The bodies of a Reading woman and her 1-year-old son were found in Ontelaunee Township a week after they went missing and the woman’s husband was found shot to death in a northwest Reading park, investigators said Tuesday.
Reading police investigators identified an area to search Friday for Geraldina Peguero-Mancebo, 31, based on information gathered during a separate homicide investigation — the Sept. 13 murder of Yunior Cabrera-Colon, 31. The body of a woman later confirmed as Peguero-Mancebo was found in a field adjacent to East Huller Lane, investigators said.
On Saturday, the body of a toddler, later identified as Peguero-Mancebo’s son, Jeyden J. Peguero, was found partially submerged in the marsh about 150 yards west of his mother’s body, according to the Berks County district attorney’s office.
Autopsies performed Monday at Reading Hospital determined the deaths were homicides.
The night before the discovery, Reading police arrested Jose L. Rodriguez, 61, of Reading, after he confessed to killing Cabrera-Colon, police said. Cabrera-Colon’s body was discovered Sept. 13 by officers on patrol along River Road near the Baer Park basketball courts in northwest Reading.
According to court documents:
Rodriguez was listed on Peguero-Mancebo’s Lincoln Tower Apartments rental application as her husband, but building staff said they never saw him. They frequently saw Cabrera-Colon, whom investigators later learned was her actual spouse, though he was listed on the application as her brother.
When questioned before his arrest, Rodriguez admitted he disliked Cabrera-Colon, whom he called a “delinquent” whose marijuana use could have put Peguero-Mancebo at risk of eviction. He said he allowed himself to be listed as her husband because Cabrera-Colon would not have passed a background check. Rodriguez also claimed he offered to help the couple with immigration paperwork.
The three had once worked together at a warehouse in Shoemakersville. Rodriguez told police he spoke daily with Peguero-Mancebo, an admission that investigators found notable, especially after he mentioned — without prompting — that his wife had threatened to divorce him over the time he devoted to her.
Rodriguez initially gave conflicting accounts of his whereabouts on the day of Cabrera-Colon’s death. He changed his story when confronted with footage from police security cameras in his neighborhood and around Baer Park.
Video showed a light-blue Honda CRV heading toward a dead-end near Northwest Middle School shortly before 1 a.m. Sept. 13. A person could be seen moving in a grassy area behind the vehicle.
The next morning, police towed a light-blue CRV from Pear Street after a resident complained it was blocking a garage. At the impound lot, a sergeant spotted blood on the seats and a spent shell casing on the center console.
The registered owner told investigators that Cabrera-Colon sometimes drove the SUV. He also said Cabrera-Colon had a spouse named Geraldina Peguero and a 1-year-old child.
Confronted by investigators, Rodriguez eventually admitted that Cabrera-Colon and the SUV’s owner were at his house the night of the killing. He said Cabrera argued with him about his involvement with Peguero-Mancebo, and the dispute escalated into a fight.
Rodriguez claimed Cabrera pulled a gun and threatened him, but he knocked the weapon away using a judo move, then picked it up and shot Cabrera in the back of the head.
He told investigators he placed Cabrera’s body in the SUV, drove to Baer Park to dump it and later parked the vehicle in an alley near his home. He denied anyone else helped him, despite telling police earlier that “the other guy” must have taken the gun. Investigators said surveillance video did not show another man fleeing the scene.
Rodriguez was arraigned Friday before District Judge Alvin B. Robinson on charges of first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse and related offenses. He was committed to Berks County Jail without bail.
Berks County DA’s office detectives are leading the investigation into the deaths of the mother and son. Information on the causes of death wasn’t immediately available.
Peguero-Mancebo and her son were entered Sept. 15 as missing endangered persons in the National Crime Database after her cousin called for a security check, saying no one in the family had seen or heard from her since Sept. 12.
County detectives and Reading police are continuing the investigation into these deaths. District Attorney John T. Adams intends to hold a press conference on Monday to discuss the investigation in detail.
Anyone with information regarding the case is asked to contact the Berks County Detective’s Office at 610-478-7171, Reading police at 610-655-6116, or Crime Alert Berks County at 877-373-9913.
Source: Berkshire mont
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