A distraught mother has pleaded with locals to stop pulling down a memorial to her daughter, who was investigated for ‘sexually grooming’ before she died in a car crash alongside three teenagers.
Alicia Montebello, 31, was killed when her red Toyota Corolla hatchback veered out of control and ploughed into a tree near Bochara in south-west Victoria on May 27.
The bodies of local Hamilton teens Meghan Fox, 14, Joshua Elmes, 15, and Lucas Gorzali, 14, were also found in the wreckage.
Following the tragedy, the Coles checkout supervisor’s mother Debbie Montebello, set up a simple memorial to her daughter at the crash site.
But the heartfelt tribute which reads ‘In loving memory of Alicia Jade Montebello forever loved. You will always be missed. RIP’, has since been torn down.
‘STOP STOP PLEASE,’ she wrote on a Hamilton residents’ Facebook group.
Alicia Montebello was charged with stalking and causing damage to the teenager’s car in February and was bailed on the condition she didn’t contact two teenage girls
The mother’s Facebook post that pleads with those living in the Hamilton region to stop tearing down a memorial to Alicia Montebello who died in a car crash on Saturday
‘I am begging the people of Hamilton to stop trashing our daughter n sister memorial site. Its killing us.
‘We know you are all angry at Alicia. But please stop. We are grieving n hurting too.’
‘…We all lost someone we love.’
Debbie said her youngest son, Jaryd, lives in Hamilton and ‘goes out every day n talks with his sister’ but when he noticed the plaque had been ripped down it left him ‘angry and devastated’.
The grieving mother’s plea for ‘peace’ was met with general agreement and sympathy.
‘I hope people respect this memorial, they aren’t doing this to her they are doing this to you and your family who have already suffered more than enough,’ one person replied.
Another said: ‘No matter what they feel towards everything, you all deserve peace.’
‘Really doesn’t matter who did what. Young lives were lost an people should be able to grieve in peace,’ a third added.
‘If the mother and brother want to put up memorial for there sister an daughter and the others, let them. Please wake up an stop destroying it.’
Alicia had pledged her love for a young teenage girl and posted several pictures of her kissing the youngster
Parents told police they feared their teenage daughter – who is not being identified by Daily Mail Australia – was being groomed for sex by Alicia Montebello (pictured)
Another girl, Jorja, 17, who was also in the crash alongside her sister Meghan, survived the horror ordeal and remains in hospital in a serious condition after suffering critical upper body injuries.
A haunting last picture of Jorja taken just days earlier shows her in the car passenger seat of the Corolla without a seatbelt on as it apparently speeds down the road.
The photograph, which appeared as the final image in Ms Montebello’s last TikTok video, posted on May 14, seems to have been taken by the driver while driving.
Police believe no-one in the car was wearing a seat belt at the time the horror crash, and parents had previously sounded warnings about Ms Montebello’s unsafe driving practices.
The Adelaide-born woman had twice been banned from driving after she was caught drunk driving an unregistered car and driving while disqualified.
Parents also told police they feared their teenage daughter – who is not being identified by Daily Mail Australia – was being groomed for sex by Ms Montebello.
Daily Mail Australia revealed a string of online messages from the adult to the teenager almost half her age, telling her: ‘I love you…I love you little one.’
In another post she added: ‘My best friend – I love you little one.’
In another message to the teenager after she posted a picture of herself in a party frock, Ms Montebello added: ‘Wow u in the blue dress gawjus.’
Ms Montebello was charged with stalking and causing damage to a teenager’s car in February and was bailed on the condition she didn’t contact two teenage girls.
But she had bombarded the teenager – who had been in a relationship with one of the teenage boys killed in the crash – with around 30 text messages in late March before turning up at her work.
A haunting last picture of Jorja Fox (above) taken just days before the crash shows her in the car passenger seat of the Corolla without a seatbelt on as it apparently speeds down the road
The mangled wreck of the Toyota Corolla that claimed the lives of four people with one other taken to hospital in a serious condition
On March 31, she posted a video on TikTok telling the teenagers: ‘I miss you – best friends forever and always. Love you guys. My world.’
In a second video the same day, she posted more pictures and added: ‘I promise that I will always be there for you somehow.
‘I will make it work. I love you guys xx’
She was arrested and charged with breaching her bail conditions when she was caught with the two teenagers in the early hours of the morning in Hamilton in April.
Alicia was fined $700 without conviction for willful damage, two counts of stalking, and four counts of contravening bail, reported the Warrnambool Standard.
Police are yet to reveal who was behind the wheel of the car at the time of the crash, with detectives hopeful Jorja Fox can help with inquiries when she’s well enough.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk