Name: Maria Ortiz (Formerly known as Maria Santos)
Date of Birth: 18th May 1967
Date of Death: N/A
Maria Ortiz, the eldest of two was born in the Dominican on the 18th May 1967. Her mother is Spanish and her father was Dominican. Maria's younger sister still resides in the Dominican with her husband ad four children, not wanting to leave the country or their mother after their father's death.
Maria's early childhood was nothing out of the ordinary. She came from a well off family and did well in school. In 1986 Maria graduated from high school with the highest grades of her year. Against her family's wishes Maria was determined to attend university in the states. Throughout the last year of high school university had been a constant battle between her and her father. Miguel wanted her to remain at home where he could keep an eye on her and make sure she kept out of trouble. In her father's eyes out of trouble meant settling down with Juan, a well respected family friend who was three years her senior. Maria, though she cared for Juan it was not in the way her father wanted her to.
Completely determined to leave the country and start a life in America studying to become a nurse, Maria told her family they could either support her or not speak to her again, either way she was going. Maria and her father didn't speak for nearly a month, during that time Maria was accepted to a university in LA. Over the moon Maria booked her flight and began preparing to leave. The day before Maria was due to travel her father finally gave up his silence and a parting gift- his blessing. With amends made with her family Maria left for America in the beginning of January 1987.
Not entirely sure what to expect Maria was pleased when she arrived and found life in America everything she had dreamed about. Settling into uni life came easy. She made friends and studied hard putting her at the top of her class just weeks into the semester. Unexpectedly Joe, a fellow nursing student and friend caught her eye. Maria, who had never dated through high school due to focusing on her studies, was torn about her feelings. Joe was more then interested in maria and the two agreed to a trial run, which later down the track turned into a low key romance.
Between 1987- 1990 Joe and Maria shared an off-again on-again romance before Joe officially called it quits. He had seen what maria hadn't- Adrian, Maria's best friend of three years was head over heels in love with his girlfriend. It tok a couple of months after her break up with Joe before Maria finally admitted to herself, and Adrian, what she had been trying to forget- she was in love with Adrian.
It was just a few short years later in 1992 when Maria unexpectedly fell pregnant. In fear of what her family would do or say if they found out she was pregnant before marriage Adrian proposed to marry her. Even knowing it meant lying to her family about the baby she agreed and the two got married a month later in a quick low-key ceremony in the Dominican. When Maria's pregnancy was finally announced as far as everyone knew she was two months earlier then she actually was. Given that her family lived so far away and their friends were supportive after finding out the truth, no one suspected anything different and it was a relief for the young couple.
On December 15th 1992 at age of twenty four and twenty five, the couple welcomed their baby girl- Leticia Maree Ortiz, affectionately nicknamed Letty.
The stress of having a young family to support put strain financially on the couple. Despite her protests Adrian had made the decision to give up his final year of university, leaving his degree unfinished in order to obtain a full time job. Maria continued her education though it was via correspondence as she had Letty through the day. In an attempt to help she also got a small part time job working nights at a diner when Adrian wasn't working.
Maria graduated a few years later, gaining a job at the local hospital that allowed her to work during school hours. Adrian, having given up altogether on his business/ law degree worked as a mechanic in a small business. In 1998 by the time Letty turned six, Maria and Adrian decided to move to a new area that was closer to Letty's new school. The two storey house located in Echo Park was small but enough for just the three of them, Maria and Adrian having agreed not long after Letty's birth not to have any more children.
It was then that the pair met their neighbours, the Toretto's. They were a small family, one boy named Dominic who was older then Letty by three years and a little girl named Mia who was three years younger. The two girls hit it off despite the age difference, Letty protective of the little girl much to the delight of their parents. Dom however didn't like her hanging around him while Letty liked to follow him around everywhere. Maria and Isabella, who was suffering with cancer at the time, liked to joke there may be something between Letty and Dom in the future. Adrian would often shoot them down not liking the idea of his little girl dating any time soon.
After Isabella's death in 1998 Maria and Adrian became surrogates for the two Toretto children, doting on them as much as they did with Letty. Despite her reassurances Adrian still wasn't keen on the idea of Dominic hanging around his daughter, convinced it wouldn't lead them to anything good as he got older.
The years seemed to pass by slowly for the family of three, all settling into life at their new home. It wasn't until 2002 that things started to change. The garage that Adrian was working at closed down suddenly due to finances, leaving Adrian without a job. Adrian spent the following months searching for a job, and with Maria's insistence went to Tony in the hopes he could help. Tony, who was running the shop by himself as it was couldn't afford another mechanic and Adrian was forced to continue looking.
By the end of 2002 Adrian still hadn't found a job and interviews were few and far between. Though the small family could survive well enough on Maria's weekly wage Maria knew he felt like a failure.
By 2004 Maria had started started to notice the changes in Adrian. It seemed as if he had hit an all time low since it had been two years since he'd had a job. Despite her best attempts to tell him everything would be okay Adrian started to lash out at her. What first started as yelling matches between the couple soon escalated to violence. Towards the end of 2007 Maria had had enough and with help from Tony she'd organised to leave him. Maria's last straw and also Adrian's wake up call had come while being completely sober- He'd hit his daughter. Knowing things had to change if he wanted to save his relationship he agreed to go to rehab and get help, begging Letty for forgiveness.
It was a few short hours after Tony had dropped Adrian off at rehab when Maria received a phone call- Adrian had checked himself out. Not wanting to say anything to Letty who believed her father would get better, she rang Tony and the two began searching. It was a day later when Maria received the phone she had been dreading.Adrian was dead. ied n a fatal accident he had caused due to him being drunk at the wheel.
The months that followed after his death were trying for Maria and Letty. Maria had made the decision to take Letty back to the Dominican for the holiday. She had hopes that the time away would be good for Letty and give her time to recover. She was not surprised though when her daughter's way of recovering came in the form of one Dominic Toretto.
It was late 2010 and well after the death of Tony that Maria met James. At the time she had her hands full enough dealing with her depressed daughter, the death of two loves and her surrogate son in jail but James pulled her through it. the two married just months after Dom was released from prison. maria had made it clear from the start that she wasn't marrying unless he was at the wedding.
Not long after the wedding Maria and James moved away, a four hour drive away from Echo Park. Letty, who had been given the tough decision of either staying or relocating had chosen to stay with Dom and the small team they called a family. Maria, convinced it was best for daughter let her stay and live her life the way she wanted to.
After hearing of the LA heists Maria and Letty lost contact. At first Maria was convinced she was busy but after dropping by unexpected finding the house empty and deserted she realized her children had made a huge mistake.