi’s father “How key do you think the car is to all this?”
His reply was simple. “Somebody was trying to hide it. Somebody was trying to cover up their tracks.”
Gwinnett County police say they are looking over what’s left of the car for evidence and continuing to interview Kiwi’s friends.
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