Identified! CA - Castro Valley, UID Female, 14-18, May'03 - Yesenia Nungaray

[LinasK]

POSTED: 10:52 am PST December 21, 2006
UPDATED: 2:32 pm PST December 21, 2006


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. more at link:http://www.ktvu.com/news/10583428/detail.html

 

[LinasK]

POSTED: 10:52 am PST December 21, 2006
UPDATED: 2:32 pm PST December 21, 2006


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. more at link:http://www.ktvu.com/news/10583428/detail.html

 

[LinasK]

POSTED: 10:52 am PST December 21, 2006
UPDATED: 2:32 pm PST December 21, 2006


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. more at link:http://www.ktvu.com/news/10583428/detail.html

 

[LinasK]

POSTED: 10:52 am PST December 21, 2006
UPDATED: 2:32 pm PST December 21, 2006


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. more at link:http://www.ktvu.com/news/10583428/detail.html

 

[Dark Knight]

From the moment the girl's body was found stuffed in a duffel bag nearly four years ago, her image haunted detective Scott Dudek — her feminine pajama pants, the single ankle sock decorated with snowflakes, the butterfly clip in her hair.


Yet so much was missing — she had no identification, and no one had filed a missing person report.

"We had this beautiful child, and no one was coming forth to claim her," Dudek said. "But you knew instantaneously this was someone's little girl."

The FBI's crime database lists about 6,000 unidentified victims nationally. Some of them have gone unclaimed for decades. But something about the girl abandoned among the weeds behind a Castro Valley diner struck a cord with Dudek and his team at the Alameda County Sheriff's Department.

For the next three years and eight months, the detectives spent long days and thousands of dollars tracking her identity. The teen known as "Jane Doe" became "their girl," and the case's ups and downs took an emotional toll. Dudek's wife asked him to stop discussing the case over Christmas.

But the investigators' persistence paid off. Last week, DNA results gave their victim a name: Yesenia Becerra Nungaray.

More at link:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061225/ap_on_re_us/jane_doe_identified&printer=1

 

[LionRun]

From the moment the girl's body was found stuffed in a duffel bag nearly four years ago, her image haunted detective Scott Dudek — her feminine pajama pants, the single ankle sock decorated with snowflakes, the butterfly clip in her hair.


Yet so much was missing — she had no identification, and no one had filed a missing person report.

"We had this beautiful child, and no one was coming forth to claim her," Dudek said. "But you knew instantaneously this was someone's little girl."

The FBI's crime database lists about 6,000 unidentified victims nationally. Some of them have gone unclaimed for decades. But something about the girl abandoned among the weeds behind a Castro Valley diner struck a cord with Dudek and his team at the Alameda County Sheriff's Department.

For the next three years and eight months, the detectives spent long days and thousands of dollars tracking her identity. The teen known as "Jane Doe" became "their girl," and the case's ups and downs took an emotional toll. Dudek's wife asked him to stop discussing the case over Christmas.

But the investigators' persistence paid off. Last week, DNA results gave their victim a name: Yesenia Becerra Nungaray.

More at link:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061225/ap_on_re_us/jane_doe_identified&printer=1

Thank you Dark Night for for this information. I can only imagine how Maria Del Carmen and her two brothers feel. Her daughter, Yesenia had been found; but, she had been murdered. Again, a parent's and family's worse nightmare.


So, where is Miguel Angel Nunez Castaneda now?

He is a person of interest, and I'm interested in knowing where he is. I wonder if there is DNA to compare. Miguel may be back in Mexico; but, who knows? He may be here in the US.

 

[Richard]

Police Identify Girl Found Dead Years Ago
By JULIANA BARBASSA, AP

SAN FRANCISCO (Dec. 26)

From the moment the girl's body was found stuffed in a duffel bag nearly four years ago, her image haunted detective Scott Dudek - her feminine pajama pants, the single ankle sock decorated with snowflakes, the butterfly clip in her hair

Yet so much was missing - she had no identification, and no one had filed a missing person report."We had this beautiful child, and no one was coming forth to claim her," Dudek said. "But you knew instantaneously this was someone's little girl."

The FBI's crime database lists about 6,000 unidentified victims nationally. Some of them have gone unclaimed for decades. But something about the girl abandoned among the weeds behind a Castro Valley diner struck a cord with Dudek and his team at the Alameda County Sheriff's Department.For the next three years and eight months, the detectives spent long days and thousands of dollars tracking her identity. The teen known as "Jane Doe" became "their girl," and the case's ups and downs took an emotional toll. Dudek's wife asked him to stop discussing the case over Christmas.

But the investigators' persistence paid off. Last week, DNA results gave their victim a name: Yesenia Becerra Nungaray.

Interviews with her mother allowed detectives a glimpse into her life: the doe-eyed teenager had an adventurous streak but was close to her family. She left her small, quiet town in Mexico for the United States on March 14, 2003 - her 16th birthday.

In calls home, she begged her mother to join her, saying even her worst days in the United States were better than her greatest days at home, Dudek said.Yet six weeks after she left, she was dead.

The detectives were called when the restaurant's employees found a body wrapped in plastic and folded into a green duffel bag on May 1, 2003.

She had been dead for days - likely asphyxiated with a rag found lodged in her throat. At 5-foot-1 and 110 pounds, she seemed young, somewhere between 12 and 18 years old.

Investigators got to work."We felt this was a good kid," Dudek said. "We were doing everything we could."

They rounded up specialists, who donated their time to examine her bones and her teeth. They had her DNA tested.They reached out to the community and neighboring police departments, looking into their missing persons reports, eventually checking almost 300 missing girl cases nationwide.

No one had reported her missing.

But the community rallied around her, and the girl without a name was buried under a marker reading "Unknown Child of God" in a funeral paid for by nearly 100 people. Dozens attended the ceremony, though none of them likely knew her.

Dudek got a lead in February 2004 while reading an article that mentioned the hundreds of unsolved disappearances of young women along the border with Mexico.He and other investigators traveled to El Paso, Texas, and met with mothers yearning for news of their missing daughters. They took eight DNA samples from cases that seemed related and waited weeks for the results.None matched.In June 2006, the county offered a $50,000 reward for relevant information, adding to the $5,000 reward from the Carole Sund/Carrington Memorial Reward Foundation. County Supervisor Gail Steele said she was moved by the death of a child who had no one to mourn her.

The leads flowed in, and investigators hit on a major development.

An undocumented immigrant, Miguel Angel Nunez Castaneda, had apparently lived in Hayward with the victim. He is not a suspect, but is considered a "person of interest" and is being sought by police.Detectives suspected the girl, like Nunez, might be from Yahualica, a small town of 35,000 in the Mexican state of Jalisco where the majority of families have relatives in the United States.They again made the trip south, taking with them fliers bearing the girl's likeness, and her story, as they knew it, printed in Spanish. For three days, they spread the word to residents. It paid off.

One of the fliers landed in the hands of Maria Del Carmen, a mother of three whose middle child, her only daughter, had left for the United States. At first she called regularly. One day her calls stopped.

On their last day in Mexico, the detectives visited Del Carmen and talked to her into the night, looking through pictures and sharing their story, Dudek said.

They learned enough to believe they'd hit on the right family. But they needed a DNA test to confirm their hunch.Last week, they got their answer. The girl's mother was devastated."It's sad, but at least now she knows," Dudek said.

Del Carmen was moved to learn how a community of strangers had come to care for her daughter, dedicating years to investigate her death and giving her a dignified burial, he said.

Now the officers are raising money to move Yesenia's body back to Mexico so she can be buried near her family. And they're gearing up for the next step: finding her killer.

"We've got this monster out there who killed her and dumped her like she was a bag of trash," Dudek said. "I always felt confident that once we identified her, we'd find her killer."

LINK:http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_...s/20061225034009990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001

 

[Bobbisangel]

This story is sad yet heart warming. In this day and age it is hard to believe that a community would come together to bury this girl that no one claimed and that these dedicated officers never gave up on finding who she was. How often do officers travel to Mexico or anywhere else to try and find out the identy of a young girl that no one claimed and no one reported missing? We usually hear the story about no funds, etc and the case is just shoved back on a shelf and forgotten. Bless the officers who never gave up on finding out who this girl was and for sending her home to her mother. Bless the citizens of that town for caring about that girl and taking her into their hearts.

 

[LinasK]

Posted on Thu, Jan. 25, 2007

By Sophia Kazmi

CONTRA COSTA TIMES

The Alameda County Sheriff's Office is asking anyone who would like to pay their last respects to Yesenia Nungaray -- who was previously known as Castro Valley's "Jane Doe" -- should do so before the first week of February.

Deputies plan to move her body from a grave site at Lone Tree Cemetery, 24591 Fairview Ave. in Hayward soon to a new burial site in Yahaulica, Mexico, where her family lives.

The Sheriff's Office has raised about $21,000 of the $30,000 officials have said is needed to transport the 16-year-old girl back to her hometown.

Yesenia's body was found inside a green bag on May 1, 2003 outside of a Castro Valley restaurant. She remained nameless for 31/2 years. Detectives identified her on a trip to Yahualica in December, after receiving a tip she may have been from that town.

During the trip they met with Yesenia's 36-year-old mother, Maria Del Carmen, who called the Sheriff's Office after receiving a flier with a photo of a bust that looked like her missing daughter.

Yesenia left Yahualica on her 16th birthday and moved eventually to Hayward for a better life. She lived in small house on Smalley Avenue with Miguel Angel Nunez Castaneda, who also worked at the restaurant behind which Yesenia's body was found. more at link:http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/breaking_news/16546427.htm

 

[LinasK]

Posted on Thu, Jan. 25, 2007

By Sophia Kazmi

CONTRA COSTA TIMES

The Alameda County Sheriff's Office is asking anyone who would like to pay their last respects to Yesenia Nungaray -- who was previously known as Castro Valley's "Jane Doe" -- should do so before the first week of February.

Deputies plan to move her body from a grave site at Lone Tree Cemetery, 24591 Fairview Ave. in Hayward soon to a new burial site in Yahaulica, Mexico, where her family lives.

The Sheriff's Office has raised about $21,000 of the $30,000 officials have said is needed to transport the 16-year-old girl back to her hometown.

Yesenia's body was found inside a green bag on May 1, 2003 outside of a Castro Valley restaurant. She remained nameless for 31/2 years. Detectives identified her on a trip to Yahualica in December, after receiving a tip she may have been from that town.

During the trip they met with Yesenia's 36-year-old mother, Maria Del Carmen, who called the Sheriff's Office after receiving a flier with a photo of a bust that looked like her missing daughter.

Yesenia left Yahualica on her 16th birthday and moved eventually to Hayward for a better life. She lived in small house on Smalley Avenue with Miguel Angel Nunez Castaneda, who also worked at the restaurant behind which Yesenia's body was found. more at link:http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/breaking_news/16546427.htm

 

[LinasK]

Posted on Thu, Jan. 25, 2007

By Sophia Kazmi

CONTRA COSTA TIMES

The Alameda County Sheriff's Office is asking anyone who would like to pay their last respects to Yesenia Nungaray -- who was previously known as Castro Valley's "Jane Doe" -- should do so before the first week of February.

Deputies plan to move her body from a grave site at Lone Tree Cemetery, 24591 Fairview Ave. in Hayward soon to a new burial site in Yahaulica, Mexico, where her family lives.

The Sheriff's Office has raised about $21,000 of the $30,000 officials have said is needed to transport the 16-year-old girl back to her hometown.

Yesenia's body was found inside a green bag on May 1, 2003 outside of a Castro Valley restaurant. She remained nameless for 31/2 years. Detectives identified her on a trip to Yahualica in December, after receiving a tip she may have been from that town.

During the trip they met with Yesenia's 36-year-old mother, Maria Del Carmen, who called the Sheriff's Office after receiving a flier with a photo of a bust that looked like her missing daughter.

Yesenia left Yahualica on her 16th birthday and moved eventually to Hayward for a better life. She lived in small house on Smalley Avenue with Miguel Angel Nunez Castaneda, who also worked at the restaurant behind which Yesenia's body was found. more at link:http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/breaking_news/16546427.htm

 

[LinasK]

Posted on Thu, Jan. 25, 2007

By Sophia Kazmi

CONTRA COSTA TIMESThe Alameda County Sheriff's Office is asking anyone who would like to pay their last respects to Yesenia Nungaray -- who was previously known as Castro Valley's "Jane Doe" -- should do so before the first week of February.

Deputies plan to move her body from a grave site at Lone Tree Cemetery, 24591 Fairview Ave. in Hayward soon to a new burial site in Yahaulica, Mexico, where her family lives.

The Sheriff's Office has raised about $21,000 of the $30,000 officials have said is needed to transport the 16-year-old girl back to her hometown.

Yesenia's body was found inside a green bag on May 1, 2003 outside of a Castro Valley restaurant. She remained nameless for 31/2 years. Detectives identified her on a trip to Yahualica in December, after receiving a tip she may have been from that town.

During the trip they met with Yesenia's 36-year-old mother, Maria Del Carmen, who called the Sheriff's Office after receiving a flier with a photo of a bust that looked like her missing daughter.

Yesenia left Yahualica on her 16th birthday and moved eventually to Hayward for a better life. She lived in small house on Smalley Avenue with Miguel Angel Nunez Castaneda, who also worked at the restaurant behind which Yesenia's body was found. more at link:http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/breaking_news/16546427.htm

 

[LinasK]

Posted on Thu, Jan. 25, 2007

By Sophia Kazmi

CONTRA COSTA TIMES

The Alameda County Sheriff's Office is asking anyone who would like to pay their last respects to Yesenia Nungaray -- who was previously known as Castro Valley's "Jane Doe" -- should do so before the first week of February.

Deputies plan to move her body from a grave site at Lone Tree Cemetery, 24591 Fairview Ave. in Hayward soon to a new burial site in Yahaulica, Mexico, where her family lives.

The Sheriff's Office has raised about $21,000 of the $30,000 officials have said is needed to transport the 16-year-old girl back to her hometown.

Yesenia's body was found inside a green bag on May 1, 2003 outside of a Castro Valley restaurant. She remained nameless for 31/2 years. Detectives identified her on a trip to Yahualica in December, after receiving a tip she may have been from that town.

During the trip they met with Yesenia's 36-year-old mother, Maria Del Carmen, who called the Sheriff's Office after receiving a flier with a photo of a bust that looked like her missing daughter.

Yesenia left Yahualica on her 16th birthday and moved eventually to Hayward for a better life. She lived in small house on Smalley Avenue with Miguel Angel Nunez Castaneda, who also worked at the restaurant behind which Yesenia's body was found. more at link:http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/breaking_news/16546427.htm

 

[LinasK]

Posted on Thu, Jan. 25, 2007

By Sophia Kazmi

CONTRA COSTA TIMES

The Alameda County Sheriff's Office is asking anyone who would like to pay their last respects to Yesenia Nungaray -- who was previously known as Castro Valley's "Jane Doe" -- should do so before the first week of February.

Deputies plan to move her body from a grave site at Lone Tree Cemetery, 24591 Fairview Ave. in Hayward soon to a new burial site in Yahaulica, Mexico, where her family lives.

The Sheriff's Office has raised about $21,000 of the $30,000 officials have said is needed to transport the 16-year-old girl back to her hometown.

Yesenia's body was found inside a green bag on May 1, 2003 outside of a Castro Valley restaurant. She remained nameless for 31/2 years. Detectives identified her on a trip to Yahualica in December, after receiving a tip she may have been from that town.

During the trip they met with Yesenia's 36-year-old mother, Maria Del Carmen, who called the Sheriff's Office after receiving a flier with a photo of a bust that looked like her missing daughter.

Yesenia left Yahualica on her 16th birthday and moved eventually to Hayward for a better life. She lived in small house on Smalley Avenue with Miguel Angel Nunez Castaneda, who also worked at the restaurant behind which Yesenia's body was found. more at link:http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/breaking_news/16546427.htm

 

[barb0301]

What a heroic group of officers with the SO ! To work so hard, and so long for answers, and then, to raise the $30,000 needed to move Yesenia's body home where it belongs ! I am truly impressed.

 

[Julessleuther]

What a heroic group of officers with the SO ! To work so hard, and so long for answers, and then, to raise the $30,000 needed to move Yesenia's body home where it belongs ! I am truly impressed.

I agree, why couldn't all police jurisdictions be so dedicated with unknown victims?

 

[LinasK]

Posted on Thu, Feb. 01, 2007

CASTRO VALLEY: Sheriff's Office to prepare corpse for transport to Mexican hometown of longtime Jane Doe

By Sophia Kazmi

CONTRA COSTA TIMES

The Alameda County Sheriff's Office has raised the money it needs to return the body of Yesenia Nungaray Becerra -- previously known as Castro Valley's Jane Doe -- to her hometown in Mexico to be buried near her family.

Since the 16-year-old's name was revealed in December, detectives have raised $30,000 to cover the costs to exhume, prepare and transport her body, accompanied by detectives, and hold proper funeral services in Yahualica, Mexico, where Yesenia was born and where her family lives.

On Tuesday, an anonymous donor from Foster City donated the remaining $8,000 needed to meet the fund's goal.

The Sheriff's Office is asking people interested in paying their last respects to Yesenia at Lone Tree Cemetery to do so in the next few days. Deputies plan to remove her body soon to prepare it for the trip home. Lone Tree Cemetery is at 24951 Fairview Ave. in Hayward.more at link:http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/email/news/16595268.htm

 

[LinasK]

Posted on Thu, Feb. 01, 2007

CASTRO VALLEY: Sheriff's Office to prepare corpse for transport to Mexican hometown of longtime Jane Doe

By Sophia Kazmi

CONTRA COSTA TIMES

The Alameda County Sheriff's Office has raised the money it needs to return the body of Yesenia Nungaray Becerra -- previously known as Castro Valley's Jane Doe -- to her hometown in Mexico to be buried near her family.

Since the 16-year-old's name was revealed in December, detectives have raised $30,000 to cover the costs to exhume, prepare and transport her body, accompanied by detectives, and hold proper funeral services in Yahualica, Mexico, where Yesenia was born and where her family lives.

On Tuesday, an anonymous donor from Foster City donated the remaining $8,000 needed to meet the fund's goal.

The Sheriff's Office is asking people interested in paying their last respects to Yesenia at Lone Tree Cemetery to do so in the next few days. Deputies plan to remove her body soon to prepare it for the trip home. Lone Tree Cemetery is at 24951 Fairview Ave. in Hayward. more at link:http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/email/news/16595268.htm

 

[LinasK]

Posted on Thu, Feb. 01, 2007

CASTRO VALLEY: Sheriff's Office to prepare corpse for transport to Mexican hometown of longtime Jane Doe

By Sophia Kazmi

CONTRA COSTA TIMES

The Alameda County Sheriff's Office has raised the money it needs to return the body of Yesenia Nungaray Becerra -- previously known as Castro Valley's Jane Doe -- to her hometown in Mexico to be buried near her family.

Since the 16-year-old's name was revealed in December, detectives have raised $30,000 to cover the costs to exhume, prepare and transport her body, accompanied by detectives, and hold proper funeral services in Yahualica, Mexico, where Yesenia was born and where her family lives.

On Tuesday, an anonymous donor from Foster City donated the remaining $8,000 needed to meet the fund's goal.

The Sheriff's Office is asking people interested in paying their last respects to Yesenia at Lone Tree Cemetery to do so in the next few days. Deputies plan to remove her body soon to prepare it for the trip home. Lone Tree Cemetery is at 24951 Fairview Ave. in Hayward. more at link:http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/email/news/16595268.htm

 

[LinasK]

Posted on Thu, Feb. 01, 2007

CASTRO VALLEY: Sheriff's Office to prepare corpse for transport to Mexican hometown of longtime Jane Doe

By Sophia Kazmi

CONTRA COSTA TIMES

The Alameda County Sheriff's Office has raised the money it needs to return the body of Yesenia Nungaray Becerra -- previously known as Castro Valley's Jane Doe -- to her hometown in Mexico to be buried near her family.

Since the 16-year-old's name was revealed in December, detectives have raised $30,000 to cover the costs to exhume, prepare and transport her body, accompanied by detectives, and hold proper funeral services in Yahualica, Mexico, where Yesenia was born and where her family lives.

On Tuesday, an anonymous donor from Foster City donated the remaining $8,000 needed to meet the fund's goal.

The Sheriff's Office is asking people interested in paying their last respects to Yesenia at Lone Tree Cemetery to do so in the next few days. Deputies plan to remove her body soon to prepare it for the trip home. Lone Tree Cemetery is at 24951 Fairview Ave. in Hayward. more at link:http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/email/news/16595268.htm