Bellamy Malaki Gamboa (born July 16, 1978) was a woman who disappeared from her apartment on July 1 2018. Her ex-boyfriend was convicted of her murder in 2022.
Background[]
Gamboa was a mother to two twin toddlers with her at-the-time boyfriend and two teenage children from a previous relationship.
A dedicated mother and dedicated to her children's lives, she spent most of her childhood in Japan, where her father, a Navy Sailor, was stationed in the 1990s. She joined it after high school and quit in 2000. She moved to Virginia Beach and was attending Tidewater Community College, hoping to become a licensed customs broker.
Case[]
Gamboa was last seen in Virginia Beach, Virginia, between 8:30 and 10:00 p.m. on July 1, 2018. She was reported missing the next day after she didn't show up for work in Norfolk, Virginia.
The same day, her gold 2005 Ford Focus was found parked next to a dumpster on Pickering Street near Lake Edward, around four miles away from her home. The driver's seat was pushed back further than it should've been for a driver of her height, and there was blood and vomit on the driver's side door. Her purse, wallet and identification were inside the car, but her keys were missing.
At the time of her disappearance, Gamboa lived in a townhouse near Diamond Springs Road, Virginia Beach, with her ex-boyfriend, twin toddlers, and teenage children from a previous relationship. Her relationship with her boyfriend at the time, Lamont Johnson, was very violent; in March 2017, the two had filed an emergency protective order against the other after two arguments turned physical; both cases were eventually dismissed. On July 28, Johnson was charged with the murder of Gamboa.
Johnson had confessed to shoving Gamboa down a flight of stairs during an argument, then strangling her to death after she threatened to have him jailed. He stated that he felt "relief" after her death and used his work computer and cellular phone to search for dumpster locations and garbage routes to hide her remains.
Johnson stated that he had wrapped Gamboa's body in a black comforter along with garbage bags. He put it in a dumpster behind a Dollar General and Pizza Hut in Chesapeake, Virginia. Investigators believe that it was taken to Hampton Landfill, where they searched but called it off in early August 2018. They took Johnson to trial without Gamboa's remains. Johnson went to trial for Gamboa's murder in 2022 and was convicted of second-degree murder.
Characteristics[]
- Black hair.
- Brown eyes.
- Tattoo of a band of roses on her upper right arm. (image below)
- Tattoo of a half-sleeve of roses on her upper left arm. (image below)
- Tattoo of a small flower on her right foot.
- Pierced ears and nose.
Gallery[]
Sources[]
- Bellamy Gamboa at NamUs
- Bellamy Gamboa at the Charley Project