Two Women Accused Of Killing Maryland Woman Captured After Stranger Realized They Were Murder Suspects

A nationwide manhunt for two women accused of murdering a Maryland woman came to an unexpected end hundreds of miles away in Ohio after a stranger who had tried to help them recognized their names from news reports.

Authorities say 67-year-old Hilde Henderson was found dead inside her apartment at a senior living community in Silver Spring, Maryland, after Montgomery County police conducted a welfare check on May 26. Investigators had been asked to check on Henderson’s well-being after concerns were raised when no one had heard from her.

When officers entered the apartment on the 1300 block of Fenwick Lane, they discovered Henderson dead. According to police, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner later determined she had died from blunt force trauma and ruled her death a homicide. Detectives believe Henderson had been dead for approximately four days before her body was discovered.

As the investigation progressed, police identified Henderson’s own daughter, 29-year-old Vanessa Wahanganisa Tjongarero-Henderson of Clarksburg, Maryland, and the daughter’s girlfriend, 36-year-old Samantha Raebel of Phoenix, Arizona, as suspects in the killing. Arrest warrants charging both women with first-degree murder were issued, and authorities released their photographs while launching a nationwide search.

The case took a dramatic turn in Genoa, Ohio.

According to reports, a local woman named Adrienne Behrman encountered the pair after they claimed they were homeless and in need of help. Wanting to assist, she invited them to stay at her apartment. But as conversations continued, Behrman said the women’s stories began to fall apart.

Her friend, Nikki Peters, also became suspicious after noticing that a Cash App request connected to one of the women displayed a different last name than the one she had been given. Curious, Peters searched the name online and quickly discovered wanted notices identifying the pair as fugitives accused of murder.

“I almost passed out,” Peters told local media after realizing who they had been helping.

Behrman immediately called 911, allowing law enforcement to move in and arrest both women without further incident. She later said she was grateful authorities were able to take them into custody before anyone else was harmed.

Following their arrests, Tjongarero-Henderson and Raebel were booked into the Ottawa County Detention Center in Ohio, where they remain while awaiting extradition back to Maryland.

Investigators have not publicly disclosed what evidence led them to identify the two women as suspects, nor have they announced a possible motive in Hilde Henderson’s death.

What is clear is that a case that began with a welfare check in Montgomery County ended because two ordinary citizens trusted their instincts, searched a name online, and alerted authorities.