2 North Carolina men accused of drugging, raping Pennsylvania woman found dead in Miami hotel room

Wednesday, March 24, 2021
2 men accused of drugging, raping Pa. woman found dead in Miami hotel room
According to police, the body of Christine Englehardt, of Richboro, Bucks County, was found on March 18.

MIAMI, Fla. (WTVD) -- A 24-year-old Pennsylvania woman was found dead inside a South Beach Miami hotel room after two North Carolina men drugged and raped her, police said.

According to authorities, the body of Christine Englehardt was found on March 18. Surveillance cameras from the Albion Hotel on James Avenue show her with the two men around 1 a.m. that morning.

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Evoire Collier, 21, and Dorian Taylor, 24, both of Greensboro, were arrested during the weekend and charged with sexual battery and burglary. They are being held without bond.

The men are also accused of stealing her cell phone, cash and credit cards once Englehardt was unconscious, according to a judge.

Samantha DiFrancesco, a close friend of Englehardt's, said she was a "genuinely good person."

"She was the person you brought in that lit up the whole room. Her laugh was the most contagious laugh," DiFrancesco said.

Investigators said they believe Englehardt made contact with the suspects in a restaurant. One investigator said that a court surveillance video shows the suspects holding the victim up and that the video made it clear she was unable to consent.

"This is the last person I would ever think this would happen to. It just breaks your heart when you know she was a genuinely good person who would do anything for anybody. To think she went through what she went through, it's sickening; it's sick," DiFrancesco said.

Investigators said they believe the suspects gave the victim a green pill to drug her. The medical examiner has not made a ruling on the cause of death as authorities await toxicology results, officials said. If investigators find the pill that led to her death, the suspects could face manslaughter or murder charges.

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