Also referred to as the Suitcase Murder, Valerie Reyes from New Rochelle was reported missing. Her ex-boyfriend, Javier Da Silva Rojas had left her to die after stuffing her in a suitcase then dumping her in a wooded area in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Valerie Reyes, 24-years-old from New Rochelle was reported missing. Reyes worked at Barnes and Noble in Eastchester, N.Y.
On January 29, 2019, ex-boyfriend, Javier Da Silva Rojas, switched his cellphone to “airplane mode” before entering Reyes’ residence in New Rochelle, N.Y. The two had dated for a short time but the relationship had ended in 2018. A struggle ensued but Rojas covered Reyes's mouth with tape and put her in a suitcase. He dumped her in a wooded area of Greenwich, Connecticut. Da Silva then used her debit card to make $5,350 in withdrawals.
Reyes was found February 5, inside a suitcase about 15 to 20 feet from a road by a group of Connecticut highway workers who were on a routine sweep.
Javier Da Silva Rojas was sentenced in federal court on September 2021 to 30 years in prison.
“The victim of this crime was in the prime of her life when it was senselessly ended by Rojas’ abhorrent act,” –Manhattan US Attorney Audrey Strauss, NYPost
Sources
https://patch.com/connecticut/greenwich/suspect-arrested-greenwich-suitcase-homicide-case-police
https://patch.com/connecticut/greenwich/more-details-emerge-greenwich-suitcase-homicide-case
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/12/nyregion/greenwich-suitcase-murder-valerie-reyes.html
https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/12/us/valerie-reyes-dead-suspect-arrest/index.html