A homicide investigation is underway in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, after the body of a 23-year-old woman was discovered inside an apartment in Telford, a case that has left both family members and residents searching for answers.
Maria Popol, 23, was found dead shortly after midnight on Sunday, March 15, inside an apartment located above a restaurant on the 100 block of North Main Street on the Bucks County side of Telford Borough. Police responded to the location after receiving a 911 call reporting an unresponsive person. When officers from the Telford Borough Police Department arrived, they found Popol inside the apartment. An autopsy conducted later in the week by the Bucks County Coroner’s Office determined that her manner of death was homicide.
Authorities have not released details about how Popol died, and police have not publicly identified any suspects. Officials have also stated they do not believe there is any threat to the broader community.
The apartment where Popol was found sits above Frida’s Mexican Taqueria along Main Street. County Line Road runs through Telford and is known locally as Main Street; properties on one side of the road are in Bucks County, while homes and businesses across the street are in Montgomery County.
The discovery of Popol’s body drew the attention of residents in the quiet borough, where neighbors say incidents of this nature are extremely rare. Rebecca Kaelan, who lives nearby, described the unusual activity she saw that night.
“It was about 1 a.m. and I look outside and there’s a whole bunch of cops over by the little Mexican restaurant that’s down there. Mind you, we never have anything going on in our town. Ever,” Kaelan said in an interview with NBC10.
The police presence continued into the early morning hours.
“Six a.m., more cops are showing up and then they start taping it off and we can’t figure out anything that’s going on. They don’t tell anybody anything,” she said.
Although police have reassured residents that the situation does not pose a danger to the public, some neighbors remain uneasy and want additional information about what happened.
“We’d like to know more information about what’s going on and what the whole situation was,” Kaelan said. “Because just saying a suspicious death doesn’t tell us anything. It doesn’t make us feel any safer.”
Telford Borough police initially described the case as a “suspicious” death in a social media post Sunday morning. That post also stated that there was “no danger to the public.” Borough police Chief Randall Floyd later directed further questions to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office.
On Thursday, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office confirmed that Popol’s death is being treated as a homicide following the autopsy findings.
According to family members, Popol was originally from Guatemala and moved to the United States about two years ago in pursuit of better opportunities. Her cousin Edwin Popol said she had come to the country chasing the American dream and hoping to help those back home.
“She was always open to help everybody like she used to do with her parents,” Edwin Popol said.
Another relative, Herlinda Popol, described her as a kind and hardworking young woman who was devoted to her family.
“I telling you, only nice person, she’s not bad. She’s coming here for work, for help the family, for support the fathers and parents,” Herlinda Popol said.
After arriving in the United States, Popol initially lived in New Jersey with her brother. Family members said she later relocated to Pennsylvania approximately nine months ago with a boyfriend and moved into the apartment on Main Street where her body was eventually discovered.
“In this apartment, my cousin and this man only living in there,” Herlinda Popol said.
Relatives have said they did not know the boyfriend well and have not been able to reach him since Popol’s death.
Popol worked as a server at Don Leo Restaurant and Grocery in Telford, where coworkers described her as reliable and dedicated to her job. Margie Dominguez, who worked alongside Popol, said her final shift was on March 6.
“She was very dedicated to work. She was always on time,” Dominguez said.
March 6, 2026, was also the last time family members said they heard from Popol. She had been looking forward to attending a gathering on Saturday, March 7, but she never showed up, raising concerns among coworkers and friends.
Dominguez recalled receiving text messages that initially seemed to explain why Popol was late.
“I receive some text message saying that she was gonna be late, and she was moving, that’s why she was gonna be late,” Dominguez said.
Later, those messages appeared suspicious.
“And then, after that we found out that it wasn’t her talking to us probably,” she said.
Family members also shared a photograph taken at 12:12 a.m. on March 7, which they believe shows Popol alive for the last time.
Relatives said she had packed her belongings and found a new place to live before her disappearance. However, it remains unclear how or why she returned to the Main Street apartment where she was later found dead.
Posts circulating online from people promoting a GoFundMe campaign stated that Popol had been missing for several days before police discovered her body on March 15.
The fundraiser, created Tuesday by a woman identifying herself as Popol’s cousin, Leslie Escobar, refers to the victim as “Bemarda Popol Guerra” and describes the tragedy.
“She was just 22 years old; barely a day before her 23rd birthday, a ruthless individual snatched her life away,” the GoFundMe summary reads.
The message also explains that Popol’s parents remain in Guatemala and are struggling with the devastating news.
The post said the victim’s parents are in Guatemala “devastated and crying out for justice; we urgently need financial assistance to repatriate her body to our home country.”
By late Thursday afternoon, the campaign had raised more than $4,200 to help return Popol’s remains to Guatemala.
As investigators continue working to determine exactly what happened in the days leading up to Popol’s death, family members, coworkers, and friends say they are hoping for justice.
Authorities are asking anyone with information about Maria Popol’s death to contact Bucks County Detectives at 215-348-6354 or Telford Borough Detectives at 215-723-6700 as the homicide investigation continues.
