A South Jersey mom who was reported missing on Mother’s Day was found dead in North Jersey, investigators said.
On May 14, Jersey City Police received a missing person report for 32-year-old Norelis Mendoza of Lindenwold. Mendoza was last seen in Jersey City on May 13, investigators said.
On Wednesday, investigators found Mendoza’s body off of Route 440 and Avenue C near the border of Jersey City and Bayonne, New Jersey. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Mendoza had two children.
"We've been searching the area looking for any signs anybody had seen her. She left her mom's residence on Saturday, that was the last contact for family. She called her phone and it didn’t go through," said Giovanni Molina, Mendoza's cousin. "It’s devastating because of the amount of time, especially...That gave four days of agony, meaning that we had no idea where Norelis could possibly be."
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Investigators consider her death suspicious. They have not yet determined a cause or manner of death. Her family is desperately seeking answers.
"Norelis was a loving mother, somebody that would never leave their children behind on Mother's Day," said Molina. "Knowing that someone was possibly in fear of their life. Mother’s Day, we have two children, a 3- and a 1-year-old, Norelis has left behind. Those children will never celebrate Mother’s Day with their mother. We have a mother, a grandmother, lost her daughter on Mother’s Day...We know that she's by her children now in spirit."
If you have any information on Mendoza’s death, please call the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office at 201-915-1345 or leave an anonymous tip on their website.
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