Fatima Perez, a New Jersey woman was reported missing on Monday and was finally found on Wednesday in a shallow grave, where police say she was buried alive by her landscaper and another man.
Relatives had told police that Fatima Perez left her home the morning of Monday with $8,000 in cash to buy a new car. Carlos Alicea-Antonetti, a landscaper who had been working on her home, had then reportedly agreed to drive her to pick up the car.
Unfortunately, Fatima Perez's body was found buried about 20 miles from her home two days later, and the autopsy revealed that she died of asphyxiation, meaning she must have been buried while still alive. Police said her mouth and eyes were covered with duct tape before she was buried.
Alicea-Antonetti, the landscaper and his alleged accomplice, Ramon Ortiz, have now been arrested and both reportedly confessed during their interviews with police.
From Alicea-Antonetti's statement,
He picked up Perez that morning in a van near her home to take her to buy the vehicle. They began arguing, and Perez fell out of the van, injuring herself. But she got back into the vehicle.
Alicea-Antonetti then picked up Ortiz while the victim lay in the back of the van. Both men tied her up and eventually placed duct tape over her mouth and eyes.
They drove southbound to a wooded area, where Ortiz began to dig a hole. The men put Perez in the hole, alive, poured lime on her and buried her. They tried to camouflage the grave with branches and debris.
And from Ortiz's statement:
Alicea-Antonetti picked him up at 1115 North 23rd Street in Camden, where Ortiz was cutting grass. He entered the van but did not realize at first that Perez was in the back because she was tied up and lying on the floor.
He noticed her only when she began to make a noise. She asked Ortiz to help her. But Alicea-Antonetti drove southbound, down Route 42 to the Black Horse Pike.
At some point, Alicea-Antonetti pulled off the roadway. Ortiz took a shovel from the van and dug the grave, as his boss directed him. Alive, Perez was covered with lime and buried.
Alicea-Antonetti and Ramon Ortiz are being held on $5 million bail and charged with first degree murder.
Image - AP
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