A New York woman found inside a suitcase was asphyxiated to death, according to officials

A New York woman whose body was found in a suitcase at the edge of a Connecticut road was asphyxiated to death, officials said Monday.

The chief medical examiner's office in Connecticut has described the official cause of 24-year-old Valerie Reyes dead as homicidal asphyxia, NBC reported.

It was not immediately clear whether Reyes, from New Rochelle to New York, had died before or after she got into the suitcase. The medical examiner did not respond to a request for clarification on Monday.

Reyes' family reported his disappearance in late January. His body was found a week later on February 5 in a red suitcase in Greenwich, about 20 km north of New Rochelle.

An ex-boyfriend, Javier Da Silva, was arrested on February 11 and charged with kidnapping that resulted in death after attempting to use his ATM card, reported NBC Connecticut.

In interviews with the authorities, Da Silva denied killing Reyes, although he confessed to having put her body in the suitcase after she had fallen and hit her head against her. apartment, according to the chain.