They Want ‘Answers,’ ‘Justice’
The family of Lilia Aucapina gathered with about 100 supporters outside Southampton Town Hall Tuesday demanding that the investigation into her death be reopened.
Ms. Aucapina, who was known as Esperanza, was reported missing on Oct. 10 and was found dead in the woods on Nov. 21, her body hanging from a tree just a quarter-mile from her house in Sagaponack. Southampton Town police called it a suicide.
“Only four minutes from her house, she was found,” Maria Duchi, her niece, said. “We know they searched the area and didn’t find anything.” Police said they had searched the wooded area where Ms. Aucapina was found several times after her disappearance, to no avail.
Many in the crowd on Tuesday held signs calling for the Suffolk County Homicide Squad to be called in to lead the investigation. Others held signs in both English and Spanish questioning why it took 40 days to “find a body that was four minutes from her house.” Family members’ signs pleaded for “Justice for Esperanza and family.”
Ms. Aucapina’s parents, Raquel and Miguel Parra, who flew to the United States after their daughter’s body was discovered, stood in silence next to a microphone on Tuesday, sometimes suppressing tears, as a series of speakers pointed out what they said was poor work by the police in the investigation.
Foster Maer, the senior litigation counsel of LatinoJustice, a New York City civil rights organization who played a major role in organizing the demonstration, said after the event that local police simply do not have the resources needed for such an investigation.
He also repeated a call he had made previously for the East Hampton Town police to reopen the investigation into the death of another Latino woman, Gabriela Armijos, 21, in September of last year. Her death had also been ruled a suicide, but family members questioned that determination.
Dan Montgomery, a 53-year veteran of police work and a former police chief, advises Mr. Maer’s organization. Mr. Maer said that it was LatinoJustice’s expert’s belief that Ms. Aucapina could have been killed by a chokehold that does not cause marks, and that the scene might then have been staged to look like a suicide. He claimed Tuesday that Ms. Aucapina was a victim of domestic violence. “That situation,” he said, “should lead to a full investigation.” In addition, Mr. Maer said, there were possible suspects, if she was, in fact, murdered. He said all leads should be explored.
Ms. Aucapina was granted an order of protection from family court in Riverside against her husband, Carlos Aucapina, just a few days before her disappearance.
Ms. Duchi said her aunt described the day she received the order of protection as “one of the happiest days of her life.”
Mr. Aucapina said last month during an interview with his lawyer present that the couple were not in the process of getting a divorce and that the order of protection was to give his wife “more space.” He was arrested twice for allegedly violating that order, once after being questioned by Southampton Town Police the night his wife was reported missing and later by East Hampton Town Police.
Speaking to the press along with his lawyer last month, he denied any involvement in his wife’s disappearance and expressed concern that there were few, if any, Spanish-speaking detectives involved in the investigation.
As of press time, Mr. Aucapina’s lawyer had not responded to several requests for comment. Southampton Town Police Chief Robert Pearce did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Lilia needed our support,” said Cristina Banados, director of advocacy for the Retreat, an East Hampton domestic violence agency. “She had it, but it was not enough.”
Ms. Aucapina’s sister Martha Parra had flown from Ecuador with her parents after learning of her sister’s death. Speaking through a translator on Tuesday she said the family is not accusing any particular person of wrongdoing. “We just want answers.”