'There's So Many Questions': Family Of Woman Found Dead In Shawnee Hopeful For More Information

People describe a woman who went missing from Checotah and was found dead in Shawnee, as kind and loving.

Checotah Police say Christianna Laniel was reported missing in September of 2022. 

Her cousins say she was always a nice person and very giving, even when people weren't nice to her.

Police say the last person to see Christianna was a convenience clerk, and she told that clerk, she was leaving Checotah because she felt nobody wanted her there.

Christianna was from Colorado.

Her family says she was in foster care until about 6 years old when she started living with her cousins.

They call her Christy and say growing up with her, was special.

"Christy was an amazing person she was so funny; she was so smart like she didn't even have to try at anything, and she was naturally so smart," her cousin Katie Roy said.

One of Katie's favorite memories was the time Christy once decided to go trick-or-treating in the summer.

"She's just like I just want to, it sounds fun, we were like you're not going to get any candy doing that Christy, and she comes back maybe like 30 minutes later with like a bag full of candy, we were like 'How did she do that'," Katie said.

Her cousins say Christy had a hard life and she left Colorado about five years ago.

Checotah Police say she was homeless and lived in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Colorado.

"She just wanted to be happy, she was always just trying so hard, she would love everybody expecting it back, and she didn't always get that, it was sad," said her other cousin Jennifer Finger.

After leaving Checotah in September of 2022, her remains were found in Shawnee in December near a motel.

Police say her skull was found sitting on a trash bag.

Her family feels like they have some answers but not the whole story.

"It's harder now I feel like since the news has come out with the findings of her remains because there's so many questions I have, I'm more sad now knowing something horrible has happened to her," said Finger. 

Christy leaves behind a 10-year-old daughter.

The medical examiner will determine Christy's cause of death.

Shawnee Police are handling the investigation.