ICE: Suspect in Suitcase Murder in US Illegally

Valerie Reyes' ex overstayed his visa, authorities say
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 13, 2019 3:48 PM CST
ICE: Suspect in Suitcase Murder in US Illegally
This undated photo provided by her family via the Greenwich Police Department shows Valerie Reyes, whose body was found inside a suitcase by highway workers on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2019, in Greenwich, Conn.   (Family photo/Greenwich Police Department via AP)

The ex-boyfriend accused of killing Valerie Reyes and stuffing her body in a suitcase was in the US illegally, authorities say. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement Wednesday, per Greenwich Time, "Javier Enrique Da Silva Rojas, a citizen of Portugal, entered the US May 8, 2017, through the Visa Waiver Program; however, he failed to leave the United States within the required timeframe." Da Silva, who also has a Venezuelan passport, was supposed to leave the US later in 2017, the AP reports. The 24-year-old faces charges of kidnapping resulting in a death, the Hartford Courant reports.

Reyes, who lived in New York, was found dead in Connecticut Feb. 5. She had reportedly broken up with Da Silva shortly before she went missing. Court documents cited by CNN say that he told authorities he put Reyes inside the suitcase and dumped her body after she fell and hit her head while the two had sex at her apartment. He reportedly told authorities he first put tape over her mouth and bound her hands and feet before putting her in the suitcase; she was found barefoot, her shirt unbuttoned. Reyes' cause of death has not yet been released, but the documents quote an FBI as saying "there were obvious signs of head trauma, including bruising around the face and a large hematoma to (Reyes') forehead," per LoHud.com. (Days before her death, Reyes made a chilling prediction.)

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