Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca's Family Wants Justice

NEW HAVEN, CT — Describing her sister as her best friend, her “motivation,” her “everything,” Yaneth Aleman stood close to her father as she wept, and then fell into his arms.

“I want justice for her," Aleman said. "I want justice, and I want it now. They killed her, and they killed her in a way I can't describe. I want justice. I want those people.”

The body found by investigators late Wednesday night in a shallow grave near garbage bins behind a Branford restaurant is that of missing East Haven mother Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca, police said Thursday.

East Haven police, along with the state police major crimes unit, the FBI and several local departments including Branford, North Branford and North Haven, are still investigating Aleman-Popoca's death. After an autopsy Thursday, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has yet to release a cause of death. An official from the OCME told Patch early Friday said her cause of death is "pending circumstances that require further investigation." Updates from police are expected Friday.

Aleman-Popoca, 27, was reported missing July 3 by her family and husband, Jonnathan X. Jara-Aucapina, who said she went missing in the middle of the night July 1. Though referred to as her husband in the initial media release by police, the couple were not legally married, but he is father to her daughter, her sister told Patch.

Aleman-Popoca was described by her sister as a good mother, a good friend, a sweet and kind person who loved her young daughter. And, "she just needed to find someone who loved her, respected her and cared for her," Aleman said.

See related: 'She Would Never Leave' Her Child, Sister Of Missing Mom Says

A family gathers to pray

In her father’s garage-turned-chapel on Lenox Street in New Haven, dozens of friends and family members gathered to pray for Lizzbeth. Inside was an altar adorned with flowers and photographs of Lizzbeth. Inside the family home, her daughter was being occupied with other family and friends as the media arrived.

Lizzbeth's father, Albino Aleman Sedeño, said in Spanish that the family and friends had gathered to offer “prayers for her to feel at peace."

He said that it’s hard to express how he feels, adding that what happened is not anything anyone can prepare for. He said, “I had hope yesterday, (and then got) the bad news.”

See related: Body Found In Shallow Grave Behind Restaurant

Holding back tears and with his voice cracking, he said, “She’s my daughter. I loved her very much.” He said that she was a good mother, daughter and sister. He said she was focused on her daughter and tried to do her best. Aleman said that there’s nothing to justify what happened to her and now, he’s faced with what to tell his granddaughter adding, “she’s lost both parents ... that they will not be coming back. That will be very difficult.”

A GoFundMe created to help pay funeral costs

Meanwhile, a GoFundMe has been created for Lizzbeth’s funeral costs and for her daughter.

“Yesterday was my worst day of my life when I received the news that my missing daughter was found but lifeless. My little granddaughter will never see her mother again; pain invades our lives, and only someone who lost a child can understand my suffering,” Sedeño said.

"I would like to ask you to help us financially with the expenses of the funeral and to be able to continue supporting my granddaughter."

Visit the GoFundMe effort here.

See related: East Haven Woman Missing; Foul Play Suspected

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