Shortly after 8 a.m. on February 5, 2019, a road crew in Greenwich, Connecticut, spotted a red suitcase camouflaged in a wooded backyard. 

What they found inside the case made them call 911 immediately.

“As we approached the suitcase, we discovered the body of a motionless young girl,” Detective Sergeant Pierangelo Corticelli of the Greenwich Police Department shared on Buried in the Backyard, which airs Saturdays at 8/7c p.m. “The victim was frozen solid.”

Det. Anthony Fiscella, who is now retired from the Greenwich Police Department, described the scene as “quite shocking” even for someone experienced in law enforcement. “She was contorted into a fetal position,” he reported. “Her hands were tied behind her back, bound with twine.”

The victim displayed signs of head trauma, abrasions on her hands, and chipped fingernails. “She endured severe violence, and this young woman fought to survive,” Fiscella stated. “Where did she originate from?”

The search for an answer led detectives to New Rochelle, New York, where a beloved daughter and sister had gone missing days earlier.

Valerie Reyes goes missing

On January 29, 2019, 24-year-old Valerie Reyes did not respond to her mother’s, Norma Sanchez’s, phone call. As time passed without contact, her mother’s worry intensified.

Valerie, known for her artistic prowess, struggled with depression following her parents’ divorce. Her recent separation from her boyfriend, John, heightened her mother’s anxiety.

Valerie’s brother, Salvador Reyes, got his dad, and they went to Valerie’s apartment. They met Valerie’s ex-boyfriend, John, there. 

“He and Valerie had argued the day before she went missing,” said Salvador. He said he’d gone there to apologize. But Valerie was nowhere in sight.

Valerie’s family reached out to hospitals and distributed posters throughout New Rochelle, including the train station, and they shared details of her disappearance across social media platforms.

On January 30, they went to Valerie’s workplace and found that she wasn’t there. So, the family went to the police and made a report. 

“Her mother related that Valerie had issues with anxiety,” said Fiscella. “They were concerned she could have harmed herself.” 

Detectives began by tracing Valerie’s banking information. They saw that someone drained her bank account of several thousand dollars, and had to figure out if it was her, or someone else.

Body found is identified as Valerie Reyes

On February 5, days after Valerie’s disappearance, a suitcase with a dead young woman in it was recovered in Greenwich, Connecticut, and investigators identified the victim as Valerie Reyes.

“It was just the worst day of my life,” Sanchez said of hearing the news about her daughter.

Detectives searched Valerie’s apartment and there was no sign of forced entry. The family told police there had been a broken glass on the floor that Valerie’s father had cleaned up. Her laptop and cell phone were missing.

Investigators went through the residence with a fine-tooth comb. “We then decided to search using Luminal,” said Corticelli.

The chemical glows when detecting blood traces. “There was a lot of blood in the tub, blood in the sink, so much that you could clearly make out a handprint,” said Fiscella. 

The bloody areas were swabbed for evidence. While waiting for results, investigators focused on Valerie’s dating history. 

Valerie Reyes’ phone records offer clues

Her mother gave detectives access to her cell phone. One of Valerie’s friends shared names of men Valerie had dated. “There was a guy named Joe who was a mechanic, and there was a guy named Javier,” said Corticelli. “She was on different dating apps.” 

Investigators saw that on January 29 at around 3 a.m., her phone was put into airplane mode. At the same time, several withdrawals were made from her bank account. 

Bank security footage showed an individual dressed head-to-toe in black taking out the money from Valerie’s account — and it wasn’t Valerie. 

“The investigation at this point is zeroing in on this unknown male making ATM withdrawals,” said Corticelli.

Using traffic surveillance cameras, the New Rochelle Police Department got a license plate off the black Honda CR-V that the individual was driving. It was found to be a rental car, leased in Queens, New York.

Javier Da Silva Rojas emerges in the case

Detectives subpoenaed the rental history for the car. While they waited for that information, DNA results from Valerie’s apartment showed a mixture of her blood and that of an unknown contributor. 

“This eliminates the ex-boyfriend, John, as a suspect,” said Corticelli. “This leads to further questions as to the identity of this unknown male.”

The rental-car history results revealed a man named Marco, as well as other drivers. One of them was named Javier. “It immediately clicked in my mind as a person that Valerie had dated,” said Fiscella. 

Detectives learned that Valerie had dated Javier Da Silva Rojas, who was from Venezuela, a year earlier. He was so upset when Valerie broke things off, that she had to block him on her phone. 

Valerie had a drawn a portrait of him that was still on her wall when investigators processed the crime scene. 

“He had come into the United States on a student visa, which he had overstayed,” said Fiscella. “There was currently a deportation order for him.”

Detectives obtained surveillance video stills from the car rental location. “We were able to see the unknown male from the ATM withdrawals without his face covered,” Corticelli said. “That photo was Javier Da Silva Rojas.”

Javier Da Silva Rojas arrested 

A decision was made to charge Da Silva Rojas for the deportation order. On February 11, he was arrested in Queens and brought to the New Rochelle Police Department. 

Marco was also interviewed. Detectives learned that he worked as a security guard in Da Silva Rojas’ building. He would rent out Zip cars to other tenants under his name. At this point, Marco was eliminated from the investigation.

Because Valerie was abducted and brought to another state, the FBI got involved.

Investigators get a warrant for Da Silva Rojas’ residence. “They actually found Valerie’s identification and credit card in his apartment,” said FBI Special Agent Daniel McKenna.

On February 12, detectives interviewed Da Silva Rojas. He denied knowing Valerie. Investigators confronted him with the evidence they’d already collected. 

Da Silva Rojas changed his story. He said that he and Valerie had consensual sex the last time he saw her and that she’d fallen and hit her head. “He said he checked her for breath,” said Fiscella. “She wasn’t breathing.” 

He said that he saw a suitcase outside, grabbed it, tied Valerie up, taped her mouth, put her in the case, and then dumped her in Connecticut.

“We don’t believe it when he says they had consensual sex,” said Fiscella. “She had a large hematoma to the forehead, multiple cuts to her hands. She fought for her life.”

Investigators also didn’t believe it when Da Silva said she was dead. “He taped her from her chin to the top of her nose with packing tape,” said Fiscella. “[If] she’s unconscious, knocked down or dead —  you don’t have to do that.”

Javier Da Silva Rojas pleads guilty

Detectives were certain that this was a murder. But in order to prove the federal crime of kidnapping, they still had to establish that Valerie was moved out of state, and alive in New York and had died in the state of Connecticut.

During the autopsy, the medical examiner found crystallization in her lungs. That showed she had fluid in her lungs that froze, indicating that she was still alive when she was stuffed into the suitcase.

Investigators determined that Da Silva Rojas went to New Rochelle “to try to rob her,” said Fiscella. “During that time, a violent struggle ensued.” 

After discarding Valerie in Connecticut, Da Silva Rojas essentially cleaned out her bank account. “Larceny and greed were certainly a primary motive,” said Corticelli.

Da Silva pleaded guilty to kidnapping with a result of murder. He was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison. He will be deported to Venezuela after he serves his sentence. 

Buried in the Backyard airs Saturdays at 8/7c on Oxygen.