'We love you - forever': Tyra Banks pays tribute to America's Next Top Model contestant, 19, shot dead in 'drug shooting'

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America's Next Top Model host and mentor, Tyra Banks, has lead the tributes for a recent contestant on the reality series that was found murdered this week in what police say was a drug-related triple homicide.

Mirjana Puhar, 19, her boyfriend, Jonathan Cosme Alvarado, 23, and a friend, Jusmar Isiah Gonzaga-Garcia, 21, were found shot inside a home in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Tuesday afternoon.

'We are deeply saddened to learn of the tragic news about Mirjana Puhar. She was a vivacious and promising young woman,' Banks and ANTM executive producer Ken Mok said in a statement.

'Our hearts and prayers go out to her loved ones.' 

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Tributes: Mirjana Puhar, 19, was found shot dead alongside two men at a home in Charlotte, North Carolina on Tuesday. America's Next Top Model host Tyra Banks has spoken about the former contestant's death

'Deeply saddened': Banks, 41, also this put up this message on her Twitter about Puhar

Mentor: Puhar said she looked up to Banks, however alluded to issues in her past people didn't know about

Banks, 41, followed up the statement with a Tweet about Phuar, who moved to the U.S. from Serbia with her family to escape the Kosovo War when she was five.

Arrest: Emmanuel Rangel, 19, has been charged with the three deaths and another murder that occurred on Sunday

Puhar appeared on the 21st cycle of the reality TV show - which aired last year - but was eliminated in the 10th episode.

Emmanuel Jesus Rangel, 19, has been arrested and charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths, which police say were drug related, the Charlotte Observer reported. 

Police say the victims and their killer knew each other. 

Puhar had just moved in with Alvarado and Gonzaga-Garcia, TMZ reported. 

Authorities said they found the bodies after a tip from a 'source'. 

They have not said how the victims died but TMZ reported that the bodies were found after gunshots were heard.

While on the show, Puhar became close to a male model on the series - but he is not the man who was found killed on Tuesday.

After news of her death, the show's winner, Keith Carlos, tweeted: 'I Love You @mirjanapuhar #RIP' 

Top Model judge Miss J Alexander also tweeted following the tragic news, writing; 'Saddened to learn about #ANTM Cycle 21 contestant Mirjana Puhar's murder. Remembering her fondly. RIP' 

Star: Puhar appeared on the 21st cycle of the show, which aired last year, but left in the 10th week

Cosy: Puhar kisses fellow contestant Denzel Wells on the red carpet of the Top Model premiere last year

Beauty: Mirjana Puhar, seen here in a photo she put up on Instagram, was killed on Tuesday

On Wednesday, a friend confirmed the news on Puhar's Instagram page.

'It has been confirmed,' the friend, Chelsea, wrote just before 11am. 'Everyone keep family and friends in prayer. Everything is still under investigation. Thank you.'

The message was later removed from the page. 

Rangel has also been charged in a separate murder that occurred on Sunday morning. 

He is one of three people charged in connection with a homicide at a motel in Matthews, police said. 

Authorities responded to reports of a shooting at 1am at the Microtel Hotel and found two men with gun wounds inside a car. 

One man, Rosool Jaleel Harrell, 22, was dead and the other had suffered life-threatening injuries. 

'We don't know for sure' if the two cases are related, Matthews police Officer Tim Aycock told the Observer. 'It's very suspicious that the same guy is charged.' 

He was arrested without incident on Wednesday morning, police said. 

Rangel was charged with first-degree murder in that case, along with Edward Sanchez, 19. 

Another teenager, Emily Ann Isaacs, 18, was charged with accessory after fact. 

Mirjana was 18 when she appeared on the reality TV show, which aired last year, and was eliminated from the show in the 10th episode.

The Serbian native was five when she moved to the U.S. with her family during the Kosovo War. With about $50 to their names, her parents ended up in New York City before moving to North Carolina around 10 years ago, she told the Charlotte Observer in an interview last year.

She dropped out of high school and worked different jobs, including at McDonald's, before becoming a model.

'I was a wild child,' she told the Observer in the interview. 'I went out, had fun, partied, whatever – I didn't really have the best influences around me.'

But she decided to head back to school and completed her GED at a community college just before starting on America's Next Top Model. She was the youngest contestant taking part in last year's show. 

Scene: Police swarmed the house on Norris Avenue after the three people were found dead on Tuesday