Fatima Perez, 41, left her Camden home Monday to buy a car. Her body was found two days later in a shallow grave.NBC10’s Denise Nakano talked to family and friends who gathered to remember the victim, and has the latest on the investigation.
A 41-year-old missing Camden woman was found dead on Wednesday.
The body of Fatima Perez was found buried in a shallow grave near Clayton Road between Corkery Lane and Tuckahoe Road in Monroe Township, New Jersey around 11 a.m. on Wednesday.
Investigators say Perez died from asphyxiation and ruled her death a homicide. Police suspect Perez had been strangled in Camden County and her body was taken across county lines to Middlesex County to be buried.
"For a woman of her character and stature to have died in this manner is horrible and very traumatic to her family," said Camden County Prosecutor Warren Faulk.
Perez, a mother of two, was first reported missing on Monday from her home on the 400 block of N. 41st Street in Camden.
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Family members say Perez was leaving to buy a new car and was carrying $8,000 in cash. They also say she was with two men at the time, including her landscaper. Her family suspects money was the motive behind her murder.
Police say two men were detained in connection to the investigation and are considered persons of interest. The men have not yet been identified however.
Fatima's mother told NBC10 that her daughter came to America from Nicaragua eight years ago for a better life.
