Ex-Boyfriend Charged After Missing Newark Mother's Body Found

NEWARK, NJ — It was lunchtime on a Wednesday when Julia Vega went home to walk the family dog. Her loved ones never saw her alive again, authorities said.

On Tuesday, authorities announced that a three-week-long search for Vega, 30, a mother and an employee at a day care center in Newark, ended tragically when police found her decomposing body behind an abandoned house in Irvington on June 1.

Investigators used dental records to identify the body as Vega’s, according to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office. The Regional Medical Examiners’ Office ruled her death a homicide on Tuesday.

Vega was reported missing on May 9. According to Newark police, she was last seen on the 200-block of South 7th Street around noon driving her vehicle, a 2006 White Toyota Sienna with NJ registration E56-GVV.

After Vega was reported missing, police said that she may have been in the company of her ex-boyfriend, Gualberto Lebron, 33, of Newark, who was wanted for an assault that took place on May 5.

• See related article: Missing Newark Woman May Be With Wanted Man, Cops Say

Following the discovery of Vega’s body, police arrested Lebron and charged him with her murder. He was also charged with conspiracy, murder, robbery, burglary, stalking, witness tampering, hindering prosecution, desecrating human remains, eluding police, aggravated assault, possession of narcotics with the intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school and related narcotics offenses.

Police also arrested Lebron’s brother, Gilberto Lebron Jr., 34, of Newark, and charged him with conspiracy to hindering prosecution, conspiracy to desecrate human remains, unlawful possession of a handgun and possession of firearm on a school property.

A detention hearing is scheduled for Gualberto Lebron on Friday at 9 a.m., prosecutors said.

The investigation remains active. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide/Major Crimes Task Force tips line at 1-877-TIPS-4EC or 1-877-847-7432.

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Photo: Julia Vega (Newark Department of Public Safety)