New Jersey remains identified as missing woman

  Eyewitness NewsBOGATA -- DNA analysis has confirmed remains that washed up on a New York beach a decade ago are those of a New Jersey housewife who disappeared in 2001.

However, the break in the case doesn't shed any light on how Patricia Viola died.

The 42-year-old disappeared without a trace from her Bogota home on Feb. 13, 2001.

Her remains were found on a beach in Rockaway, Queens in July 2002.

Her husband, James, tells The Record newspaper he was stunned when police on Tuesday told him about the DNA match.

He says he thought his wife was out shopping the day she disappeared and he called police at 11:30 p.m. to report her missing.

He believes the match came from new DNA samples that their children submitted last year.

---
Get Eyewitness News Delivered

Facebook | Twitter | Newsletters | Text Alerts

(Copyright ©2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) Get more New Jersey News »

new jersey, missing person, new jersey news

View the original article here

Body identified as missing swimmer from New Jersey

  Eyewitness NewsBRADLEY BEACH -- Authorities have identified a body as the New Jersey teenager who disappeared last week after getting caught in a rip current.

Bradley Beach Police Chief Leonard Guida said a family friend identified the body as Naisere Nelson. An official identification is pending an autopsy on Wednesday.

The 15-year-old's body was seen floating beneath the Ocean Avenue Bridge in Avon before 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The bridge is about 1 1/2 miles south of Bradley Beach. That's where the Neptune Township High School sophomore was last seen swimming with friends before he was pulled out to sea on Thursday. (Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) Get more New Jersey News »

new jersey, missing person, new jersey news

View the original article here

Suspect identified in Jersey City rape cases

  Web produced by Bob Monek, Eyewitness NewsJERSEY CITY (WABC) -- Authorities in Jersey City say they have identified a suspect wanted in a pair of brutal rapes.

A surveillance picture released on Wednesday produced a tip call that produced the name of the suspect, investigators said. He is not in custody at this time.

They also linked the same suspects to both rapes for the first time today.

The prosecutor's office says the man attacked a woman from behind and forced her into a building on Bergen Avenue near Fairmont, where he raped her early Sunday morning. Eventually, he was scared off by a neighbor.

The woman told police her attacker was a black man about 5'7, physically fit wearing a short sleeve shirt and a red baseball cap.

He was caught on surveillance camera, shirtless without a cap.

About a half mile away from where Sunday's rape happened, another woman was brutally attacked back in March. She was grabbed from behind and dragged into an alley where she was raped for more than 30 minutes. She gave police a very similar description.

---
Do you have something to add to this story? Click here to contact Eyewitness News.

(Copyright ©2011 WABC-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
Get more New Jersey News »

new jersey, jersey city, crime, rape, new jersey news

View the original article here