HOMESTEAD, Fla. – A Homestead woman is facing a felony charge after Miami-Dade deputies say she staged a violent, armed kidnapping and assault — and later left behind a letter to her ex-boyfriend suggesting she “didn’t want to be a burden.”
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Jail records show Sandra Herlinda Gonzalez-Morales, 35, was arrested Monday and faces one count of making a false report concerning a capital felony.
Deputies said they were called to the area of Southwest 320th Street and 194th Avenue just before 3 a.m. on June 17, where Gonzalez-Morales was reportedly found lying face down next to her vehicle.
Her ex-boyfriend told deputies he had been searching for her after a relative said she sent a message claiming she was “being followed by a black vehicle,” according to an arrest report.
The report stated that she was taken to Baptist Health Homestead Hospital and was initially interviewed as a victim.
According to investigators, Gonzalez-Morales claimed she was cut off by a second vehicle, dragged from her car by two armed men in black clothing, and knocked unconscious.
She told deputies the men demanded to know the whereabouts of her ex-boyfriend and, upon realizing he wasn’t with her, one of them struck her in the back of the head and said, “This is for him,” the report stated.
However, investigators said they grew suspicious after finding inconsistencies in her account.
Surveillance footage from a nearby gas station showed her vehicle traveling normally and using a turn signal — with no other cars visibly following behind her, according to authorities.
Deputies also noted that her injuries were “superficial” and “not consistent” with the violent nature of the attack she described.
Additionally, a handwritten letter was found in her possession addressed to her ex-boyfriend, apologizing for being unfaithful and saying she “didn’t want to be a burden to him.”
Investigators reviewed the letter but confirmed that they “did not identify any signs of suicidal ideations within the letter.”
When asked about her whereabouts earlier that night, deputies said Gonzalez-Morales initially claimed that she had parked outside her ex-boyfriend’s family’s restaurant.
Later, they said she changed her story and said she had been across the street in a shopping plaza.
Surveillance footage from the restaurant did not show her vehicle in either location during the time she claimed to be there, according to deputies.
Authorities said they made repeated attempts to speak with Gonzalez-Morales for clarification until she met with investigators at the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office South District Station.
After being read her Miranda rights, deputies said Gonzalez-Morales made a confession that was redacted in her publicly-released arrest report.
As of Tuesday, she was being held on a $2,500 bond at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
