Melody Rivera death: Philadelphia police are searching for a person of interest in the missing mother’s death

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — Philadelphia police are searching for a person involved in the death of a mother whose body was found in a shallow grave.

Investigators made the discovery Thursday afternoon in the 900 block of Tustin Road in the Fox Chase neighborhood.

The person the police are looking for is the victim’s boyfriend.

“We looked for her for six days,” Martha Lee Fred said of the search for her sister, 29-year-old Melody Rivera, whom the family last heard from on Halloween night.

When police found a woman’s body Thursday afternoon, Fred received the news she and her family had been fearing.

“Unfortunately, it turned out that it was actually her,” she said.

“They found a shallow grave and the body,” Philadelphia Police Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore said of the discovery.

The coroner has not yet determined the cause of death, but police are searching for Rivera’s boyfriend, Geovanni Otero, who is 29 years old.

He is considered a “person of interest.” According to police, he is already wanted in another case.

“He is wanted for a probation violation. I believe he was arrested for a crime that made him eligible for parole, so he could be considered dangerous,” Vanore said.

According to police, Otero had an argument with the victim before she went missing. This marked the beginning of the first police investigations and searches.

“There was some sort of argument between them and during that argument Otero was there, so we want to talk to him,” Vanore said.

Rivera’s family is asking the community to help police find him.

“(We) beg and plead with the community. Just get in touch if you know where he is. If you have any information, just help us,” Fred said.

Rivera’s mother, Maritza Garcia, was heartbroken as she hugged Rivera’s 11-year-old daughter outside the family’s home.

“My granddaughter’s suffering,” Garcia said through tears. “It’s like I’ve never felt his heart broken in my life. He took my baby away from me.”

The heartbroken family is now hoping for justice.

“She was taken way too soon and that’s unfair,” Garcia said.

The Philadelphia Police Department is asking anyone with information about the whereabouts of Geovanni Otero to contact Crime Stoppers at 215-686-3334 or submit a tip via the anonymous hotline at 215-686-TIPS.