Search For Janet Avalo-Alvarez's Suspected Killer Intensifies

WATERBURY, CT — A Connecticut community has been left heartbroken after the murder of a young woman and business owner and law enforcement is aggressively searching for her killer. Some published reports say police are closing in on an arrest.

On Tuesday, the body of Janet Avalo-Alvarez, 26, of Waterbury, was found near Route 69 and the intersection of Sunrise Road in Wolcott in a wooded area, according to reports. She had been missing for a week before her body was found. Her boyfriend, Alfredo Esmerli Peguero-Gomez, 32, is the suspect and remains at-large, according to published reports.

Avalo-Alvarez, co-owned La Guacara Taina, a local bar, with Peguero-Gomez. She was strangled to death, according to the Republican-American. Peguero-Gomez's vehicle was spotted at Newark Airport in New Jersey.

The Republican-American received a statement from Peguero-Gomez's family saying they have received death threats. In the statement, the family says, they have no idea where Peguero-Gomez is and they added that they are "heartbroken that this has happened and determined to help justice to be served," according to the Rep-Am.

Fox 61 reported Thursday that law enforcement knowns where Peguero-Gomez is located but they didn't elaborate further. Peguero-Gomez was interviewed last week by police as part of the missing person's investigation and an hour after the interview he left his house and was spotted on the George Washington Bridge and then Newark Airport, Fox 61 reports.

A vigil was held Wednesday night outside of the bar Avalo-Alvarez owned, NBC Connecticut reports.

“I still can’t believe she’s dead. It’s crazy. Last time I saw her was Saturday,” her friend, Jennifer Alcantara, said, according to NBC Connecticut. Waterbury Police Lt. David Silverio said the family is "devastated" by the news that Avalo-Alvarez's body was found this week, NBC CT reports.

"The family is going through a lot of pain and they don’t deserve pain they are going through," said Grisella Guerrero, a friend, according to WFSB 3 TV. "And it’s hard."

If you know where Peguero-Gomez is, you're urged to contact Watebury Police at 203-574-6941.

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