Police reported that a mother and her young children were found stabbed to death inside the family’s South Jersey apartment on Wednesday.
Police discovered the bodies of 30-year-old Ruth Reyes, her 5-year-old daughter, Eurianny, and 2-year-old son, Eury, after they found the body of Reyes’ 54-year-old husband, Eugenio Severino, in a wooded area 5 miles away the couple’s Penns Grove apartment.
Police said the man died by suicide. The officers were checking his home when they found the young family dead.
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The bodies were found in a Salem County apartment on Wednesday.
The woman’s husband was first discovered in the woods by a passerby near the Salem County Sportsmen’s Club along Route 40 in Carney’s Point, New Jersey. He died of an apparent suicide.
When officers identified the man, they went to his last address, an apartment about 5 miles away at Penns Grove Gardens in neighboring Penns Grove.
Inside the home, police found the bodies of his family.
Penns Grove Police Chief Patrick Riley said the woman had a restraining order in place. It is known that Reyes and her husband Severino had been living apart and she had gone to the authorities a few weeks ago after her husband threatened to kill her.
A relative told revealed that the family was originally from the Dominican Republic and had moved to the United States looking for a better life.
Johnny Solano,a Severino´s cousin said that Ruth Reyes was a server in his restaurant “La Cuchara” and he had helped Severino get a job washing vehicles. Solano was also the children´s godfather.
“This is never going to be the same, she was the life of that place,” He said referring to Reyes.
Riley confirmed a restraining order had been filed against Reyes.
Severino threatened to kill Reyes and for this reason she went to court and obtained a restraining order.
Investigators are trying to determine the time the crime was committed.
“It’s very difficult. Most of the officers have children,” Riley said.