0:00
there is nothing more terrifying than
0:02
being fearful of your own death and
0:04
valerie reyes was a young woman who
0:06
expressed these very concerns to her own
0:08
mother
0:09
it appears that these feelings were
0:11
actually a morbid premonition which
0:13
would occur only several hours later how
0:16
did valerie know that she was going to
0:18
die or were these terrible thoughts
0:20
simply out of dark coincidence
0:23
good morning good afternoon or good
0:25
evening my name is adrian and welcome
0:28
back to another video by coffee house
0:29
crime today we're looking at the tragic
0:31
case of valerie reyes
0:34
and just to let you know but i post
0:35
solved unsolved and strange cases here
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on a weekly basis so if you're
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now with that said let's begin today's
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video grab a coffee pull up a seat and
2:16
sit back
2:17
this is the case of valerie reyes
2:30
new york you seem to be appearing in a
2:32
lot of my videos in the recent weeks
2:35
welcome to new rochelle folks
2:37
found in the southern corner of the
2:39
state of new york new rochelle is a city
2:41
of roughly 80 000 residents
2:44
the city was initially established by
2:46
french refugees in 1688 predominantly
2:48
from la rochelle in france
2:51
a lot has changed since then as nowadays
2:54
new rochelle is an important centre for
2:55
business outside of the big apple
2:58
pressing ahead with our story we find
3:00
ourselves visiting the home of valerie
3:02
reyes
3:03
born on april 9 1994 her mother norma
3:06
and father sal brought her into what
3:08
would be a close and tight-knit family
3:11
valerie was the oldest of four children
3:13
and from childhood right through to
3:14
adulthood she held a close relationship
3:16
with her siblings
3:18
by the year of 2019 valerie was 24 years
3:21
old and standing at five feet and three
3:24
inches she had black hair brown eyes and
3:26
a half sleeve tattoo on her left arm
3:29
she worked as a store clerk at the
3:30
barnes noble store nearby at the verning
3:32
hills shopping center
3:34
and working here for nearly three years
3:36
many people in the area knew her
3:38
working at a bookstore valerie was
3:40
actually an artist at heart
3:42
she aspired to become a tattooist and
3:45
was very excited about her goals and
3:47
future
3:48
described as a gentle person who would
3:50
always stop and talk to the neighborhood
3:52
children valerie was nurturing and
3:54
generally open-minded
3:56
there was however a fragile side to
3:58
valerie too and like i think most of us
4:00
do she sometimes struggled from anxiety
4:03
and at times depression
4:05
it was nothing too serious but
4:07
persistent enough to sometimes bring
4:08
disruption to her life
4:10
on january the 28th valerie's mother
4:12
norma answered her phone to a rather
4:14
panicked daughter norma always knew that
4:16
she suffered from anxiety but valerie
4:19
was particularly paranoid this evening
4:21
she was apparently finding it very
4:23
difficult to talk and seemed to be very
4:25
frightened over something
4:26
asking her daughter what exactly the
4:28
problem was valerie didn't mention
4:30
anything or anyone specifically
4:32
instead she simply said i'm scared i'm
4:35
paranoid i'm getting anxiety attacks
4:38
norma desperately tried to depry for
4:39
more information from her daughter and
4:41
valerie eventually replied back to say
4:44
i'm scared someone is going to murder me
4:46
now there wasn't much reason for valerie
4:48
to feel this way she was a well-behaved
4:50
woman had no enemies and lived a
4:52
cautious life
4:54
she may have broken up with her
4:55
boyfriend five days earlier but he
4:57
wasn't the aggressive type prying
4:59
further norma asked her why she felt
5:01
that way was there someone at her house
5:03
and was it her ex-boyfriend
5:05
valerie replied with no no and no
5:08
she simply didn't feel safe being alone
5:10
in her own home
5:12
the two talked things through for a
5:13
while putting it down to simple newfound
5:15
anxiety there was nothing too much to
5:17
worry about and shortly after this
5:19
valerie norma said their good nights
5:21
sleep well speak again soon only soon
5:25
would never come as that very same night
5:28
valerie disappeared
5:32
texting back and forth with a friend
5:34
late that evening valerie signed off
5:36
from her phone at around 11 35 pm
5:39
she said i'm a knockout now my eyes
5:41
can't stay open anymore lol
5:43
she had work early in the morning and
5:45
needed to get some sleep but this was
5:48
the last time she would ever reply to
5:49
anyone as the very next morning she
5:52
missed her shift at barnes noble
6:00
her family were notified shortly after
6:02
this and her friends eventually heard of
6:04
the news too and despite loved ones
6:06
trying to contact her she failed to
6:08
respond to text messages
6:10
all of her phone calls went straight
6:12
through to voicemail
6:14
valerie's disappearance became a lot
6:16
more serious after this and on january
6:19
the 30th at 2 43 p.m valerie reyes was
6:22
officially reported as missing
6:25
posters were distributed around the
6:27
local area and as rumor made its way
6:29
around the local community of new
6:30
rochelle both concern and support were
6:33
found
6:34
there had been a series of murders
6:36
against young women in the local area
6:38
through recent years
6:39
and although not likely connected it was
6:42
very worrisome that valerie was now
6:44
nowhere to be found
6:45
the reyes family were quick to find an
6:47
fbi agent who had been assigned to work
6:49
in parallel with police investigations
6:52
court documentation shows that special
6:54
agent daniel mckenna had over 20 years
6:56
of experience on the job
6:58
and as investigations began law
7:00
enforcement were quick to identify fresh
7:02
bank activity from valerie's bank
7:04
account
7:05
she had apparently used an atm in the
7:07
manhattan area at around 5am on the 29th
7:10
of january this would have been only a
7:12
few hours after her last confirmed
7:14
contact with family and friends
7:16
police were quick to request to review
7:18
the footage from the atm machine but
7:20
this would take a few days to come back
7:23
there were several items missing from
7:25
her apartment too
7:26
it appeared as if she had taken her
7:28
iphone ipad fresh sets of clothes and
7:31
bed sheets
7:32
so the question was had she left on her
7:34
own accord or had she been taken
7:38
over the following days scores of
7:40
friends and family took to social media
7:42
asking for help in finding their beloved
7:44
valerie
7:45
they shared pictures of her and
7:47
described what she last wore
7:49
but it seemed as if no one could agree
7:50
where exactly she disappeared some of
7:53
the makeshift posters that were shared
7:54
across social media said she was last
7:56
seen walking to the train station while
7:59
others claimed that she vanished in
8:00
lower manhattan but regardless
8:02
authorities couldn't find any sign of
8:04
valerie anywhere
8:06
or at least for the first several days
8:15
in the early morning hours of february
8:16
the 5th 2019 highway workers were
8:19
working along the side of the road of
8:21
stillman lane found near the town of
8:23
greenwich the location roughly 10 miles
8:25
away from valerie's home
8:28
that is when they came across a red
8:30
suitcase
8:31
the suitcase appeared to be full with a
8:34
heavy and solid object inside
8:37
approaching the suitcase curiosity got
8:39
the better of them the highway workers
8:41
slowly unzipped the bag
8:44
and what they found inside was an
8:46
awfully harrowing sight
8:49
inside was the body of a young female
8:51
adult she was fully clothed but her
8:54
shirt had been unbuttoned
8:56
she had visible injuries to her head
8:58
her hands and feet were bound her mouth
9:01
covered with several layers of tape
9:03
to the men it was not clear how exactly
9:05
she died but she clearly suffered a
9:08
terrible death
9:10
the woman in the suitcase was valerie
9:12
and the very next day her own father and
9:15
brother would confirm her identity
9:17
after a week of panic questions and
9:19
concerns later grisly and devastating
9:22
end as valerie's family and friends
9:24
faced the new challenge of comprehending
9:26
their loss investigating officers
9:28
refocused their efforts to find her
9:30
killer
9:31
and as it turns out progress was already
9:33
being made
9:34
police now identify the victim as 24
9:36
year old valerie reyes of new rochelle
9:38
new york her body was found earlier this
9:40
week on the side of the road the quiet
9:42
road in greenwich connecticut she was
9:44
discovered inside a red suitcase her
9:46
hands and feet were bound reyes had been
9:49
reported missing to new york state
9:51
authorities and was last seen on january
9:53
29th at about 9 00 a.m now in a
9:56
statement police say her family was
9:57
advised of the positive identification
9:59
last night and authorities are now
10:01
sending heartfelt condolences to them
10:04
now investigators also say that a cause
10:06
of death has not yet been confirmed but
10:08
many pieces of possible physical
10:10
evidence were collected circling back to
10:13
valerie's bank activity on the morning
10:14
she disappeared this activity was
10:17
actually a cash withdrawal from an atm
10:19
machine located in new rochelle which
10:21
means they could now look back at the
10:22
atm's camera and although we don't have
10:25
access to this footage detectives
10:26
described a male figure in dark pants
10:28
and black sneakers exiting a honda crv
10:31
he then withdrew one thousand dollars
10:33
from valerie's bank account
10:35
the car's license plates was actually
10:37
visible in adjacent surveillance footage
10:39
and after doing some research they found
10:41
that this car was a rental vehicle from
10:43
a company in flashing new york
10:45
just one phone call later and it
10:47
appeared that this car had been rented
10:48
to a man named javier de silva and it
10:50
just so happened that this man used to
10:53
be dating valerie reyes
10:57
so who exactly is javier well first of
11:01
all his full name is javier enrique de
11:03
silva rojas
11:04
born on january the 3rd 1995 he was a
11:07
few months younger than valerie and also
11:10
24 years at the time of her
11:11
disappearance
11:13
javier was a college student living and
11:15
studying in the country of venezuela
11:18
now venezuela is currently in the middle
11:20
of an economic and political crisis and
11:22
it has been for several years now
11:24
venezuela's current situation is both
11:27
tragic and extremely interesting
11:30
it is not something i can briefly cover
11:32
but the long story short is that the
11:34
country is in total anarchy and in the
11:36
year 2017 javier fled from venezuela to
11:40
make a better life for himself in the us
11:43
unfortunately this was not through
11:45
honest means
11:46
he entered the us on the visa waiver
11:48
program which allows visitors for
11:50
tourism or business purposes to stay for
11:52
90 days or less without a visa
11:55
javier overstayed his welcome and was
11:58
living unlawfully in new york city but
12:00
otherwise he didn't seem so bad
12:03
he worked as a short order cook and
12:05
cashier at a restaurant living in
12:06
flushing of queens new york
12:09
he was a gamer liked horror movies and
12:11
generally kept his head down
12:13
moving forward into january of 2018
12:16
javier met valerie on a dating website
12:19
friendship kindled into a love interest
12:21
and before they knew it the two were
12:23
dating
12:25
it's clear to see through previous
12:26
social media posts that javier was madly
12:28
in love with valerie in his own words
12:31
which are kind of strange his favorite
12:33
thing about her was how she smelled
12:35
valerie was a lot of fun to be around
12:37
and he appreciated her company greatly
12:40
this relationship lasted for a few
12:42
months but unfortunately in april of
12:44
2018 valerie felt forced to stand the
12:47
relationship when javier grew too
12:49
expectant of her
12:51
apparently he wanted to move in with her
12:53
something she was not yet ready for
12:56
he was also allegedly very pushy and
12:58
wouldn't take no for an answer
13:00
the personal connection to valerie along
13:02
with his surveillance footage was enough
13:04
for officers to question his involvement
13:07
so on february 11 2019 javier was
13:10
arrested at his apartment
13:12
since valor reyes was found deceased in
13:15
greenwich on february 5th
13:17
grants police have been working closely
13:19
with police from new rochelle new york
13:21
several crime scenes have been examined
13:24
hours of surveillance video have been
13:26
reviewed and numerous interviews
13:28
conducted
13:29
detectives from both agencies have
13:31
pursued a multitude of leads there has
13:33
been an intense focus on the use of
13:35
valerie's atm card after which we
13:38
believe she was murdered
13:39
this line of investigation corroborated
13:42
by others
13:43
led us to a suspect
13:45
last night in queens new york detectives
13:48
from new rochelle
13:49
accompanied by detectives from the
13:50
greenwich police department
13:52
located and arrested the suspects and
13:55
the fraudulent use of valerie's atm card
13:58
the suspect is javier de selva of queens
14:01
new york but i want to emphasize
14:03
investigation continues the
14:05
investigation is not finished yet
14:07
there's a lot of loose ends that need to
14:09
be tied up javier started talking to
14:10
police very quickly after his arrest and
14:13
the news
14:14
it wasn't good and although he admitted
14:17
to burying her body he insisted that it
14:19
was an accident
14:20
he told officers that apparently she had
14:23
died during one final session of sex
14:25
falling off the bed and cracking her
14:27
head open
14:28
apparently he didn't know what to do
14:30
now i'm not sure if binding his lover's
14:32
hands and feet together packing her into
14:34
a suitcase and then rinsing her bank
14:36
account was the gentlest of approaches
14:38
to a head injury but officers didn't
14:40
like his story either
14:42
according to a jailhouse interview with
14:44
javier he said
14:45
she fell we fell together she wasn't
14:48
responding i put my mouth on hers i
14:50
tried to put aaron
14:52
i'm a bad person and i did something
14:54
wrong i didn't call the police because i
14:56
thought they would blame me he allegedly
14:59
bound her body because she didn't fit in
15:01
the suitcase
15:02
and when asked if he knew cops would
15:04
find him he nodded
15:05
he even claimed he withdrew cash from
15:07
valerie's account because he wanted to
15:09
get caught
15:11
but officers soon found a new potential
15:13
motive behind his actions
15:15
it turns out that on january the 24th
15:18
only four days prior to valerie's
15:19
disappearance javier had texted his new
15:22
partner to say i just found my ex
15:24
[ __ ] in my bed with the guy next door
15:27
but i didn't want to tell you [ __ ]
15:29
so we have now established that all of
15:31
this was javier's wrongdoing but what
15:34
exactly happened to valerie reyes
15:39
on the afternoon of january the 28th
15:41
2019 valerie had left her job at barnes
15:44
noble's and vernon shopping center
15:46
later that evening she told her mother
15:48
norma that she was nervous and anxious
15:51
afraid that someone was going to murder
15:53
her we don't know if this was an unlucky
15:56
premonition or if she knew that javier
15:58
was scheming but unbeknownst to valerie
16:00
during this phone call to her mother
16:02
javier was already up to no good
16:05
at 10 50 pm a surveillance camera
16:07
captured javier leaving his apartment in
16:09
queens new york and five minutes later
16:12
another camera spotted javier retrieving
16:14
a rental car from a garage near his home
16:16
google location data shows that javier
16:19
then drove to new rochelle after
16:20
plugging in the coordinates of the
16:22
church near her home and just moments
16:24
after midnight he reached valerie's
16:26
house
16:27
he then switched his phone to airplane
16:28
mode and made his way to the front door
16:31
shortly after gaining entry to the
16:33
property valerie and javier began to
16:35
argue a violent altercation ensued and
16:38
as things became physical valerie
16:40
suffered a traumatic injury to the head
16:42
bruising around the face and a large
16:44
hematoma to her forehead
16:46
javier then covered her mouth with
16:48
several layers of packing tape bound her
16:50
feet and hands with twine and while she
16:53
was still alive he then locked her in a
16:55
suitcase
16:56
javier then placing this suitcase
16:58
containing her in his rental vehicle
17:01
at approximately 3am javier gained
17:03
access to her phone by taking her
17:05
thumbprint he then took the opportunity
17:07
to view her photos notes and browsing
17:09
history
17:10
very shortly after this but valerie's
17:12
phone stopped pinging cell towers and
17:14
this was likely by being put into
17:16
airplane mode
17:17
he then used her thumbprint again to
17:19
gain access to her bank account on her
17:21
phone and around half an hour after this
17:23
he went to an atm machine and extracted
17:25
1 000 from her account
17:28
it was in this very moment that javier
17:30
made his greatest mistake one that would
17:32
eventually get him caught as this atm
17:35
had a camera
17:36
after obtaining the money he then drove
17:38
eastbound toward greenwich removed the
17:40
suitcase containing valerie and dumped
17:43
it in the woodland several metres from
17:45
the road undisclosed surveillance
17:47
footage then showed he arrived back at
17:48
home at 9 43 am that morning and he was
17:51
now wearing a different outfit compared
17:53
to the night before
17:55
on january 30th valerie was reported
17:58
missing to the new rochelle police
17:59
department by her mother father and
18:02
recent boyfriend
18:03
and all in the meanwhile javier pulled
18:05
out another 1 000 out of valerie's bank
18:08
account
18:09
he then washed the rental car and
18:11
returned it
18:13
in the days after this and while her
18:15
family and friends were left in panic
18:16
and despair javier rinsed a total of 5
18:19
350 out of her bank account
18:22
he sold her ipad and bought himself an
18:24
apple monitor and a laptop instead and
18:27
after this he would later take a photo
18:29
of himself showing off his new tech gear
18:32
valerie's body remained lost to the
18:34
world for a total of eight long days we
18:36
don't know how long she had survived but
18:39
she was trapped in a suitcase that
18:41
eventually became her own coffin
18:44
on february 5th 2019 valerie was finally
18:47
discovered by highway workers but
18:49
tragically one of these workers would
18:51
take pictures of her body and then send
18:53
them to friends before calling the
18:55
police quick side note but this idiot
18:57
lost his job
18:59
when xavier was arrested six days after
19:01
this valerie's bank card and driver's
19:03
license were found in his wallet
19:05
his dna would also be found on the red
19:07
suitcase and on a genital swab conducted
19:10
on valerie's body
19:12
on february 12 2019 javier de silva was
19:15
charged with kidnapping resulting in
19:17
death the connecticut medical examiner's
19:20
office concluded that his ex-girlfriend
19:22
had died from homicidal asphyxiation
19:24
almost one year later on february 5th
19:27
2020 javier pled guilty to the
19:29
kidnapping of valerie reyes
19:31
this was in return for a named sentence
19:34
of 30 years
19:35
and in september of 2021 he received
19:38
just that
19:40
as most of these stories go multiple
19:42
victim impact statements were released
19:45
within these statements valerie's mother
19:47
said a mother never wants to face a
19:50
terrible day like this it would take me
19:52
a day to describe the joy that valerie
19:54
brought into our lives
19:56
my boys are all heartbroken and
19:58
devastated you javier de silva are a
20:01
selfish greedy soulless person today i
20:04
hope that valerie finds the justice she
20:06
deserves
20:08
judge bracetti followed up in court by
20:10
saying what you did to this woman was
20:13
sickening anyone who could do such a
20:15
thing is not a good person by definition
20:18
and anyone who can do a thing like that
20:20
is an evil person
20:22
justice requires an evil deed to be
20:24
punished by a lengthy prison sentence
20:26
it is obvious to see that javier
20:28
kidnapped and murdered an innocent young
20:30
woman with her entire life ahead of her
20:33
and he did this in an incredibly cruel
20:35
fashion
20:36
the final moments of her life and the
20:38
final memory many will have of her will
20:40
be a valerie gravely injured and trapped
20:43
in her own suitcase
20:44
a vision among the most horrific of
20:47
thoughts
20:48
the motives behind javier's actions were
20:50
ridiculous but obvious
20:53
he murdered his former lover out of
20:54
jealousy and greed the almost entirely
20:57
absent emotions of care and compassion
21:00
replaced by venomous levels of
21:02
self-regard
21:03
with javier's visa long expired before
21:06
his crimes he now faces immediate
21:08
deportation after his prison term but
21:10
before that he will have to make it to
21:12
the year 2049.
21:14
whether he'll move back to venezuela or
21:16
portugal it is not yet clear
21:19
valerie's murder was so senseless that
21:21
even her killer has left this story
21:23
feeling entirely remorseful
21:25
she has lost her life in the most
21:27
horrific of ways and deserved so much
21:29
more time than she was given her mother
21:31
norma still describes her as humble
21:33
artistic and a true warrior
21:36
she was free-spirited and always
21:37
brightened the lives of her family and
21:39
friends with her beautiful smile and
21:42
without her her brothers remain
21:43
heartbroken from her absence
21:46
following valerie's death her family and
21:48
friends raised a gofundme campaign to
21:50
help pay for her funeral costs
21:53
valerie received a tremendous amount of
21:54
support from the local community and in
21:57
fact over 31 thousand dollars was raised
21:59
to help play her to rest
22:01
and unfortunately that just about wraps
22:04
up the case of valerie reyes another
22:06
young woman senselessly murdered by a
22:08
heartless fool there weren't many side
22:10
notes to this case but one thing that i
22:13
did find strange however was the glaring
22:15
mistakes found in official court
22:16
documentation
22:18
for example an attorney states that
22:20
valerie's body remained there for almost
22:22
two weeks
22:23
but their own dates of january the 29th
22:25
and february the 5th would confirm only
22:27
eight days i'm not sure if this is an
22:30
exaggeration or not but it's highly
22:32
unprofessional
22:33
just state the facts
22:35
false reports of seeing valerie in town
22:37
after the day she disappeared certainly
22:39
muddied the waters of this case too
22:41
again highlighting the importance of
22:43
witnesses giving accurate statements
22:45
and that's pretty much it today thank
22:48
you again so much for watching another
22:49
video by coffee house crime folks what
22:52
exactly are your thoughts on the case of
22:53
valerie reyes do you think that 30 years
22:56
is enough
22:57
please share your thoughts in the
22:58
comments section down below
23:00
thank you again for being here folks i
23:02
really do appreciate you being here and
23:04
maybe one day i'll get around to making
23:06
you that cup of coffee and thank you to
23:08
scentbird for partnering up with me on
23:10
this video use my coupon code to see
23:11
crime55 to get 55 off your first month
23:14
at sandberg that's just seven dollars
23:16
for your first month please check the
23:18
links down below now as always i'll see
23:20
you again real soon in the next video
23:22
but until that moment arrives please
23:24
remember to look after each other
23:27
goodbye
23:38
you