Trupal B. Patel was 29 when he was reported missing from Brick, New Jersey, on February 9, 2017. The Jaguar he had been driving was found abandoned in Asbury Park the same day. On February 22, a park ranger found his body in Shark River Park in Wall Township while collecting litter.

Investigators say the killing followed a premeditated plot to rob Patel, who was described as a known marijuana dealer. Authorities focused on 21-year-old Joseph Villani and his girlfriend, 20-year-old Raquel Garajau. Prosecutors say the pair arranged for Patel to come to Villani’s Ocean Township home on February 6, 2017, where Villani shot Patel multiple times in the garage and later dumped the body in the park.

Prosecutors also relied on text messages between Villani and Garajau that, according to charging documents, discussed cleaning the scene and disposing of evidence, and contained messages exchanged while Villani was disposing of the body. Both were arrested and charged in connection with the death. Did anyone in the community have contact with Trupal in early February 2017 or see his Jaguar in Asbury Park?