By Associated Press - Thursday, November 21, 2019

WATERBURY, Conn. (AP) - Connecticut police say a body found in a wooded area of the state is that of a missing bar owner from Waterbury who hadn’t been seen in a week.

Waterbury Lt. David Silverio says an autopsy determined that the body found Tuesday in Wolcott was Janet Avalo-Alvarez. She was identified through fingerprints.

He said the manner of death was “neck compression” and it is being treated as a homicide.



The 26-year-old Avalo-Alvarez was last seen Nov. 12 at La Guacara Taina, the Waterbury bar she co-owns with her boyfriend, Alfredo Esmerli Peguero-Gomez. Her body was found about five miles away.

Police say Peguero-Gomez is considered a suspect, but they have not located him. His car was found at a New Jersey airport a couple of days after Avalo-Alvarez was last seen alive.

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