Venezuelan-native Monica Spear was an award-winning actress and beauty pageant titleholder. She moved to the United States with her family as a teenager. As an adult she returned to Venezuela to launch an entertainment career. She used her celebrity status to raise funds for domestic violence victims and those affected by autism. She spoke publicly about her reluctance to live in the midst of Venezuela’s violence and instability. She became a victim of that environment. At the age of twenty nine, she was killed, along with her ex-husband, by highway bandits while on vacation in Venezuela. Their young daughter was injured but survived the attack. Protesters and Venezuelan reform activists use her image and story as part of their campaigns against violence. Her telenovelas continue to air on Venezuelan and Spanish-language television programs, often in the context of fundraising and awareness raising events. Tributes to Spear abound on YouTube and popular media sites as she remains a popular figure. She has attained an iconic status as a martyr in Venezuela's battle against violence and crime.