Aimee Lafakis’ family knew something was off with the texts they were receiving from the 48-year-old woman’s phone.
Her 18-year-old daughter called police last Friday afternoon after she returned to the Brookhaven apartment she shared with Lakafis and found that her mother was gone. The woman’s SUV was still parked in the garage, her smartwatch was left on the kitchen counter and her dirty dishes were still sitting next to her bed.
The night before, at about 2 a.m., her ex-husband received suspicious texts from Lafakis’ number with a request to help clear her credit information, according to a newly released police report that details the woman’s disappearance. Those texts also made clear that Lafakis was “sitting on her bed alone” at the time.
But investigators do not believe Lafakis sent those messages.
The mother of two was found dead Sunday afternoon in a remote area east of Dacula, about 30 miles from her Brookhaven apartment. Gwinnett County police have accused her boyfriend, 43-year-old Brandon Wineinger, of killing the woman and trying to conceal her death by sending the texts on her behalf.
Wineinger has been jailed in DeKalb County since Saturday on other charges related to her disappearance. On Friday afternoon, Gwinnett police confirmed he is now facing additional charges of malice murder, felony murder and aggravated assault.
According to an arrest warrant, he allegedly used an unknown object to cause blunt force trauma to her head and placed pressure on her chest so that she couldn’t breathe.
“Aimee is loved by so many for her genuineness, loyalty and her love of life,” her family wrote in her online obituary. “Her family and friends were her whole world and she will be an inspiring presence in our lives forever.”
The relationship between Lafakis and Wineinger was new, and her family members described it as rocky, according to the police report. Her daughter told Brookhaven police there were recent incidents where he drove his truck into a garage door and another where he took Lafakis’ phone and threw it out of a car window.
A history of text messages found on the woman’s smartwatch also suggested conflict. Using the unlocked device, a Brookhaven officer saw an exchange between the couple where Lafakis accused Wineinger of being unfaithful. Another exchange suggested Wineinger showed up at her apartment Wednesday, but Lafakis turned him away, the officer said in the report.
Ultimately, it was Wineinger’s Nissan Frontier that led investigators to search the area of Drowning Creek Road, just off busy Ga. 316 on the Gwinnett-Barrow county line, where Lafakis’ body was found in an empty field.
The skeletal remains of 16-year-old Susana Morales were also found in the same area earlier this year. A Doraville police officer stands accused in Morales’ death.
Credit: Gwinnett County Police Department
Credit: Gwinnett County Police Department
According to the missing person report, Wineinger’s pickup was seen on license plate reading cameras in the area of Lafakis’ apartment multiple times in the days leading to her disappearance. Shortly after 5 a.m. Friday, it was seen leaving Brookhaven city limits headed toward Barrow County. It returned to the Chamblee area several hours later, police said in the report.
It was in that window investigators believe Lafakis was killed, sometime early Friday morning in the same area of Dacula, according to Wineinger’s warrant.
The texts to Lafakis’ ex-husband were not the only ones sent from her phone after she died. In a screenshot that police said Wineinger sent to the woman’s sister, it appeared Lafakis apologized to her boyfriend and said she was planning to have breakfast Friday with a friend.
Brookhaven police also have accused Wineinger of first-degree burglary, kidnapping, tampering with evidence and making a false report. He was arrested after being interviewed Saturday, before her body was found.
The Lafakis family is raising money for her two daughters on GoFundMe. The campaign had generated $17,000 of its initial $20,000 goal as of Friday.
A memorial service will be held Oct. 11 at 2 p.m. in the flower garden at the Braselton location of Memorial Park funeral home, with a reception to follow.
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