By Dan Murphy
The Westchester community, and friends and family of Valerie Reyes have stepped forward to lend prayers and support for her parents and brothers who mourn her loss. Reyes’ body was found in the Town of Greenwich, Conn., on the side of the road stuffed into a suitcase, with her body bound at the hands and feet.
Reyes, 24, lived in New Rochelle and was a 2012 graduate of New Rochelle High School. Her body was found Feb. 5, but she was missing since Jan. 29. Her mother, Norma Sanchez, said that the day before Reyes disappeared, Reyes told her that she feared “someone was going to murder me.”
Reyes had allegedly broken up with her boyfriend Jan 24. “She was very scared, very frightened,” Sanchez told the Journal News. “She didn’t mention anything or no one specific. She just said, ‘I’m scared. I’m paranoid, mommy. I’m getting anxiety attacks.’ She was having a hard time talking.
“We wonder, ‘Who made her feel this way?’” asked Sanchez. A private investigator hired by Reyes’ family uncovered surveillance footage that showed the 24-year-old at a Manhattan ATM at 2 a.m. Jan. 30.
Reyes worked at a Barnes & Noble in Eastchester.
Last week, friends and family held a vigil for Reyes at Glen Island Park in New Rochelle.
A GoFundMe page to help pay for the costs of Reyes’ burial has raised $26,000 in excess of the $20,000 goal, and Jim Killoran from the Fuller Center for Housing in New Rochelle is collecting monetary donations in the city.
“Our heart is broken for the unfortunate and tragic loss of Valerie Reyes,” reads the statement on GoFundMe. “We want to show our love, support and condolences to the Reyes family. Besides showing emotional support, we are asking friends and family to share and help them out with costs to lay her to rest. All donations big or small are appreciated and helpful. Let`s keep the Reyes family in our prayers during this difficult time.”
Reyes, who suffered from depression and anxiety, was found on a remote part of Glenville Road in Greenwich, 1 mile from the Merrit Parkway. Reyes’ cause of death has not been revealed and no arrests in the case have been announced. Investigators have asked anyone with information on the case to contact 203-622-3333.
A Greenwich town Department of Public Works worker was placed on administrative leave after it was discovered the employee took photos of the murder victim at the crime scene.
Arrest made:
Valerie Reyes warned her friends and family that she feared she would be murdered just days before it happened. U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman, and Westchester District Attorney Anthony Scarpino Jr., last week announced the arrest of Javier Da Silva, who was charged with kidnapping of Valerie Reyes and unlawfully transporting her to Greenwich, Conn.
“As alleged, Javier Da Silva is charged with committing a gruesome kidnapping that resulted in the death of a young woman,” said Berman. “Thanks to the excellent work of the FBI and its local law enforcement partners, Da Silva will need to answer for his alleged actions in court.”
Scarpino said: “From the start of this investigation into the death of Valerie Reyes, the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office has worked closely with Greenwich and New Rochelle police departments and the Connecticut state attorney. The assistant district attorney and investigators assigned to the case worked tirelessly in an effort to bring swift justice for the victim of this horrendous crime and her family here in Westchester.”
Da Silva, who was an illegal immigrant who had overstayed his Visa in the United States from Portugal, used Reyes’ ATM card to withdraw $1,000 after she had disappeared. The suspect told investigators that he and Reyes were having sex at her New Rochelle, New York, apartment Jan. 29 when “at some point she fell to the floor and hit her head,” prosecutors said in a federal complaint.
Da Silva told the NY Post: “I didn’t know what to do… I don’t know what happened. I didn’t mean to do it… I’m a bad person.” When asked how she died, Rojas replied: “She fell. We fell together.” He nodded when asked if she fell off the bed. “She wasn’t responding. I went and put my mouth on her mouth. I tried to put air in… I did something wrong. I didn’t call the police” because, he said, “I thought they would blame me.”
He bound her body, he said, because “she didn’t fit in the suitcase.” Then he drove, randomly, to Connecticut in a rented car. “I drove. I didn’t know where I was going,” he said. While Da Silva claimed his relationship with Reyes was good, the two had broken up for almost one year. And while Da Silva said to the Reyes family, “I’m sorry for the pain,” at least the Reyes family, and the friends of Valerie Reyes, can get some closure knowing her alleged killer is behind bars.
