CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. (WROC) — The three stood in the cold night next to the car they drove from Minnesota straight to the State Police barracks in Canandaigua, New York, clutching each other and crying.
A mother and her two children now trying to live in a world without her third child.
“He would give you the shirt off his back, Linda Nordquist, the mother of Sam Nordquist, 24, told NewsNation affiliate WROC. “Very kind, loved his family, loved his nieces and nephew, very outgoing, worked hard.”
Linda says she told her son not to travel to New York for a girl, but he did anyway.
That was in September.
“The last time I talked to Sam was January 1, and Sam said, it was real short, said ‘I love you, I’ll call you tomorrow,’ and I have not talked to Sam since,” Linda said. “It’s heartbreaking, I’m devastated, I’ve cried so much, my children have cried so much. This is Sam’s brother and sister, and they’re just devastated. We are a small but very close family.”
At a news conference Friday, New York State Police said Sam — a transgender man originally from Minnesota who was reported missing on February 9 — had been found dead in a field in Yates County.
Police said Sam had been staying in room 22 at Patty’s Lodge motel in Hopewell.
Because of the ongoing investigation, authorities have not been able to release many details. They did, however, share that what was found in the room shook veteran police to the core.
“Early December 2024 to February 2025, Sam was subjected to repeated acts of violence and torture in a manner that ultimately led to his death,” Captain Kelly Swift of the New York State Police Troop E Bureau of Investigation, said during Friday’s press conference.
They arrested and charged five people, all from New York, with murder in the second degree: Kyle Sage, 33, of Rochester; Patrick Goodwin, 30, of Canandaigua; Emily Motyka, 19, of Lima; Jennifer Quijano, 30, of Geneva; and Precious Arzuago, 38, of Canandaigua.
Linda told WROC that Sam traveled to New York for Arzuago.
“They can rot,” Linda said. “They are scum, they are evil, I don’t know how somebody can be that evil.”
She wonders if Sam being transgender was the motive.
“I don’t know, I don’t want to speculate, but it’s some type of hate crime,” she said, adding that she is filled with anger, grief, and shock.
“It’s just going to take some time, we just have to be there as a family, be strong for one another, I don’t know,” Linda said. “I’m at a loss for words, I don’t know what to say, what to feel, it hasn’t hit me quite yet.”
Until it does, Linda will use small things like the stuffed animals on her dash she and Sam collected in their travels to remind her of the good that came before the evil.
All five defendants have been arraigned. Asked if this was a hate crime, the Ontario County District Attorney said he had not ruled that out.