A missing Queens mother whose decomposing body was discovered in a shallow grave on a beach over the weekend had been shot multiple times, and investigators believe she may have known her killer, police and sources said Monday.
Seraphina Pereira, 35, was last seen at about 11 a.m. last Monday as she left her home on Beach 54th Street. Her residence was roughly a half-mile from Rockaway Community Park in Edgemere, where police found her body wrapped in a blanket and buried in a shallow hole five days later, authorities said.
Law-enforcement sources said Pereira’s remains were already decomposing when officers arrived at the scene at about 9:45 p.m. Saturday.
The city medical examiner’s office determined that Pereira had suffered gunshot wounds to her head, neck and torso. Her death was ruled a homicide.
NEXT UP: Anthropic’s IPO Filing Includes Alarming Clauses About AI’s Potential Risks
The Queens mother often shared posts about her children on Facebook. Her most recent post was a tribute marking her son’s fifth birthday, published just days before she disappeared.
About a week earlier, Pereira had posted a selfie with her “lil diva” daughter, saying the girl had done her makeup as the pair posed in green eye shadow.
No arrests had been made in Pereira’s killing by Monday, as detectives continued investigating the Queens homicide.
