In November 2024, a man named Frank read the diary of his teenage daughter. In it, Mihaela “Bella” Gabriela Sorescu wrote about how much she “hated” her mother. Given the dynamic between many mothers and their teen daughters, this admission might not have been all that shocking. But Sorescu’s diary was even more disturbing.
The man’s daughter wrote that she wanted to kill her mom. Tragically, months later, with the help of a friend, Sorescu allegedly went through with her plan. Her mom, 47-year-old Andreea Mottram, was found dead after being stabbed 14 times.
Police have arrested both teens.
On March 23, 2025, a member of the cleaning staff found Mottram’s body in a VRBO vacation rental property in Washington City, Utah, Washington County Attorney’s office reported in a statement. Days later on Friday, April 4, the police announced the arrest of 17-year-old Abigael “Jay” Flanagan and Mottram’s daughter, 16-year-old Mihaela Gabriela “Bella” Sorescu. They have both been charged in Mottram’s murder.
Mottram was visiting her daughter.
Days before her body was found, Mottram traveled from Las Vegas, Nevada, to visit Sorescu, who was staying in a treatment facility in Utah. According to The Independent, Flanagan made the trip with Mottram. But the two would not leave together.
When police arrived at the vacation rental, they found that Mottram had been stabbed 14 times. There were no signs of forced entry. In the property, police also found phones they believed belonged to Mottram and Flanagan in the bathroom. There was also a purse with Mottram’s ID inside.
“These items appear to have been placed in the toilet and attempted to be flushed in an effort to conceal evidence and/or delay apprehension,” affidavits of probable cause published by the Washington County Attorney’s office said.
There was evidence all over the rental.
There were several knives on the scene, including one that had been washed in the sink. Still, it contained trace amounts of blood on it. There was a pair of crumpled up pants in another bathroom that also had blood on it. The pants, had “what appeared to be a bloody imprint of a knife blade,” the attorney’s office said. Police believe the pants belong to Sorescu.
Mottram had been dead for a day before authorities got to her.
Authorities found the car Mottram rented to visit her daughter with the help of a license plate reader in Paramount, California, 400 miles away from Washington City. A medical examiner determined that by the time authorities found her body, she’d been dead for 24 hours. On March 27, police found both Flanagan and Sorescu in Los Angeles. They likely met at the treatment facility. Sorescu had been enrolled there for the past three years. Flanagan was there for at least a year before her family removed her.
Colleagues remember Mottram as an ‘incredible force.’
Court documents allege that there was probable cause to suspect that one or both of the teens played a role in Mottram’s death and then tried to destroy evidence by flushing it down the toilet. Both face charges of first-degree murder, obstruction of justice, and theft of a motor vehicle, People reports.
In the wake of all this, friends and colleagues have chosen to remember Mottram, a social worker, originally from Romania, fondly. The American Romanian Coalition for Human and Equal Rights (Archer), of which Mottram was a co-founder, said her spirit was “boundless” via Facebook.
“To many of us, she was a mentor, a friend, and a source of strength in difficult times. Her wisdom, especially when it came to motherhood and advocacy, left an indelible mark. Her words and actions have shaped lives, and her legacy will continue through the work we do every day. “
