Seraphina Pereira, a Queens mother reported missing last week, was found dead in a shallow grave on a beach over the weekend after being shot multiple times. Investigators believe she may have known the person responsible, according to police and law-enforcement sources.
Pereira, 35, was last seen at about 11 a.m. Monday as she left her home near Beach 54th Street. Her body was discovered five days later at Rockaway Community Park in Edgemere, roughly half a mile away, wrapped in a blanket and buried in a shallow hole, police said.
By the time officers arrived at the location around 9:45 p.m. Saturday, Pereira’s remains had begun to decompose, according to law-enforcement sources.
The New York City medical examiner’s office determined that Pereira had been shot in the head, neck and torso. Her death was classified as a homicide.
Pereira often shared moments with her children on Facebook. Her most recent post was a tribute marking her son’s fifth birthday, published only days before she disappeared.
About a week before that, she posted a selfie with her “lil diva” daughter, writing that the girl had done her makeup as the two posed together wearing green eye shadow.
No arrests had been announced by Monday as detectives continued investigating Pereira’s killing.
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