Missing Mom and Baby, as Well as Her Partner, Were All Found in Separate Locations — and a Suspect Is in Custody By Nicole Acosta

A Pennsylvania man has been charged with murder in connection with the death of a man whose romantic partner and toddler, both reported missing, were also found dead in separate locations, authorities and family said.

Jose Luis Rodriguez, 61, is suspected of killing 31-year-old Junior Cabrera-Colon, who was found with a gunshot wound to the head at Baer Park in Reading, Penn., around 6:30 a.m. on Sept. 13, according to a press release from the Reading Police Department.

As the investigation progressed, police said they learned that Cabrera lived with a woman and toddler who hadn’t been seen or heard from since Sept. 12 — one day before Cabrera was found dead.

The woman, 31-year-old Geraldina Peguero-Mancebo, and her son, 1-year-old Jeyden Peguero, were considered missing and endangered in the National Crime Database, police said.

On Sept. 18, police arrested Rodriguez, who they claim confessed to killing Cabrera and dumping his body along River Road.

Meanwhile, investigators were continuing the search for the mother and son. On Sept. 19, a woman later identified as Peguero was found in a grassy field in Ontelaunee Township in Berks County, the Berks County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement. Investigators said she appeared to be the victim of “foul play.”

Then one day later, a toddler was found “partially submerged in a marshy area” approximately 150 yards west of the location where Peguero was discovered, per the D.A.’s office.

An autopsy performed on the pair on Sept. 22 confirmed they were the mother and son who had been reported missing, prosecutors said. Their deaths were ruled homicides but officials have yet to share how they were killed.

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The D.A.’s office said authorities are continuing to investigate the mother and son’s killings and have a press conference scheduled for Monday, Sept. 29.

Meanwhile, Rodriguez is being held in the Berks County jail on charges of first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse and other criminal offenses in connection with Cabrera’s death, police said. As of Sept. 24, he has not been considered a suspect in the mother and son’s death.

A GoFundMe campaign seeking burial and other expenses states Peguero and Cabrera were married and shared four children, including 1-year-old Jeyden.

“They leave behind three orphaned children, ages 13, 10, and 8, who are currently studying in the Dominican Republic and now must face life without their mother and father,” the fundraiser reads.
“Any help, big or small, will be a seed of hope for them in this painful time.”