Faith Hedgepeth case: Miguel Salguero-Olivares murder trial following death of UNC student

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) — Fourteen years after UNC student Faith Hedgepeth was found murdered in her Chapel Hill apartment and five years after he was charged with the crime, Miguel Salguero-Olivares is on trial.

Hedgepeth’s roommate and another friend found her partially naked and beaten to death in her bedroom on September 7, 2012.

The case remained unsolved until September 16, 2021, when Chapel Hill police announced Salguero-Olivares’ arrest.

According to court documents, Salguero-Olivares was on investigators’ radar for Hedgepeth’s murder.

Authorities used DNA ancestry technology to track down Hedgepeth’s killer using DNA found in her rape kit, a bottle of wine and a white takeout bag, with a vulgar message written by the killer.

The technique helped identify the suspect’s distant family members, who shared his genetic information, according to the report. Those relatives gave interviews and their DNA, which investigators said helped identify Salguero-Olivares.