Mom of a woman found in a suitcase says her daughter was afraid someone would kill her

NEW YORK (CNN) – A few days before his body is found in a suitcase near a Connecticut road, Valerie Reyes called his mother terrified by the murder of someone.

"She was really very scared," said her mother, Norma Sanchez, to the CNN affiliate WABC.

The 24-year-old lived in a basement apartment in New Rochelle, New York. For some time, but for some time now, he was worried and even paranoid about staying alone there.

"I'm afraid someone is murdering me," Reyes told his mother.

Tuesday, a group of road workers was found The body of Reyes stuffed into a red suitcase in the prosperous city of Greenwich, Connecticut – about 14 miles from his apartment.

At least three police departments joined the investigation but no suspects were identified. Meanwhile, his family and friends juggle with grief and their quest for justice.

Disappeared for a week

Reyes has disappeared since the morning of January 29, police said. Neither her family nor the employees of the Barnes & Noble Bookstore in Eastchester, where she had been working for nearly three years, had seen her for a few days.

Valerie Reyes, 24, was last seen on January 29, police said.

Several leaflets with pictures of Reyes and her description began to appear in New York, while relatives began to ask social media where she was.

"We were hoping she would come back," said one of her cousins, Angelica Reyes, at WABC. "It's all we knew, she was in town, so we thought she was looking for help."

Last week, the Midtown North of the New York Police Department tweeted a photo of Reyes asking if anyone

"She was last seen dressed in a suit." A green coat, black jeans and black shoes, suffers from anxiety and depression, "wrote the police.

A red suitcase hid his body

A week after missing Reyes, a group of road workers conducting a routine sweep spotted a red suitcase in a wooded area of ​​Greenwich.

The bag was about 15 to 20 feet from the shoulder of a road in a quiet neighborhood. When they opened the bag, they found a woman's hands and feet tied, the authorities said.

Greenwich, with a population of about 63,000, is located in the Long Island Strait, about 35 km from New York. The affluent city is home to hedge funds and financial corporations.

The body of a woman was found tied up in a suitcase on the edge of a Connecticut road

The body was identified as that of Reyes on Wednesday.

The Chief Medical Examiner's Office in Connecticut, who helped identify Reyes, had not disclosed the cause and manner of death from Saturday. The office could take up to eight weeks before the publication of the report.

One of the workers, who was not identified, was put on paid leave to take pictures of Reyes' body and the crime scene. 19659006] "The victim was a girl, a sister and a cousin of a family that is currently suffering a huge loss," said First Selector Peter J. Tesei in a statement. "This reckless and insensitive behavior on the part of an employee is inexcusable."

Police, dressed in a white protective suit, spent several hours in Reyes' apartment Friday, CNN subsidiary WCBS reported, and carried paper bags on their departure. .

Authorities urge anyone with information to call an anonymous hotline at 203-622-3333.

"Sooner or later, he will get caught," says his mother

At sundown Thursday, a crowd of relatives and friends stood around a circle of candles. with images of Jesus and the Virgin Mary on them.

19195906Men and family gathered on Thursday in a park in New Rochelle for a candlelight vigil in honor of Reyes.

They sang hymns in Spanish and prayed the rosary at Glen Island Park in New Rochelle. Some held candles and flowers, others kissed and sobbed softly.

"My daughter did not deserve what you did to her, my daughter was pure," Sanchez told the vigil, addressing the person responsible for the death of his daughter.

"I know it sooner or later, I know it."

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