Murder Mystery: What Happened to Janet Abaroa?
Sept. 2, 2009— -- A murder mystery played out in the suburbs of Durham, N.C., in April 2005, when Janet Abaroa, a beautiful, 26-year-old northern Virginian, was stabbed to death in her own home.
Four years later, despite the lack of arrests, Janet's family and police continue to search for clues.
The woman's family members believes they know what happened to her that night, and all their suspicions point toward her former husband, Raven Abaroa. Those suspicions were bolstered recently when Raven and his second wife separated and she went public with her fear that he might somehow have been involved in his first wife's death.
Raven Abaroa has said he discovered his dead wife's body in the bedroom of their Durham home after he returned from playing soccer that evening. Nothing else in the house was disturbed, authorities say. The couple's 6-month-old son, Kaiden, was left unharmed in another room.
Janet Christiansen, the seventh of 10 siblings, came from a solid Mormon family. At Southern Virginia University, in Buena Vista, where she played soccer, she met Raven Abaroa in 1998, a fellow soccer player who instantly swept her off her feet.
"She was beautiful, attractive. ... I just felt so much comfort when I was with her," Abaroa said in an interview with the TV show "NC Wanted" in 2007. "And we started this journey of getting to know each other and it was an amazing journey."
Janet Abaroa's sister, Erika Bakey, recalled how her sister was enamored of Raven. Both were 19 and enthusiastic soccer players. "She always talked about if they had any kids, they were going to be fantastic soccer players because both of them were," Bakey said.
In August 2000, after two years together, Janet and Raven married at the Mormon temple in Washington, D.C. Settling in south eastern Virginia, her friends and family thought that life for the newlywed couple was perfect.
CLICK HERE to see photos of the couple through the years.
However, soon after, a job opportunity moved the couple to Durham, where they both took positions at a major sports apparel company. Janet's sisters told ABC News that at the time, the couple was beginning to have some marital problems.
