Missing pregnant woman found dead in SUV outside NYPD station may have been there a week
Source: NY Daily News
A pregnant Mount Vernon woman was found dead in an SUV parked near a Bronx police station - and her body may have been there more than a week, a law enforcement source said.
Gizela Andrade, 32, was reported missing Sept. 25 after she stormed out of a party at her home. She had just gotten into a heated argument with her boyfriend Ribeiro Arildo, 40. Soon after her disappearance, the trail went cold.
Andrade's body was found about 10 p.m. Tuesday in an SUV parked within 100 feet of the NYPD's Bronx Narcotics base, law enforcement sources said.
"All these investigators and no one saw a thing," one of the sources said. "Unbelievable."
Preliminary autopsy results show Andrade, a Type 1 diabetic who was four months pregnant, died of an insulin overdose, authorities said. Mount Vernon cops wouldn't call her death a suicide, though police sources said she left behind a note suggesting she might harm herself.
Some cops told investigators they remembered seeing the white 2010 Toyota Venza on Abbott St. on Sunday. Others recalled seeing it more than a week ago in a spot that used to belong to a lieutenant who was reassigned in May. Police were reviewing surveillance footage to pinpoint how long the SUV was there.
The condition of the body, a police source said, suggested it was closer to a few days rather than 11 days. There was no trauma to the body.
"We're really shocked," said Andrade's brother-in-law, Jason Larson, 26, of New Rochelle. "It's hard to believe the car wasn't seen, especially right there."
Two Mount Vernon cops, who came to the Bronx Narcotics base to talk to the NYPD about a robbery, recognized the SUV as one connected to their missing persons case. One of them peeked inside and saw Andrade in the reclined driver's seat. The SUV had tinted windows.
"It was hard to see inside," Mount Vernon Police Commissioner Carl Bell said.
The NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau looked into the case to determine whether Andrade had ties to any of the 300 or so cops assigned to the remote police station. She did not.
Andrade, a nanny, moved to the U.S. from Brazil about seven years ago. Her brother and parents still live there. Andrade's body was expected to be flown to her native country for burial after a memorial mass in Mount Vernon tomorrow.
In addition to her family in Brazil, Andrade is survived by her twin sister, Gabriela Lawson. The twin was too distraught to talk to reporters.
"Gabby would call her 2-4/7 just to see how she was," said family friend Flavia Ferreira. "She was always very worried about her because of her health, the diabetes."
It was the same concern that led friends and relatives to embark on an aggressive search after the expectant mom was first reported missing.
"We drove around every single day since she was missing - Westchester, Jersey, the Bronx, Connecticut, everywhere," she said another friend, Adriana, who declined to give her last name.
Now there are just horrifying images of a woman sitting dead near a police station in the Bronx.
"How did they not see it if it was there the whole time?" Ferreira wondered. "We want to know the truth. It's just unbelievable they couldn't see the car if it was there 11 days. It's just unacceptable."
A pregnant Mount Vernon woman was found dead in an SUV parked near a Bronx police station - and her body may have been there more than a week, a law enforcement source said.
Gizela Andrade, 32, was reported missing Sept. 25 after she stormed out of a party at her home. She had just gotten into a heated argument with her boyfriend Ribeiro Arildo, 40. Soon after her disappearance, the trail went cold.
Andrade's body was found about 10 p.m. Tuesday in an SUV parked within 100 feet of the NYPD's Bronx Narcotics base, law enforcement sources said.
"All these investigators and no one saw a thing," one of the sources said. "Unbelievable."
Preliminary autopsy results show Andrade, a Type 1 diabetic who was four months pregnant, died of an insulin overdose, authorities said. Mount Vernon cops wouldn't call her death a suicide, though police sources said she left behind a note suggesting she might harm herself.
Some cops told investigators they remembered seeing the white 2010 Toyota Venza on Abbott St. on Sunday. Others recalled seeing it more than a week ago in a spot that used to belong to a lieutenant who was reassigned in May. Police were reviewing surveillance footage to pinpoint how long the SUV was there.
The condition of the body, a police source said, suggested it was closer to a few days rather than 11 days. There was no trauma to the body.
"We're really shocked," said Andrade's brother-in-law, Jason Larson, 26, of New Rochelle. "It's hard to believe the car wasn't seen, especially right there."
Two Mount Vernon cops, who came to the Bronx Narcotics base to talk to the NYPD about a robbery, recognized the SUV as one connected to their missing persons case. One of them peeked inside and saw Andrade in the reclined driver's seat. The SUV had tinted windows.
"It was hard to see inside," Mount Vernon Police Commissioner Carl Bell said.
The NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau looked into the case to determine whether Andrade had ties to any of the 300 or so cops assigned to the remote police station. She did not.
Andrade, a nanny, moved to the U.S. from Brazil about seven years ago. Her brother and parents still live there. Andrade's body was expected to be flown to her native country for burial after a memorial mass in Mount Vernon tomorrow.
In addition to her family in Brazil, Andrade is survived by her twin sister, Gabriela Lawson. The twin was too distraught to talk to reporters.
"Gabby would call her 2-4/7 just to see how she was," said family friend Flavia Ferreira. "She was always very worried about her because of her health, the diabetes."
It was the same concern that led friends and relatives to embark on an aggressive search after the expectant mom was first reported missing.
"We drove around every single day since she was missing - Westchester, Jersey, the Bronx, Connecticut, everywhere," she said another friend, Adriana, who declined to give her last name.
Now there are just horrifying images of a woman sitting dead near a police station in the Bronx.
"How did they not see it if it was there the whole time?" Ferreira wondered. "We want to know the truth. It's just unbelievable they couldn't see the car if it was there 11 days. It's just unacceptable."