Wednesday, June 22, 2011

LaGrange, NY: Cops identify body of woman whose beau killed himself

The remains of a Bronx woman found dead and set on fire in a Hudson Valley state park were identified Monday, the same day her boyfriend fatally shot himself after trying to flee police in Virginia, authorities said Tuesday.

The body of Jasmine Maxine Nunez, 22, was found by firefighters putting out a brush fire at James Baird State Park in the upstate town of LaGrange on June 12. Her remains were too charred to immediately identify.

Her boyfriend, Andres Ceballos, 26, never let on that anything was wrong until he skipped town.

"I talked to him the day after she was found," said Nunez's sister Melanie, 20. "He sounded so calm."

Family members reported the Mandl-College of Allied Health student missing last weekend after not hearing from her for more than a week, her sister said. They went with cops to the couple's Bronx apartment to find her bags packed.

"She's been trying to leave him for a while now," the sister said. "I feel like he knew she was going to leave him."

On Monday, after Nunez's body was identified by a tattoo, Virginia State Police pulled Ceballos over in Emporia. He ran from his car and shot himself to death.

"At first I was kind of happy," Melanie said. "He took my sister and now he's gone, too. But now there's so many questions unanswered."

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