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Posted on Sat, Sep. 06, 2008
Tattoo reveals the ID of dead woman in Keys
BY CAMMY CLARK
Marelyn Rijo was furious the first time she saw a large tattoo of angel wings on her older sister's shoulder, along with the name ''Cesar'' inside a red heart.

''Thank God for that tattoo now,'' Rijo said. ``When we saw it, we knew what happened to Jessica.''

A picture of the tattoo helped family and detectives match missing person Jessica Flores, 41, of North Miami Beach, with the body of a woman found Wednesday with multiple wounds at the bottom of a bridge embankment in Islamorada.

`PERSON OF INTEREST'

Detectives from the Monroe County Sheriff's Office have ruled the death of Flores, a native of Honduras, a homicide and are searching for Flores' six-year live-in boyfriend as a ``person of interest.''

His name: Cesar Tinoco.

Tinoco, 33, a Nicaraguan who worked in construction for a temporary agency in Boca Raton, may be driving a black 1988 Nissan Maxima with Florida tag 434JEH.

''Jessica was a good-hearted person who trusted too much. That was the problem. She loved her boyfriend too much,'' said Elizabeth Anderson, Flores' cousin.

Rijo said the family disliked Tinoco from the start.

''He was creepy, controlling and verbally abusive to Jessica,'' Rijo said. ``She loved him like you wouldn't imagine and never listened to us until a few days ago. She kicked him out, took his keys. He didn't sleep at home Monday night.''

Rijo said neighbors told her that Tinoco returned Tuesday to Flores' apartment at 1051 NE 163rd St. in North Miami Beach to retrieve clothes. Flores' 18-year-old daughter, Vanessa, spoke with her mother by phone about 2 p.m. Tuesday and said her mother did not mention planning to go anywhere.

When Vanessa returned to the apartment about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, her mother was gone. She became worried because her mother left behind her purse and her prescription medication.

Vanessa filed a missing person report with North Miami Beach Police Wednesday afternoon, telling a detective that she had contacted family members and none had heard from her, and that when she called Tinoco's cell phone it appeared to be disconnected.

In the missing person report, Vanessa Flores said her mother and Tinoco argued constantly. She also said she never saw Tinoco get physical with her mother, but had seen her mother shove Tinoco during arguments.

At about the same time the report was filed, two couples on vacation in the Keys were strolling along a bridge across from Anne's Beach Park in Islamorada when one ventured down the embankment of mangroves and rock and discovered the body just yards from U.S. 1 and the Gulf of Mexico at mile marker 73.

An autopsy was performed Thursday. Detectives have not disclosed the cause of death, saying only that she had multiple wounds. A police photo released Wednesday showing Flores' tattoo also revealed a puncture wound in the middle of her shoulders that appears to have come from a knife.

Monroe County Medical Examiner Hunt Schuerman said Flores most likely had been dead less than 24 hours.

Rijo said her sister, who moved to the United States from Honduras when she was 7, was protective of her children and her family. ''When we were little in school and somebody was being mean to me, she would defend me even if the mean kid was older,'' Rijo said. ``She was gutsy and spoke her mind.''

`A FIGHTER'

Anderson said: ``We don't know what happened, but we know she wouldn't have gone easily. She was a fighter.''

Flores leaves behind three children from a previous relationship: Vanessa, a student at Miami Dade College; Ricardo, 23, and Jorge, 25.

''They are taking it really hard,'' Rijo said. ``But they also are so grown up and acting so mature.''

Anyone with information should call the Sheriff's Office at 305-289-2410 or the Crime Stoppers of the Florida Keys hot line at 800-346-TIPS.

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