Yesenia Nungaray, the castro valley jane doe until recently.. i laid some flowers by her stone couple nights ago, drive past it to and fro all day and donated to her memorial and burial fund..
DUBLIN -- Alameda County sheriff's investigators Thursday identified a girl whose body was dumped behind a Castro Valley restaurant more than three years ago as 16-year-old Yesemia Nungaray of Yahualica, in central Mexico.
In what Sgt. Scott Dudek described as "a sad ending" to a lengthy investigation, physical evidence and DNA samples have identified the 5-foot 1-inch, 110-pound girl as 16-year-old Yesenia Nungaray. Nungaray was from Yahualica, in central Mexico, 72 miles north of Guadalajara in the state of Jalisco.
Dudek said Nungaray came to the U.S. in search of a better life shortly after her 16th birthday on March 14, 2003.
Shortly before Nungaray died she told her mother, 36-year-old Maria Del Carmen of Yahualica, that "even her worst day in America was better than her best day in Mexico," he said.
Nungaray's body was found inside a green canvas bag behind a Carrows restaurant in Castro Valley on May 1, 2003. She had a rag stuffed down her throat and had died of asphyxiation about 10 days earlier.
Sheriff's officials held a funeral service for Nungaray in September 2004 and arranged for her to be buried at the Lone Tree Cemetery in Hayward.
Dudek said the next step is to try to raise enough money to pay for exhuming Nungaray's body and transporting it to her hometown so she can be reunited with her family and buried there. He estimated that a burial ceremony could occur in mid to late February.
The final step in the long process of identifying Nungaray came two weeks ago, when Dudek and four other investigators traveled to Yahualica to gather more information and were able to meet with her mother and others who knew her.
Dudek said Del Carmen "was devastated by the news that it (the body) was her daughter" but was appreciative that investigators worked on the case for so long.
He said former Carrows employee Miguel Angel Nunez Castaneda, 27, who's also originally from the Yahualica area, remains a "person of interest" in the case. Authorities don't have enough evidence to issue a warrant for Castaneda in connection with Nungaray's death, he said.
Nungaray came to the U.S. with another person but met up with Castaneda in Southern California and he brought her to Hayward, where they lived together briefly in a house at 320 Smalley Ave.
Dudek said he doesn't think that Nungaray and Castaneda were boyfriend and girlfriend but instead had more of a big brother-little sister type relationship.
Castaneda is currently on the run in Mexico and authorities "are aware of his movements almost on a daily basis," according Dudek.
He described Nungaray's death as "a heinous crime" and said people in Mexico are so upset that he thinks it would be safer for Castaneda to turn himself in to a U.S. consulate in Mexico and talk to authorities in the U.S. than it would be to stay in Mexico.
Nungaray was the middle child of Del Carmen's three children.
Dudek said Del Carmen told investigators that her daughter didn't drink alcohol or use drugs and worked hard at her studies and as a taco salesperson and a babysitter.
Authorities issued a composite drawing of Nungaray before they knew who she was, but Dudek said photographs indicate that "she was more beautiful than anyone imagined."
People who want to contribute money to help pay for a burial service in Mexico can make checks out to "Yesenia Nungaray Memorial and Burial Fund" and send them to Yesenia Nungaray Memorial and Burial Fund, c/o Alameda County Sheriff's office, 15001 Foothill Blvd., San Leandro, CA 94578.
In what Sgt. Scott Dudek described as "a sad ending" to a lengthy investigation, physical evidence and DNA samples have identified the 5-foot 1-inch, 110-pound girl as 16-year-old Yesenia Nungaray. Nungaray was from Yahualica, in central Mexico, 72 miles north of Guadalajara in the state of Jalisco.
Dudek said Nungaray came to the U.S. in search of a better life shortly after her 16th birthday on March 14, 2003.
Shortly before Nungaray died she told her mother, 36-year-old Maria Del Carmen of Yahualica, that "even her worst day in America was better than her best day in Mexico," he said.
Nungaray's body was found inside a green canvas bag behind a Carrows restaurant in Castro Valley on May 1, 2003. She had a rag stuffed down her throat and had died of asphyxiation about 10 days earlier.
Sheriff's officials held a funeral service for Nungaray in September 2004 and arranged for her to be buried at the Lone Tree Cemetery in Hayward.
Dudek said the next step is to try to raise enough money to pay for exhuming Nungaray's body and transporting it to her hometown so she can be reunited with her family and buried there. He estimated that a burial ceremony could occur in mid to late February.
The final step in the long process of identifying Nungaray came two weeks ago, when Dudek and four other investigators traveled to Yahualica to gather more information and were able to meet with her mother and others who knew her.
Dudek said Del Carmen "was devastated by the news that it (the body) was her daughter" but was appreciative that investigators worked on the case for so long.
He said former Carrows employee Miguel Angel Nunez Castaneda, 27, who's also originally from the Yahualica area, remains a "person of interest" in the case. Authorities don't have enough evidence to issue a warrant for Castaneda in connection with Nungaray's death, he said.
Nungaray came to the U.S. with another person but met up with Castaneda in Southern California and he brought her to Hayward, where they lived together briefly in a house at 320 Smalley Ave.
Dudek said he doesn't think that Nungaray and Castaneda were boyfriend and girlfriend but instead had more of a big brother-little sister type relationship.
Castaneda is currently on the run in Mexico and authorities "are aware of his movements almost on a daily basis," according Dudek.
He described Nungaray's death as "a heinous crime" and said people in Mexico are so upset that he thinks it would be safer for Castaneda to turn himself in to a U.S. consulate in Mexico and talk to authorities in the U.S. than it would be to stay in Mexico.
Nungaray was the middle child of Del Carmen's three children.
Dudek said Del Carmen told investigators that her daughter didn't drink alcohol or use drugs and worked hard at her studies and as a taco salesperson and a babysitter.
Authorities issued a composite drawing of Nungaray before they knew who she was, but Dudek said photographs indicate that "she was more beautiful than anyone imagined."
People who want to contribute money to help pay for a burial service in Mexico can make checks out to "Yesenia Nungaray Memorial and Burial Fund" and send them to Yesenia Nungaray Memorial and Burial Fund, c/o Alameda County Sheriff's office, 15001 Foothill Blvd., San Leandro, CA 94578.
