The man who police say killed is ex-girlfriend from the Bronx and then stuffed her body in a suitcase is now in custody. NBC New York’s Chris Jose reports.
The ex-boyfriend of a Bronx woman found dead in a suitcase near a Yonkers highway was charged in her murder, according to police.
Junior Perez Diaz was arrested Friday and charged with with second-degree murder, manslaughter and kidnapping in the death of Pamela Alcantara, police said. The 46-year-old Perez Diaz had previously dated Alcantara, according to family members.
Sources previously said remains believed to be of Alcantara were found in a suitcase in a creek near the Saw Mill River Parkway in Yonkers on Thursday. Her mother told Telemundo 47 she was given the same information.
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WATCH HEREAlcantara, 26, had last been seen on surveillance video around 2 a.m. Sunday at her home on Morris Avenue. Her mother says she last spoke to her daughter Sunday as she was coming home from a church event and getting ready to head out to another church event in Connecticut. The mother says her daughter, a chaplain for the Latin American Chaplain Association, never made it there.
"She would go to church 4 to 5 times a week, this is why people are baffled because she was a role model in our community," said Fernando Cabrera, a fellow member of the Latin American Chaplain Association.
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SIGN UP Alcantara’s mother says her daughter had lived with her ex, but planned to move out. Her aunt said she never mentioned anything about possible abuse in the relationship.
"She never complained about it. She was so quiet. She hide it inside. She was afraid to say something," said Alcantara's aunt, Isa Peguero.
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Attorney information for Perez Diaz, who was arrested after 5 p.m. Friday, was not immediately made available. He kept his head down as he was led out of a police stationhouse in handcuffs without saying a word to reporters.
