Police were reportedly searching the New Rochelle, New York, home of Valerie Reyes, the 24-year-old woman who was found dead and stuffed into a suitcase on Tuesday morning in Greenwich, Connecticut.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Reyes disappeared from New Rochelle on December 29 and her family reported her missing the next day after she did not appear for her job at a bookstore in Eastchester, New York. Multiple reports indicate that Reyes was last seen in New York City shortly after she was reported missing. Police have not named a suspect or shared any significant leads in the homicide investigation. It may be weeks before a medical examiner rules on the cause of death.
Highway workers in Greenwich found the victim’s body inside a suitcase near Glenville Road at about 8:30 Tuesday morning; she was reportedly bound at the hands and feet. By Thursday, after a medical examiner performed an autopsy, police had identified the victim as Reyes.
According to CBS News, police wearing “protective white suits” were seen at Reyes’ New Rochelle apartment on Friday, where she reportedly lived alone at the time of her disappearance. The officers reportedly carried evidence out of the apartment in paper bags.
As CBS News reports, friends and family of the victim posted on Twitter while Reyes was still missing that she was last seen at Gouverneur Medical Center, a healthcare facility on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
Reyes’ mother Norma Sanchez told Lohud.com that Reyes had broken up with her boyfriend just a few days before her disappearance. Sanchez also said that Reyes was extremely anxious the night before she went missing, and said she was fearful that she would be murdered. Sanchez told Lohud.com and the New York Times that she did not know what Reyes was scared of specifically, but that she did not think her daughter felt threatened by the ex-boyfriend.
Neighbors reportedly told CBS News that they had recently observed Reyes arguing with a boyfriend. That man has not yet been identified by law enforcement or any media outlets.
CrimeOnline will continue to update the story as more information becomes available
