Fears: 12-year-old Texas girl may have been gang raped before being murdered under a bridge during a two-hour ordeal after mugshots of suspected illegal immigrants were released

Horrifying new details have emerged in the investigation into the murder of a 12-year-old girl who was found strangled in a Texas creek just hours after sneaking out of her home.

Jocelyn Nungaray’s body was found floating in a bayou near her Houston home on Monday after she sneaked out of the house at 10 p.m.

Two suspects, Johan Jose Martinez Rangel, 22, and Franklin Jose Pena Ramos, 26, were charged with capital crimes.

According to police, the two, who were staying in the United States illegally from Venezuela, allegedly lured Jocelyn under a bridge and held her there for more than two hours. After they tied her up and took off her pants, she was presumably gang raped.

When the duo finished their depraved deeds, they allegedly killed the child by strangling him before dumping his body into Greenpoint Creek.

Prosecutors say the case would not qualify for the death penalty unless There is evidence that the girl was sexually abused.

Investigators are still waiting for the results of tests to confirm whether Jocelyn was raped.

Both Rangel and Ramos were detained by the U.S. Border Patrol in recent months but were released. It is not clear when the two entered the country.

According to ICE, Rangel was stopped by Border Patrol near El Paso on March 14 but was released with a summons.

Months later, Ramos was also arrested near El Paso on May 28. A judge ordered him to appear in court later. Both men are now in the Harris County Jail.

The Harris County District Attorney’s Office is asking for bail of $1 million for each.

Police had released photos of two suspicious people who were seen with Jocelyn a few hours before her death after she sneaked out of her house late Sunday night.

Officials said the suspects lived on the same block as the girl and collided with the minor daughter as she walked with her to a supermarket.

Surveillance camera footage shows her calling her 13-year-old boyfriend from the supermarket around midnight and later entering the store.

Speaking to ABC13, passerby Billie Jackson explained how he found the girl’s body.

“I drove by and when I looked up the creek I thought it was a mannequin. I made a U-turn, stopped on the bridge, turned on my blinkers, looked down and realized it was someone. I parked right here and immediately called 911.”

Jocelyn’s grieving mother, Alexis Nungary, is struggling to come to terms with what has happened.

“It’s like it’s not real,” she told Click2Houston. “I keep hearing everything, and I hear it, but I don’t understand it.”

She remembered telling her daughter on Sunday not to stay up too late as she would be going to her job the next day. They were the last words she ever spoke to her daughter.

Alexis said she noticed Jocelyn’s cat “going crazy” at 3 a.m. Monday, but she assumed the cat was with her daughter, who always slept with her pet at night.

It was only when she woke up at 6 a.m. and woke her five-year-old son and Jocelyn as usual that she realized her daughter was missing.

Alexis also said she didn’t know why Jocelyn sneaked out of the house, but noted that she had been struggling with her mental health over the past few months.

“I don’t know why, what made her walk around here at night,” Alexis said.

“I always told her never to leave the house, never to leave her unattended and always to be careful. There are crazy people here. I don’t think she ever expected to experience something like this.”

She and other family members described the teenager as a loving and caring child.

Her uncle Joamel said, “Jocy was a smart, loving and caring young lady. She brightened up the room every time she passed by and was loved by everyone around her.”

Alexis also described her as the “best friend” who was “very silly.” “She had ambitions for life,” Alexis said. “She loved everyone, was so kind.”

Alexis said she suspects the two men either live in the apartment complex or walked to the store from a nearby national park.

“I want karma to hit her. I’m angry,” Alexis added. “They took advantage of her.”

“She’s so young, she’s 12. I want justice. I want anyone who saw her to please call the police. They took my baby away from me.”

A GoFundMe campaign has now been set up to finance Jocelyn’s funeral, and as of Friday evening, it has already raised nearly $40,000.

“Her family was not prepared for such a loss and (needs) help to give their daughter the memory she deserves, to honor her memory and to say our final goodbyes,” it said.