Seraphina Pereira was a devoted mother of four who, despite facing significant hardships, always wore a smile. The 35-year-old female was remembered by her older sister, Davonna Gray, as a "wonderful person" who loved dancing, exploring, and living her life. Above all, she loved her children and was always with them. On her Facebook page, she frequently posted about them, sharing a happy 5th birthday message for her son just days before she vanished.
Another recent post showed a selfie with her "lil diva" daughter after a playful make-up session. Seraphina had a 14-year-old disabled son who lived in a facility, and she resided in the Rockaways in Queens, New York, with her 13-year-old son, 4-year-old son, and 3-year-old daughter. Her life had not been easy; the father of her two oldest children died of a heart attack six years prior, and her mother passed away four years ago.
On the morning of Monday, October 19, 2026, Seraphina was seen leaving her home at the Ocean Bay Apartments on Beach 54th Street in Edgemere around 11:00 a.m. She was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, black pants, and black sneakers. When she did not return, her family grew frantic. Her sister, Davonna, traveled from Albany to New York City to help lead the search. The family posted missing person flyers all over the neighborhood, day and night, determined to find her. "We were determined to find her," Gray said. "We went directly to the beach with a flashlight — she loved the beach."
Their desperate search came to a devastating end five days later. On Saturday, October 24, around 9:40 p.m., police were called to Rockaway Community Park, about a half-mile from Seraphina's home. There, near the Jamaica Bay shoreline by Beach 58th Street and Almeda Avenue, they discovered her body. She had been wrapped in a blanket and buried in a shallow, decomposing grave. The New York City Medical Examiner’s office conducted an autopsy and ruled her death a homicide, determining she had sustained multiple gunshot wounds to her head, neck, and torso.
The New York Police Department launched an investigation into the murder. On Monday, October 26, a large police presence, including hostage negotiators, converged on Seraphina's apartment building on Beach 54th Street. They were searching for a person of interest who they believed might be barricaded inside her apartment. The residence was found to be empty, but investigators located the man at another nearby location and took him into custody for questioning.
Law enforcement sources identified the person of interest as the father of Seraphina's two youngest children. According to her sister, Seraphina had been in the process of breaking up with him around the time she disappeared. As of late October 2026, police had not released the man's name, and no charges had been filed in connection with the homicide. The investigation remained ongoing.
The news shattered Seraphina's family. "My sister was found in a shallow grave," Davonna Gray told reporters through tears. "Our family is torn apart. Never in a million years would you guess this would happen to her... Who could kill a mother?" She reflected on her sister's resilience, saying, "My sister has been through a lot and she always had a smile on her face, despite everything." The timing of the discovery was particularly painful, as the family had lost their mother in November four years earlier. "Now we're going to have to bury our sister around the same time," Gray said.
The case remains unsolved as of October 2026. The NYPD asks that anyone with information regarding the death of Seraphina Pereira call the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). For Spanish, the number is 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). Tips can also be submitted online through the Crime Stoppers website or on X @NYPDTips. All calls are kept strictly confidential.
