Family Of Slain Teen Establishes Funeral Fundraiser

CHESAPEAKE BEACH, MD — Family members of a Calvert County teen found dead last week in the city of Baltimore are dealing with the second loss of a child in two years. The parents of Danielle Valerie Gunson, 18, from Owings, lost their son and Danielle's older brother, Shane, four years and four days ago, according to an online post made Saturday.

Investigators believe she was targeted and was not the victim of a random act of violence. A GoFundMe page entitled Danielle Gunsons Memorial has been established to help pay for her funeral expenses. As of Monday afternoon, about $7,400 has been donated toward a goal of $15,000.

"As many of you have heard, Danielle was recently taken from us tragically at the young age of 18. She had so much life to live and it was stolen from her so unexpectedly," wrote Brianna Gunson on the GoFundMe site. "We are asking if you have any amount to help us towards funeral costs it would be appreciated on so many levels. As some of you remember, our family also unexpectedly lost Danielle's older brother Shane exactly 4 years and 4 days ago. As you can imagine the heartbreak as a parent, sibling or other family member ,this is very heartbreaking to our family and having a mother bury another child so soon."

Danielle Gunson was reported missing on Sept. 27 and police say she may have been in Anne Arundel County when she disappeared. That morning, Anne Arundel County Police and Baltimore City Police responded to a report of a dead female near the 100 block of Riverside Road in the city of Baltimore, near Brooklyn Park. The unidentified woman suffered trauma to her torso and was the apparent victim of a homicide.

At 8:39 p.m. Thursday, Anne Arundel County Police took a missing persons report for Gunson, who was identified on Friday, Sept. 28, by the Baltimore City Homicide Unit as the victim from Riverside Road.

The Anne Arundel County and Baltimore City Homicide Units are investigating Gunson's disappearance and murder.

Anyone with information about Gunson's death is asked to call the Anne Arundel County Homicide Unit at 410-222-4731 or the Baltimore City Homicide Unit at 410-396-2100. To share tips anonymously, call the Anne Arundel County Police Tip Line at 410-222-4700 or Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7LOCKUP.

Click on the GoFundMe link to donate to the Gunson family. GoFundMe is a Patch business partner.

Photo of Danielle Gunson via GoFundMe