Mayor: Prayers, Love, Support For Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca Family

EAST HAVEN, CT — East Haven stands with the family of Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca, the 27-year-old mom whose body was found buried behind a dumpster, Mayor Joseph A Carfora said.

In a statement issued to Patch, Carfora described the death of the "beloved mother, sister, and daughter" as a "senseless loss."

"Our East Haven community stands with the Aleman-Popoca family as they mourn Lizzbeth’s tragic passing," he wrote. "Our hearts are broken for her young daughter who by all accounts was the apple of her mother’s eye."

Carfora said he would visit with her family "to personally express my heartfelt condolences at the appropriate time."

"East Haven is here to offer its collective prayers, love and support to the entire Aleman-Popoca family," he said.

See related: Body Found In Shallow Grave Behind Restaurant

Lizzbeth was reported missing July 3

On July 3, East Haven Police Capt. Joe Murgo said the young mother was reported missing by her husband Jonnathan X. Jara-Aucapina, her father, Albino Aleman Sedeño, and her sister, Yaneth Aleman. The family told police she went missing the night of June 30 or early in the morning 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.

"My sister would never leave her baby. She would never leave her. She's her priority," Yaneth Aleman told Patch earlier this week. "She would have called me. We have good communication. She wouldn't leave us, leave her family without calling to say, 'Come take care of the baby.' She's not the kind of person to randomly go missing. No."

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

Jara-Aucapina told police his daughter called him at work to tell him her mother was not home when she woke up, Murgo said. He told investigators that when he got to the apartment at 4 St. Andrews Ave., his daughter was home alone, his wife was missing, and her personal belongings were left behind, Murgo said.

At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Aleman-Popoca's sister and father pleaded for the community's help in locating her. Jara-Aucapina was not there.

Patch spoke at length with Yaneth Tuesday night. She said then that her sister is a devoted mother, invested in her child's education and recently got her help in math and reading.
"She's really sweet, and she has good sense of humor, and she loves her baby," Aleman said of her sister. "She'd do anything for her. She's a good mother." She declined to speak about Jara-Aucapina and said that thinking about him or speaking with him was not "healthy for me."

The family had gone through "indescribable pain" while she was missing for more than two weeks, but when the body was positively identified, the anguish was "unbearable."

Now, the family wants justice.

See related: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca's Family Seeks Justice

The investigation

Carfora said that in addition to the state police major crime squad and the FBI, East Haven Police are getting assistance from Branford, North Haven, and North Branford police departments.

"I want to thank them all, for their hard work and their dedication to finding answers for the Aleman-Popoca family," he said.

An autopsy was conducted Thursday afternoon by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. An official from the OCME told Patch early Friday said her cause of death is "pending circumstances that require further investigation."

The mother of a 7-year-old daughter, Aleman-Popoca was last seen June 30 but was not reported missing until July 3. Since then, East Haven police Capt. Joe Murgo and department investigators and detectives, as well as state and federal investigators had been working the case, Murgo said.

A neighbor of the missing woman told Patch detectives have been there for two weeks.
"They've been here all the time," she said.

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.