An 18-year-old woman found dead near a Bayonne park earlier this month had been missing from Jersey City since December 17th.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“The female has been identified as an 18-year-old Jersey City resident who was reported missing in December 2023. Foul play is not suspected at this time,” Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office spokeswoman Caitlin Mota said this afternoon.
She declined to name the decedent, but ABS-CBN News identified her last week as Hayley Erin “Lee” Avestruz Alvarado, who had been missing for nearly three months before her body was recovered in the Newark Bay next to Stephen R. Gregg Park, as HCV first reported.
At the time, Mota noted that the cause and manner of death are pending the findings of the Regional Medical Examiner’s Office, though no visible signs of trauma were observed.
Alvarado’s obituary says she passed away on March 5th and that she leaves behind “a legacy of kindness, brilliance, and passionate advocacy.”
She survived by her parents, Stephen and Portia, as well as her brothers, Harley and Hanson.
“It is said that a person dies twice: once physically and once when they are forgotten. Hopefully, that second death will come long after we pass on,” her brother Harley stated in her obituary.
Her funeral service and cremation will be held today, with ABC-CBN also reporting that the family will them planning to bring her remains back to the Philippines.
Very sad!! “Foul play is not suspected at this time,” Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office spokeswoman Caitlin Mota said this afternoon.” How can foul play not be suspected?