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The body of a pregnant Massachusetts woman last seen in October has been found in Florida, authorities said this week.
Florida law enforcement found the body of Jalajhia Finklea, 18, of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, around noon Wednesday in a field off Interstate 95 in Fellsmere.
A positive identification is still pending, the Bristol County Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts said. An autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death, which would be homicide.
Finklea was last seen on October 20 in a vehicle driven by Luis Zaragoza in New Bedford. He hired the car at Logan International Airport in Boston, authorities said.
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Jalajhia finklea
(Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe)
The district attorney’s office said Finklea last used her cell phone to call Zaragoza. Cell phones belonging to him and those in Zaragoza were both turned off within minutes of entering the vehicle, authorities said.
Investigators found Finklea’s phone on Route 140 in New Bedford, 5 miles from where she got into the car with Zaragoza.
“As a result of these efforts, police determined that the suspect had left the state and traveled south along the east coast of Florida,” the prosecutor’s office said.
Surveillance footage showed Zaragoza, also known as Luis Barboza, in multiple locations over a two-week period. None of the images captured Finklea. Authorities in Massachusetts then contacted the US Marshals Service for assistance in locating the pregnant teenager.
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Marshals found Zaragoza in Florida on November 4 and began to monitor him. The next day, the task force attempted to stop him in the parking lot of a McDonald’s in Crestview. Zaragoza, who was armed with a handgun, was shot dead as authorities tried to stop him.
The investigation into the shooting is being conducted by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
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