Models Nikki Coats, Maleesa Mooney found dead in luxury LA homes just days apart

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Two models have been found dead in their luxury apartments in downtown Los Angeles just two days apart and less than a mile from each other — and one of the late women’s families fear that there is a killer on the loose.

Nichole “Nikki” Coats, 32, was found in her apartment on Grand Avenue after police responded to a call from relatives who were unable to reach her on Sept. 10, the LA Times reported.

Coats’ death is not being investigated as a homicide, citing police and the LA County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner.

But her family told KTLA that her bed was found bloodied.

“This is senseless and I want some answers because my daughter is gone,” Sharon Coats, Nikki’s mother, told the outlet. “And it’s not fair. I want everybody to find out who did this to her. She shouldn’t be gone.”

Two days later, Maleesa Mooney, 31, was found dead in her Bunker Hill apartment on South Figueroa Street on Sept. 12, Fox LA reported.

Her death is being investigated as a homicide, police said.

It’s unclear if the two deaths are linked.

Mooney, a real estate agent, stopped responding to text messages and calls from her worried family.

“When a week went by, we just knew something was off,” her cousin Bailey Babb told KTLA. “Her messages weren’t delivering and we knew something was up because we all have a special relationship with Maleesa.”

Her sister Jourdin Pauline described the tragic model as a kind, loving person and said she had no idea who would want to kill her. 

“Maleesa has always been someone who is a peacemaker in our family, someone that’s always been the backbone, and making sure everyone’s getting together, loving on each other,” Pauline told the outlet.

“So this is a really big piece of us that’s gone now,” she added.

The cause of Mooney’s death remains unknown pending an autopsy, according to the LAPD, which is seeking the public’s help in identifying a possible suspect.

Meanwhile, Coats’ devastated family has expressed its frustration about a lack of information from investigators.

Coats was last heard from when she told friends she was going out on a date on Sept. 8, according to the outlet.

When she didn’t respond to calls and texts, her family went to her apartment on Sept. 10 and discovered her body at the gruesome scene.

“I couldn’t recognize her,” her aunt May Stevens told KTLA. “I believe it was murder, I really do. One of her legs was up in the air in a kicking position. That’s not somebody who just laid in their bed and died.”

Sharon said her daughter had no enemies but believes she was killed.

“I don’t know who she went out with or what transpired there,” the grieving mom told the outlet. “I have no idea but I’m going to find out. So if you’re out there, you’re going to get caught. You’re messing with the wrong person.”

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Coats’ cousin Sheniya Mason told ABC 7: “I was so distraught … I just felt like everything was moving in slow motion. And I still am in shock … in denial that she’s not here.”

She said the death “just didn’t look right to us … Didn’t look right how she was positioned in the bed. She was even unrecognizable … as if she’d been beat.

“They had to (identify) her by her tattoos,” Mason said.

She wondered about whether there was a link between the two deaths.

“We just want to know what happened … It just doesn’t seem right … Is there a correlation between these two females? Is there a correlation?” she told the station.

“They were both almost in the same area … we need to make sure that this isn’t something else because it just didn’t seem right,” Mason added.

The family also expressed its concerns that a serial killer might strike another woman.

“I feel that there’s a predator loose,” Stevens told KTLA.

Coats was mourned on a GoFundMe page.

“Nikki’s vibrant personality was one that touched and affected everyone she crossed paths with. She is known as an amazing daughter, friend and soul. Her untimely passing has left us shocked,” organizer John Clark wrote.

“There’s no way we could have imagined or prepared for this difficult time,” he added.

The cases remain under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 1-877-527-3247.

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