A Minnesota man was set to meet the woman of his dreams in the fall of 2024 after connecting on TikTok. Sam Nordquist bought a round-trip ticket to Rochester, N.Y., where he expected to stay for two weeks.
But he never saw his Oakdale home again.
Linda Nordquist said she witnessed her 24-year-old son falling head over heels with his new girlfriend.
“They were literally on the phone, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, they would sleep on that phone,” she said.
Linda Nordquist said she spoke with Precious Arzuaga and she seemed nice. But Sam’s sister Kayla Nordquist was not a fan of the 14-year age gap between the two, she said. And the mother and sister both disagreed with Sam’s planned trip to visit Arzuaga in upstate New York.
“I really didn’t want Sam to go. I said, ‘you don’t know anybody there. We’ve never been in New York. We don’t know nothing about it. You’d have no friends, no family there.’”
Sam, the youngest of his mother’s three children, pushed back, according to Linda Nordquist.
“You have to let me grow up and spread my wings,” Sam Nordquist told his mother.
“So I said ‘fine,’” she said.
In late September, Linda Nordquist said her goodbyes at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
“I took Sam to the airport, gave him a kiss on the cheek, told him be safe and to check in with me. He said, ‘I will.’”
The day of his return flight — Oct. 12 — came and went. No Sam.
Everything was fine at the beginning of the trip, Linda Nordquist said. But the calls became less frequent, and his family started to worry — to the point where Kayla Nordquist asked Sam for a video of him and Arzuaga as proof of life.
“I promise you I’m not hurting your brother. I would never hurt him. I really love your brother,” Arzuaga said directly to the camera in the recording.
A more than 2-minute video appears to show Precious and Sam in her home. Sam doesn’t speak much in the video, and Precious has her arm around Sam.
“I’ve never put your brother in a situation where he feels he’s scared. I just love him, and I care for him a lot,” Arzuaga said in the video.
In February 2025, Linda Nordquist reported her son missing. Four days later on Feb. 13, she and her adult children were on the road to New York’s Finger Lakes region to help in the search.
Linda brought a bullhorn so Sam could hear their voices during the search. She also had some of Sam’s clothing for the dogs involved in the search to sniff his scent.
Then, a call came in from New York law enforcement, Kayla Nordquist said. “I remember the words, ‘I’m sorry, but we found a body,’” she recalled.
Police said Sam Nordquist was physically and sexually assaulted. He was also psychologically abused. His body was found wrapped in black trash bags.
Seven people including Arzuaga and her adult son, Thomas Eaves, are accused of torturing and killing Sam Nordquist. The other defendants are Jennifer A. Quijano, Kyle R. Sage, Patrick Goodwin, Emily Motyka and Kimberly Sochia.
They have all pleaded not guilty. Arzuaga was also charged with two counts of coercion for forcing her two children, then aged 7 and 12, to participate in Nordquist’s torture.
New York investigators say Sam Nordquist was held against his will for about a month in Arzuaga’s apartment at Patty’s Lodge. They estimate he died Feb. 2 due to the multiple injuries he sustained.
“Our investigators executed a search warrant at Patty’s Lodge room number 22 in the town of Hopewell as part of an investigation into the disappearance of Sam Nordquist,” Capt. Kelly Swift said in a press conference after the body was discovered. “Our investigation has revealed a deeply disturbing pattern of abuse that ultimately resulted in Sam’s tragic death.”
The suspects allegedly moved his body in an attempt to conceal the crime, investigators said.
“The facts and the circumstances of this crime are beyond depraved. This is by far the worst homicide investigation that our office has ever been a part of it,” former Ontario County District Attorney Jim Ritts said.
Former first Assistant District Attorney Kelly Wolford said Sam was restrained and had no access to his phone.
“He was denied proper nutrition and hydration. He was fed feces. He was forced to drink urine and chew spit. They physically restrained him. They forced him to obey their commands, treating him like a dog,” Wolford said.
An Ontario County Grand Jury charged each defendant with first degree murder. This charge carries the most significant penalty under New York state law, according to Wolford.
“It’s a rare circumstance where we stand before you and charge this subdivision of murder in the first degree, where it alleges that somebody was tortured to death,” she said.
The charge, she added, specifically requires that prosecutors prove that the defendants tortured Sam Nordquist.
“And that they did so because they enjoyed it. That’s what murder in the first degree is,” Wolford said.
All seven defendants will be tried separately and the first case set for trial will be Arzuaga’s in September. The other six have not been scheduled yet, but Eaves, Arzuaga’s son, and another defendant will appear in court April 22.
Nordquist was an Black transgender man. Some have asked why hate crime charges have not been applied against the defendants. Wolford said the case is bigger than a hate crime.
“Sam was beaten, assaulted, sexually abused, starved, held captive and we cannot make sense of that. We cannot put that on his gender, and we cannot put that on his race,” she said during a press conference last year. “And I know many will ask the question, why? Well, as I stand here today as a human being, we’ll never know the answer, why. Because what human being could do, what happened to Sam.”
It’s been just over a year since Sam’s funeral, but his memory is still alive. His case made its way to all corners of the world. Linda Nordquist said people from all over — Africa, Ireland, Australia, just to name a few — have reached out to the family. A 1,500-member “Justice for Sam” Facebook page was created and Linda and Kayla Nordquist are active members.
But keeping his memory alive means remembering the trauma of their loss as well. Kayla Nordquist said it’s been tough.
“A whole year has gone by, and my heart feels the same. It’s completely shattered since the day I found out that he was gone,” she said. “I don’t think any amount of time will ever put it back together. I’m still heartbroken.”
The horrifying details of the case haunt seemingly average aspects of the Nordquists' daily lives.
“A year has passed, and I still have not been able to smell bleach without wanting to throw up.”
The seven defendants used bleach on Sam, according to the indictment, so they won’t use it. And Linda said she avoids certain trash bags that look like the ones wrapped around Sam's body.
“Me and Kayla won’t use a black garbage bag with gray handles. I have turquoise,” she said.
Linda Nordquist, Kayla Nordquist and her three children recently drove to New York for some meetings with the new Ontario County District Attorney and his staff. They also visited a willow tree planted last June for Sam Nordquist. It’s right on Canandaigua Lake, one of the main Finger Lakes.
Rochester, New York-area supporters of Sam Nordquist and his family have raised money for them after his death. Some advocates are working to honor Sam Nordquist again with a Japanese cherry blossom tree to be planted in Oakdale — where he lived with his mother.
When all seven trials are over, Linda Nordquist plans to move out of the home she shared with her son, she said.
“When I do move, I am taking pictures of Sam’s bedroom, and I’m gonna have it replicated,” Linda Nordquist said. “It’ll be how he has it. In a new place.”
Sam’s mother and sister said they will attend every trial in his case.
