- She was a very good artist.
Her apartment was very clean, but there was a broken wine
glass on the floor.
This girl fought for her life.
There was blood in the tub.
Blood in the sink.
(OFF) PIERANGELO CORTICELLI: The suspect
was known to the victim or was let in willingly.
(OFF) ANTHONY FISCELLA: We looked
at the surveillance images.
They were dressed head to toe in black.
She was on different dating apps and social media.
NORMA SANCHEZ: He's with us.
He's looking.
He's showing real emotions.
But he was the last person that saw her.
- Smartphones have a treasure
trove of information.
People will do things on their smartphones
that they will not confess to their parish priest.
(ON) ANTHONY FISCELLA: The police
were able to follow this vehicle
using surveillance cameras.
Her friend said, in her apartment over her bed,
did you see the portrait?
That's him.
He's the guy.
He did it.
[theme music]
- Greenwich, Connecticut--
Beverly Hills of the East Coast.
ANTHONY FISCELLA: It is the best of the best.
Beautiful homes right on the water.
PIERANGELO CORTICELLI: A wealthy enclave of celebrities
and heads of corporations.
Yacht clubs, golf clubs, large mansions on 10-acre plots.
(OFF) ANTHONY FISCELLA: Greenwich is
the home to the Rockefellers.
Homicides are very rare.
That kind of thing usually doesn't happen.
PIERANGELO CORTICELLI: On the morning of February 5,
2019, shortly after 8:00 AM, workers riding in a Department
of Public Works truck noticed a red suitcase
discarded on the side of a road in the backyard
of a wealthy estate.
They pull over, grab the handle of the suitcase.
It was very heavy.
- This guy believed
that there was something good in it and decided to open it.
[unzipping]
- Minutes later, they call 911.
ANTHONY FISCELLA: Everyone went lights
and sirens to the scene.
Myself and the detective lieutenant
responded to the area.
We blocked the road for a good 5 miles in each direction.
There were news helicopters overhead filming.
Everybody knew something bad had just occurred.
The area was off to the side of the road and backyard
of a very wealthy mansion.
(OFF) PIERANGELO CORTICELLI: There
were small trees and branches camouflaging the discovery,
the suitcase itself.
When we approach the suitcase, we see
the body of a lifeless girl.
The victim was frozen.
- She was folded up
into a fetal position, with her hands behind her back,
hog tied with twine.
In my 20 years, to have the body of a young female stuffed
into a suitcase was pretty shocking.
PIERANGELO CORTICELLI: Ice crystals and ice
around the nose and the mouth that
indicated she was breathing when
she was inside that suitcase.
There was trauma around her head area and her cheeks.
A contusion on her forehead.
- It looked like a golf ball.
She also had abrasions on her hands, broken fingernails.
She had a T-shirt on that said "aimer la vie," "love of life."
She took a beating, and this girl fought for her life.
This was a beautiful young lady.
You could see somebody loved this girl.
She was someone's daughter.
Where did she come from?
Who did this?
[dramatic music]
NORMA SANCHEZ: New Rochelle, it's
a small town full of parks.
Beautiful town to live in.
Means everything to me.
We're not a big family.
It was my four kids and I. My two
older ones, Valerie and Sal.
I was 21 when I had Val.
I didn't know if it was going to be a boy or a girl.
I just felt like my baby had to be a Valerie.
It fit her perfect.
It means valor, valuable.
She became my best friend as a newborn.
My son Sal is just a year and a few months younger than her.
- She was 14 months older,
but we had a lot of fun growing up.
She was the bossy one.
I kind of just did whatever she said.
NORMA SANCHEZ: Val had that maternal instinct
with him, always taking care of him and guiding him.
Divorce is hard on kids.
When her dad moved out of the house,
Val was, like, around 10.
She was very devastated.
SALVADOR REYES: Our dad was always in our life.
We have a great relationship with him.
But not having a father in the household
is different than having a father.
NORMA SANCHEZ: She loved her dad.
Before the separation, Val didn't
even know what depression was.
Never showed any signs of unhappiness.
It was hard for her, but she just went through panic
attacks, through depression.
But she really wanted to be happy.
That's why I always say she was a warrior.
She had that artistic soul, that ability
to paint and create.
SALVADOR REYES: I was just always
so infatuated with drawing.
Val just loved drawing too.
She was just very talented.
Like, very talented.
NORMA SANCHEZ: She worked hard Monday through Friday,
even Saturdays.
But Sundays are a family day.
It was simple things.
Going to the park, to the movies.
I felt always blessed.
She mentioned she wanted to move out.
SALVADOR REYES: It was a little crappy, tiny apartment,
but she just made it so her.
I would just sometimes go there and just hang out.
She was one of the few people that I
just loved doing that with.
- I remember her calling.
She had broken up with John, her boyfriend.
They had been together a few months.
She was in love with him, but she felt
like it was going too quick.
And she was a little bit nervous, because he
wasn't staying over anymore.
She's alone in her apartment.
She tells me, I'm having panic attacks.
I'm feeling very, very scared.
I'm confused.
I'm like, OK, I know she broke up with John,
but what is actually going on?
And I said, maybe just come and spend the night.
And she refused.
Then I said, everything's going to be OK.
If you need me, you can call me.
The following day, I called her at 8:00 in the morning,
and she didn't pick up.
And I called her at 10:00.
Nothing.
And I did kind of get that little feeling.
Why isn't she picking up?
Why isn't she calling me back?
I remember calling Sal, and Sal went to get his dad.
- I wasn't worried.
I was just thinking it's typical mom stuff.
But after a while, it was obviously
starting to get weird.
I couldn't get in touch with her.
NORMA SANCHEZ: And they went to her apartment.
They met John, her ex-boyfriend.
He was heading over there to apologize to Val.
- Your sister's missing.
Here comes her boyfriend with flowers.
NORMA SANCHEZ: They called me.
They're like, she's not here.
Sal tells me there is glass on the floor.
And the only thing that are missing are bed sheets.
You don't want to think the worst.
It's like, what's going on with my daughter?
What's happening?
(OFF) SALVADOR REYES: That night
was probably one of the worst nights,
because the not knowing.
I slept in her basement.
If she got home, I wanted to be the first one to see her.
Then the next day, we went to her job.
She wasn't there.
Panic starts to ensue.
Her ex-boyfriend was able to log into her email.
There was activity from Chase.
We're like, OK, so she's alive.
NORMA SANCHEZ: It was weird.
We don't know where she is.
You just broke up.
In the back of our minds, it's like,
could you have anything to do with it?
We decided to go to the police and make a report.
(OFF) SALVADOR REYES: We told them
that she has been hospitalized for her mental health,
teenage years.
They took it very serious.
NORMA SANCHEZ: My family started with posters.
They went around New Rochelle, the train station.
- I posted on Instagram.
It got a lot of attention, thousands of shares.
I was just thinking, why are you doing this, Val?
You got us worried.
NORMA SANCHEZ: We started calling hospitals.
We thought she was getting mental help for herself.
They wouldn't give answers because it's private.
I was nervous.
I was scared.
She's gone through depression.
There's a breakup.
Because it's too much for her?
Could she have taken her own life?
ANTHONY FISCELLA: He and Valerie had argued the day
before she went missing.
(OFF) PIERANGELO CORTICELLI: We see
glowing areas of blood on the wall
and a few drops on the mattress.
(ON) ANTHONY FISCELLA: Something
had happened to Valerie here.
[theme music]
ANTHONY FISCELLA: January 30, 2019, Valerie
Reyes had not returned home.
The Reyes family became concerned.
They contacted the New Rochelle Police Department
and reported her missing.
Her mother related that Valerie had issues with anxiety.
They were concerned she could have harmed herself.
NORMA SANCHEZ: I called hospitals.
They wouldn't give any answers because it's private.
(OFF) ANTHONY FISCELLA: The family
had started to gather telephone information,
cell phone data on Valerie, as well as banking records.
Police detectives began doing traces
on her banking information.
They saw someone had drained her bank account
of several thousand dollars.
Something was very suspicious.
PIERANGELO CORTICELLI: Detectives request banking
information from all of the withdrawal
points and the ATM locations.
ANTHONY FISCELLA: We then start to interview
the people closest to her.
John told the investigators he and Valerie had argued the day
before she went missing.
He was upset that she was seeking more
freedom in their relationship.
He did not want that.
He said he had actually left a bouquet of flowers at her door.
He also had passwords for Valerie's banking information.
He was released, but all of this
was looking very suspicious to the investigators.
NORMA SANCHEZ: Every single day,
I would message her.
Please come back.
You mean everything to me.
ANTHONY FISCELLA: February 5, 2019, six days
after Valerie's disappearance.
A Greenwich, Connecticut, road crew was doing
a cleanup on Glenville Road.
I was notified by my detective lieutenant
that there was a body in a suitcase.
PIERANGELO CORTICELLI: As we approach the scene,
I look down the embankment.
I could see the suitcase.
We approach and see the victim.
- She was a young,
20-year-old female, medium-length black hair,
several tattoos.
She was taped with this packing tape from her chin
up to the top of her nose and wrapped multiple times.
- The days leading up
to the discovery had been frigid, several days
of single-digit temperatures.
The body was literally frozen.
The medical examiner arrived at 11:00 AM.
We removed the victim from the suitcase and examined the body.
- She had ice crystals about her face
and neck and her bare feet.
(ON) PIERANGELO CORTICELLI: We noticed
her hands had some minor abrasions on them,
a fingernail broken on one of the hands.
- This girl fought for her life.
We had received information on the Greenwich Police Department
social media account that indicated there was
a missing female from New Rochelle, New York,
named Valerie Reyes.
Valerie Reyes appeared to have similar physical descriptions
and several similar tattoos.
At the medical examiner's office,
we obtained very clear, identifiable
photos of numerous tattoos that the female had on her body.
Then we asked to meet with the family.
- That night I get a call.
They were telling me they found a body.
When me and my dad got to City Hall,
they bring us into the room and separate us.
They showed me a picture of her arm, of her tattoo.
It was our last name.
That's when I knew.
- He immediately burst out
into tears, screaming, punching walls, saying,
that's my sister.
That's my sister.
It was terrible.
NORMA SANCHEZ: It was just the worst day of my life.
I am shattered.
It's like my entire soul just went numb.
ANTHONY FISCELLA: We now know who this female was.
Now we can center all of our investigative machine
into solving this.
Who had access to her?
Where did this occur?
Valerie's family let us into the apartment.
Left at the door was a large garbage
bag that was filled with all of her ex-boyfriend
John's clothes.
Her laptop and cell phone were also missing.
The family had also indicated there
was a broken wine glass on the floor, which
her father had cleaned up.
As we looked further within her apartment, one of our officers
observed a small drop of blood on a wall and another drop
of blood on the comforter.
Something had happened to Valerie here.
This was a crime scene.
[theme music]
heme music]
[somber music]
- On February 5, 2019,
road workers found a suitcase buried in a wooded backyard.
Folded up into a fetal position inside this red suitcase
was Valerie Reyes, a young female missing
from New Rochelle, New York.
(ON) PIERANGELO CORTICELLI: Our team
of investigators go through that apartment
with a fine-tooth comb.
We had photos of every inch of that apartment.
We then decided to search using luminol.
When we apply the luminol, we see glowing areas
of blood on the wall.
ANTHONY FISCELLA: There was a lot of blood in the tub.
Blood in the sink.
So much that you could clearly make out a handprint.
(OFF) PIERANGELO CORTICELLI: The areas
that reacted with the luminol were collected to determine
whose blood it was.
There were no signs that there was any forced entry.
The suspect was either known to Valerie
or was let in willingly.
So Greenwich detectives zero in on Valerie
Reyes's ex-boyfriend, John.
ANTHONY FISCELLA: John indicated
that he and Valerie had argued the day
before she went missing.
She had packed up all his belongings in a garbage bag.
She was done with him.
(OFF) PIERANGELO CORTICELLI: Another red flag
was that he knew Valerie's login
for her banking information, as well
as several other social media apps.
Reviewing some of Valerie's social media,
we learn Valerie had actually blocked
John from contacting her.
This immediately piqued our interest.
We have an ex-boyfriend who does not take rejection well,
is trying to get back with Valerie, leaving her flowers.
We ask him to provide his cell phone records
and give us access to his cell phone.
- We also asked
him for his DNA and fingerprints
immediately for comparison.
- We had to look further
into all of these details to either include him
as a person of interest, or try to eliminate him as a suspect.
- We went to her job,
obtaining video footage of her when
she left work on January 28 and took a bus
back home to New Rochelle.
We checked that to see if there was anyone
she came across that seemed suspicious or out
of the ordinary.
There was nothing.
We start questioning her friends and family
about her dating history.
We interviewed her mother.
NORMA SANCHEZ: Who else is a suspect?
Honestly, John.
Yes.
Right away, you think because that's
the person that had that romantic relationship
with my daughter.
But he's with us.
He's looking.
He's showing real emotions.
(OFF) PIERANGELO CORTICELLI: Valerie's mother
gave us access to Valerie's cell phone account.
Smartphones have a treasure trove of information.
People will do things on their smartphones
that they will not confess to their parish priest.
ANTHONY FISCELLA: Then we reached out to one of Valerie's
friends named Naomi.
She knew pretty much all Valerie's life.
Naomi gave us a list of people that Valerie
had dated at the time.
There was a guy named Joe who was a mechanic,
and there was a guy named Javier.
She was dating, different dating apps and social media.
She was very social.
This really expanded the number of suspects
that could be her killer.
(ON) PIERANGELO CORTICELLI: At this point,
all options are on the table.
Looking at Valerie's phone information,
we saw that on January 29, her phone
was put into airplane mode at around 3 o'clock
in the morning.
Afterwards, we see that there were
several withdrawals of Valerie's money
from her bank accounts.
At this point, it became even more important to find out
through bank surveillance video who
was making those withdrawals.
Was it Valerie or was it someone else?
(OFF) ANTHONY FISCELLA: New Rochelle
Police Department obtained bank surveillance images.
As we looked further at the surveillance images,
something was wrong.
They were dressed head to toe in black clothing
and covering their face.
It appeared to be a male that was withdrawing the money.
That was not Valerie Reyes taking that money out.
This guy may be involved in killing Valerie.
DANIEL MCKENNA: The FBI gets involved.
She was abducted, kidnapped, and moved out of state.
- We knew he could flee the country,
and we wouldn't get our hands on him.
[theme music]
ic]
- The investigation
at this point is zeroing in on this unknown male
making ATM withdrawals from Valerie Reyes' bank account.
ANTHONY FISCELLA: The initial withdrawal was from
the New Rochelle bank on January 29,
about 5:00 AM in the morning.
The guy enters the bank, disguising his face.
He makes the withdrawal from the bank.
He then exits into a small black SUV.
The New Rochelle Police Department
were able to follow this vehicle
using surveillance cameras.
They were able to get a license plate off a license
plate reader within the city.
This is a huge moment in the investigation.
The registration information returned to a car sharing app.
It was a black CR-V. It was a Zip rental car
out of Queens, New York City.
(OFF) PIERANGELO CORTICELLI: We then
serve the rental company with a subpoena
to get the rental information.
A short time later, we obtain the DNA results
from the Westchester County forensic lab.
The DNA results that were sampled from the bathroom area
indicated a mixture between Valerie
and an unknown contributor.
This eliminates the ex-boyfriend, John,
as a suspect.
This leads to further questions as to the identity
of this unknown male.
We now focus solely on who's driving the vehicle.
We obtain the rental information for the Honda CR-V
and learn that the name of the renter is named Marco.
We run the license information for Marco.
His general physical characteristics
are consistent with the unknown man making the withdrawals
on Valerie's ATM bank account.
(OFF) ANTHONY FISCELLA: Finding Marco
was top of the list to do.
We learned from the rental car agency
that the exact times that this rental car was rented out
matched the exact times that Valerie went missing.
But then we obtained the entire rental information.
His rental agreement listed names of other drivers.
We began to scour through that information.
We saw the name of Javier.
That immediately clicked in my mind as a person
that Valerie had dated before.
I reached back out to her friend Naomi.
She said Valerie broke it off with Javier
about a year earlier.
That made him very upset, to the point where Valerie
had to block him on her phone so
that he couldn't contact her.
I felt he was the guy and told her we needed a photo of Javier
to confirm it.
Naomi had asked me if I had been in her apartment.
I said yes.
She said, well, over her bed, did you see the portrait
that she drew of me?
I said yes.
She said, well, beneath that was a portrait of Javier
that Valerie had drawn.
Naomi then took the further step of finding Javier
on his social media account.
PIERANGELO CORTICELLI: And I immediately
recognized the profile picture being the same sketch
that I had seen when I was processing Valerie's apartment.
ANTHONY FISCELLA: That was an amazing moment.
That's him.
He's the guy.
He did it.
Javier, who Valerie had dated, was the same Javier listed
on the rental agreement.
After reviewing a background investigation
on Javier Da Silva, we learned Javier
was of Venezuelan nationality.
He had come into the United States
on a student visa, which he had overstayed.
There was currently a deportation order for him.
- We obtained the surveillance video
from that rental location.
We were able to see the unknown male from the ATM withdrawals
without his face covered.
That photo was Javier Da Silva Rojas.
We had to make sure that the timeline matched up 100%.
(ON) ANTHONY FISCELLA: There was
a big disagreement about going and interviewing Marco Padro.
The decision was made to go and arrest Javier
on the deportation charges.
We interviewed Marco Padro after Javier's arrest.
We immediately sent a surveillance team
down to the apartment building that was listed
on the rental car agreement.
There was a big concern we could spook
Javier Da Silva into running.
I was very nervous.
He knows he's in overstay already.
We knew he could flee the country
and we wouldn't get our hands on him.
[theme music]
- Detectives have identified a man whom they
believe abducted and brutally murdered Valerie Reyes,
a young, outgoing girl found in Connecticut
tied up in a suitcase.
The FBI gets involved because we
believe that she was abducted, kidnapped,
and moved out of state.
And we had a concern the suspect, Javier Da Silva
Rojas, a Venezuelan national, is at risk
for fleeing the country.
The vehicle that Javier Da Silva had rented
was identified.
Now we have to find this guy.
PIERANGELO CORTICELLI: Using the rental records,
we're able to track Javier Da Silva Rojas to the location
of Queens, New York.
(OFF) ANTHONY FISCELLA: There was
probably six buildings that housed
500 to 600 apartments in each.
It was a big undertaking.
We had to put eyes on him at that building.
February 11 of 2019, late at night,
my surveillance team observed Javier doing
laundry in the laundromat.
The officers ran over to grab him.
Javier was arrested on the larceny and deportation order.
He was brought back to the New Rochelle Police Department,
where he was placed in an interview room.
Marco was interviewed after Javier's arrest.
It turned out that Marco worked as a security guard
in the building.
We learned he would rent out these Zipcars
to other tenants of the building under his name.
And that was his only involvement.
At that point, we were able to eliminate
Marco from the investigation.
DANIEL MCKENNA: We do a search
warrant on Javier's apartment, and we
were able to get his phone.
We do a search warrant on his phone.
During the search, they actually
found Valerie's identification and credit
card in his apartment.
ANTHONY FISCELLA: We interviewed Javier on February
12, and he stated that he had found a card on the sidewalk
in New York City.
- You made a transaction on Canal Street?
- I used the ATM.
(ON) INVESTIGATOR 1: How many times?
- Two times.
ANTHONY FISCELLA: He had also found
a PIN number and that he did withdraw
money from that bank account.
- What was the name you saw on the card?
- I don't remember the name of the card.
- Then how did you know it was a female?
ANTHONY FISCELLA: The investigators
showed Javier the name to that bank account was Valerie Reyes.
They asked him if he knew her.
- You don't remember the name?
- No. - OK.
(OFF) ANTHONY FISCELLA: He said no.
We knew he was lying.
We had that picture of Javier that Valerie had drawn of him.
The investigators told Javier that, yes, you did know her.
Matter of fact, you had dated her, and we know that.
DANIEL MCKENNA: Well, then they show the photo
of Valerie when she was found.
At that point, he backtracks and he
started minimizing, like most people
in that position would do.
- I didn't do that.
I don't--
- What happened here?
Did you intend to do this?
- No.
(ON) ANTHONY FISCELLA: He stated
that they had consensual sex, and she
had fallen and hit her head.
- She fell and she was bleeding and quiet.
- As she was unconscious,
he said he checked her for breath.
She wasn't breathing.
At that point, he saw a red suitcase outside,
grabbed a suitcase, brought it in, tied up Valerie,
and taped her.
- Did you cover her mouth?
- Yes.
- With what?
- With tape.
- And placed her into the suitcase.
- You were trying to fit her in the bag?
- I didn't want to do any bad to her.
- We don't believe when he says
that they had consensual sex.
- You had sex on the couch or on a bed?
- In the living room.
ANTHONY FISCELLA: And she fell and hit her head.
She had a large hematoma to the forehead,
multiple cuts on her hands.
She fought for her life.
If he thought she was dead, you don't
have to duct tape her mouth.
He taped her from her chin to the top of her nose
with packing tape.
If she's unconscious, knocked out, or dead,
you don't have to do that.
DANIEL MCKENNA: I'm certain that this is a murder.
But in order to prove the federal crime of kidnapping,
we still have to establish that she was moved out of state
and alive in New York and had died
in the state of Connecticut.
Ultimate penalty for this in the statute
is the death penalty.
We needed proof beyond a reasonable doubt what he
did in order to put him away.
- If you planned to do this,
you're going to be in jail for a long time.
[theme music]
DANIEL MCKENNA: Prime suspect Javier Da Silva Rojas
attempted to tell investigators that Valerie
Reyes' death was an accident.
But the evidence photos don't lie.
He beat her, bound her, stuffed her in a suitcase.
Federal murder charges are hard to come by.
In order to make it a federal kidnapping resulting in murder
case, we need to now prove that he took her across state lines.
So we had to establish that she was alive in New York
and had died in the state of Connecticut.
ANTHONY FISCELLA: The key evidence in this case
might be the autopsy.
- We have to go examine the body.
DANIEL MCKENNA: On the day that she was found,
it was probably the coldest four or five day span.
PIERANGELO CORTICELLI: When we removed the body,
there were still ice crystals and ice forms
around the nose and the mouth.
- And because of the cold weather,
they had to wait for the body to thaw.
The ME found crystallization in her lungs.
She had fluid in her lungs that froze.
(OFF) PIERANGELO CORTICELLI: That indicated
that she was still alive when she was
stuffed inside that suitcase.
DANIEL MCKENNA: The ME determined she asphyxiated,
unable to breathe, tied up in the suitcase.
That showed that she was alive in New York
and died in the state of Connecticut.
All those little things were real important,
because if you don't hit all those elements,
we don't have a charge.
The Southern District of New York
assigned the Assistant United States Attorney
immediately to this case.
We sit down with what evidence we had.
We learned on the day of January 28, 2019,
Valerie left her job.
She spoke with her mother.
She went to bed.
About 10:30 on the 28th of January,
Javier was caught on surveillance camera leaving
the hallway of his apartment.
He went to rent a car approximately
five minutes away.
Javier then puts the GPS coordinates of New Rochelle
into his phone.
And then he drove to New Rochelle
and turned his phone off.
He went up there to try to rob her.
He's like a predator.
He sees somebody that's vulnerable.
She had approximately $5,300 in the bank.
During that time, a violent struggle ensued.
Valerie fought back.
Javier beat her, which rendered her unconscious.
At that point, Javier used her fingerprint to access her iPad.
He said that I taped her mouth to stop her from screaming
and yelling out.
He put her in a suitcase and he leaves
the apartment, kidnapping her.
And then he buried the suitcase in Connecticut.
She was alive in New York when he
put the duct tape around her mouth,
then stuffed her in a suitcase.
Then he proceeded over a five-day period
to do numerous ATM withdrawals and basically
cleaned out her bank account.
- Larceny and greed was
certainly a primary motive.
DANIEL MCKENNA: His digital footprint
does place him at all parts of this crime--
from the initial stages to the rental of the car,
to where Valerie was eventually found in Connecticut.
We know Javier Da Silva Rojas committed this crime.
This case does not go to trial.
There is a plea agreement.
He would plead guilty to kidnapping
with the result of murder and be sentenced to 360
months, 30 years in prison.
ANTHONY FISCELLA: She was 24 years
old, just starting her life.
I took it very personal.
We barely slept.
And we were going to solve it no matter what.
I knew she was someone's loved one,
and we needed to bring justice for her family.
[singing in spanish]
NORMA SANCHEZ: There's moments where
I just feel like my entire soul is pouring out,
and I can't stop.
I always say, she's my star, my shooting star.
I want people to remember that she was a resilient soul.
And no matter how tough her life was at one point,
she pushed through.
She pushed through.
[somber music]
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