Ex-boyfriend arrested in murder of woman found dead in suitcase

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    BRONX, New York (WCBS) — The ex-boyfriend of a Bronx woman who was found dead in a suitcase in Yonkers has been arrested.

Pamela Alcantara’s body was found in a red suitcase left at Saw Mill River Creek on Thursday morning, police sources say. The 26-year-old had been reported missing Sunday after she missed church services, which friends say was unusual.

Sources tell CBS News New York Alcantara’s ex, 46-year-old Junior Perez Diaz, was seen on surveillance video carrying the red suitcase, and his vehicle was caught by a license plate reader near Saw Mill River Creek.

He was taken into police custody for questioning Thursday, and charged Friday with murder, manslaughter and kidnapping.

Alcantara’s cause of death has not yet been determined.

Family says Pamela Alcantara was leaving a bad relationship The victim’s family says she had recently broken up with her boyfriend and had plans to move out of the apartment she shared with him.

Isa Peguero, the victim’s aunt, said she helped Alcantara get a new apartment and a vehicle to get out of a bad relationship.

“We didn’t know how bad the situation was. It was really bad, really bad,” she said. “He would record in the car and record in the room to hear what she was talking about and who she was talking to.”

Alcantara’s mother said her daughter told her Perez Diaz threatened to kill himself if she left him.

“My daughter was manipulated. He would tell her if she left, he would take his life, but he didn’t take his life. He took the life of my daughter,” Alcantara’s mother said in Spanish.

Alcantara’s mother says she thinks her daughter didn’t tell her the extent of her circumstances because she was still dealing with the loss of her other daughter.

“I lost her sister one year and four months ago, and she would say she didn’t want to worry me because I was still grieving the loss of her sister,” she said.

She’s now left with no children.

Vigil held for Pamela Alcantara in the Bronx

A vigil for Alcantara was held Friday evening outside her Morris Avenue apartment building, the last place she was seen alive.

Loved ones say all Alcantara wanted was to serve the community.

“She used to go out to the hospitals. She was always in the community. She actually worked going to battered women’s shelters,” said Bishop Fernando Rodriguez, with the Latin American Chaplain Association.

As they released balloons into the sky, mourners wanted to raise awareness about domestic violence.

“One threat is one too many. One ‘I’m gonna kill you’ – even if he comes back and he smiles, he brings you flowers – one is too many,” one woman said.

The family plans to have a wake in the Bronx, then Alcantara’s body will be shipped to the Dominican Republic to be buried.

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