We have a large Portuguese community here. Her body being found at that location, can’t be a coincidence. In 1973 the tuna industry was still thriving here in San Diego. My father and 2 of my uncles were commercial tuna fisherman. The article stated Arminda was found at the end of Laurel St. under a pier. This part of San Diego bay is known as the Embarcadero. For many years, its where commercial tuna boats docked. It was close to the canneries. My aunt worked at Bumble Bee for years. The majority of workers there were women. Was she estranged from her husband? Did she travel to SD alone? I’m curious to know what Arminda’s daughters thought happened to their mother. I have so many ????
In response to your questions. She wasn't estranged from her husband. She worked at a trailer fabrication factory. The Theurer family were the owners. They had more than one factory that took up a couple of blocks in the Ironbound. Also known back then as " Atlantic Fabricators of NJ", and " Theurer Fabricators" in the Ironbound, Newark . There were rumors of a relationship with one of the foremen . His 1st name is known and there is a photo of him from back then with 3 other employees, but no one can remember his last name nor where he lived. He was married at the time. He had a convertable car. He used to offer rides to women that worked there. Her daughters were little at the time ages @ 3 and 6/8. They didn't know what had happened to her. She withdrew a lot of money from the bank and took all of their gold jewelry from Portugal the day she disappeared. The foreman and she both disappeared the same time. Her husband went to the factory to look for her. The foreman's wife also looked for him. Her husband did not file a missing person report( they were possibly undocumented) but did put an add in the local Portuguese language newspaper in Newark. Several weeks later, the foreman returned to the factory looking for his job back but she never returned. Her disappearance was the source of conversation and speculation on and off over the years in the Portuguese community there. Her husband never remarried. Raised his daughters and stayed in the same neighborhood for years until he retired. They just always thought she was out there somewhere maybe with a new name and maybe a new family. The local Portuguese TV news did a 4 part series on this in October/ November 2023 in the hopes someone might remember the foreman's last name and any other helpful info. That news organization can be found on Facebook " SPT Television. " The 4 segments are on their Facebook page. Also, Othram's forensic genetic genealogist was not able to locate nor find a family tree that led to the ID of one of Arminda's daughters that gave a DNA sample that made a positive match. Because, there are no family trees for that family online and ( birth, marriage,death) records for Covoes, Portugal and surrounding villages, online end at 1911. Arminda was eventually located by the efforts of a woman that worked with Arminda back then and the woman's daughter and other relatives. The woman is related to the family by marriage and is great aunt by marriage to the DNA donor that Othram reached out to. The donor is 4th to 6th cousin to Arminda. He is adopted and was born and raised in New Jersey. She remembered Arminda's disappearance from back then and that Arminda was cousin to the maternal biological grandmother of the DNA donor that Othram identified and reached out to (because he is adopted, he had submitted his DNA in 2018 to 2 popular DNA companies, in the hopes of locating his biological paternal side. His biological maternal side had been located several years ago. His biological maternal grandmother( deceased 2017) was Arminda's 1st or 2nd cousin. ) Another obstacle was that she ( great aunt that worked with Arminda) couldn't remember Arminda's first nor her last name after so many years, so she called relatives, even in Portugal and 2 relatives( another aunt and uncle) that happened to live on the same street in Newark as Arminda's brother in law and knew Arminda's husband back then years ago, said that both were deceased. They remembeted the first names of both Arminda's husband and brother in law , but , not their last names. I Googled both" first names "( husbands and brother in laws) ...Newark NJ...Obituary. " And an obituary that seemed to match Arminda's husband came up. I forwarded it to the cousin that forwarded it to relatives that knew them and they verified it was Arminda's husband's obituary. From the obituary ( both grown daughters, their husbands and the brother in law are listed in Arminda's husband's obituary) , a daughter was found on Facebook and the other daughter's contact info. was located from a Google search. The names of both daughters and their contact information was then forwarded to the SD detective working the case and Orthram's forensic genetic genealogist (FGG). The process began on June 12, 2023 with the email from the FGG to the 4th to 6th cousin DNA donor that he was a match to an unidentified female homocide victim found in San Diego Bay in 1973. Daughter's names and contact information and husband's obituary were emailed to the FGG and SD detective on June 18th, 2023. Positive DNA match with daughter was made @ August 1st 2023. Very thankful to the DNA donor(4th to 6th cousin to Arminda) that consented his DNA be included in the law enforcement database at the time it was submitted in 2018; to the DNA donor's cousin, great aunt and other relatives that never gave up, reached out to others, wracked their brains to recall any detail , that eventually lead to locating Arminda's husband(obit), and inturn, her daughter's. And to her daughter that consented to provide her DNA.
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