Background: 4400 block of Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia (Google Maps) Inset: Gerelys Sanchez-Reyes (Philadelphia Police Department)
A suspect has been arrested months after a woman”s body was found stuffed in a futon inside her Philadelphia apartment.
Gerelys Sanchez-Reyes, 28, was arrested in Madrid, Spain, according to the U.S. Marshals Service, and will be extradited back to the U.S. It appears that she will be charged with murder.
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The body of Yuleisy Carolina Torrelles Martinez, 21, was found in the early morning hours of April 5. The Philadelphia Police Department said Martinez’s friends contacted them because they had not heard from her in several days.
When officers secured a search warrant and arrived at Martinez’s apartment on the 4400 block of Frankford Avenue in the northeast region of the city, they found her body wrapped in a shower curtain inside a futon, per WCAU. She had multiple stab wounds to her neck and torso.
Sanchez-Reyes was announced as a suspect just days later, on April 12, with police securing an arrest warrant for her and asking the public for any information as to where she may be.
The U.S. Marshals Service’s Philadelphia branch announced her arrest on Thursday.
Martinez’s family told WCAU that she had been living in Philadelphia for less than a year, working as a waitress. Angel Cardona, a local business owner, said she was a customer of his and he would see her around every now and then.
“She came in about a year ago to purchase furniture for her apartment,” Cardona said. “It’s very tragic and mind-blowing. It’s very unfortunate that happened. She’s obviously a young lady, 21-years-old, just starting out in life. And it’s a shame. It really is. My heart and prayers go out to her family, her friends, everybody that knew her.”
It’s unclear if or how the victim and Sanchez-Reyes knew each other, nor is it clear whether the suspect had connections in Spain or fled there for another reason.
