Drowning caused death in likely murder-suicide
Drowning was the cause of death for 21-year-old Juan Mendez and his 3-year-old niece, Passaic County acting Prosecutor Bruno Mongiardo said yesterday.
No external marks were found on either of the bodies, suggesting that Mendez likely cradled the child in his arms and jumped off a bridge into the Passaic River early in the morning on Saturday, April 25, he said.
“(Our) speculation was that he was holding her when he jumped in,” said Mongiardo, during a press conference at the county prosecutor’s office in Totowa.
Last Saturday, police were notified of a car with its doors open and abandoned on the Gregory Avenue bridge that connects Passaic and Wallington. Within hours, the body of Janiya Rivas was found in the river. Family members said Mendez had taken the girl while her mom slept from the home they all shared.
The body of Mendez was found Friday morning. The girl’s body likely rose to the top of the water before Mendez’s because she was far smaller, he said.
In Mendez’s pockets were a bank card with his name on it and the keys to the gray 2005 Honda Accord he left on the bridge. Though police strongly believe the body is Mendez’s they are waiting for official confirmation after dental records are checked Monday, Mongiardo said.
Mendez’ body was bloated to more than twice its normal size, Mongiardo said, suggesting Mendez had been in the water for days. Family members said he couldn’t swim.
The news conference capped the end of a seven-day manhunt on land and in the Passaic River for Mendez. Police believed Mendez was in the river because it would have been difficult for Mendez to hide on land given the press coverage and police alerts, Mongiardo said. But there was still a possibility Mendez faked his own suicide, he said
The medical examiner ruled the deaths to be a murder-suicide, Mongiardo said.
A motive for the crime is likely to never surface, Mongiardo said.
“I don’t know if we can ever understand what happened,” he said.
In the days leading up to the incident, Mendez had been acting in a bizarre manner, family members said. No one knows why he took the niece whom he had lived with since her birth and loved dearly, they said, and headed to the river to kill her.
Murder-Suicide Crisis 