Father Of Homestead Woman Found Dead At Construction Site Asks For Help
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The father of a Homestead woman whose body was found dumped at a construction site is asking for help in finding her killer.
Domingo Cabreja said he raised his 18-year old daughter Tiffany as a single father for most of her life.
Cabreja and friends held a vigil Monday night for Tiffany.
"I'm her father and mother for 13 years," he said, "She was attached to me, I miss her."
Among new developments on Monday, Miami-Dade Police appealed for the public's help and friends and even strangers flocked to a makeshift memorial at the site where Tiffany Cabreja's body was found, leaving flowers and notes.
"It has touched me deeply," said one neighbor, Milagros Rodriguez, who left a bouquet of flowers at the site. With tears flowing down her face, she told CBS4's Peter D'Oench, "This has touched me deeply. How would her father feel. Nothing like this has ever happened here. Just imagine seeing her body left there like a piece of trash. The person who did this had no respect for life."
.According to Miami-Dade Police, Saturday, witnesses saw what appeared to be a commercial truck for landscaping or lawn work travelling eastbound on S.W. 288th Street and as it made a left turn at Southwest 144th Avenue, what appeared to be Cabreja's body fell from the passenger side of the truck.
The driver, according to witnesses, stopped the truck, placed the body back inside and continued northbound on Southwest 144th Avenue.
When officers went to the area where the truck was last seen they discovered Cabreja's body at a construction site, according to Miami-Dade Police Department's Homicide Bureau.
Detectives said there was a small child in the truck with the man, but the child was not Cabreja's.
Several people who live in the area of the construction site said they've seen the truck in the neighborhood before, but no one seems to know who the man and child are.
Cabreja's father said he thinks the man who was driving the truck may be a friend of his daughter. He doesn't know the man's name but said the man would often hang out with Tiffany and he thinks the two may have been together Friday night.
"She told me he was working construction, he got a job, this and that, and I know he has a three year old daughter. That's why I imagine that's him," Cabreja said.
Cabreja is asking anyone with information to come forward.
"Just call the police. Call the police because if he gets away he's going to do it to somebody else," said Cabreja.
The truck was seen in an area with its share of undocumented migrant workerss who authorities say are often afraid to call police or Crimestoppers with tips.
Miami-Dade Police Detective and spokesman Roy Rutland told D'Oench that people should not be afraid of getting into trouble by calling in tips.
"I think it's very important for the public to know we are not going to focus on immigration issues," said Rutland. "We need information that will help with this case. The smallest detail can help solve a case like this. We are not ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). We are not a federal agency dealing with immigration issues. We just need help with this case."
The man's truck is described as being a white, commercial truck with black rails and writing on the driver-side door. The cargo bed of the truck is equipped with a roll up tarp.
The driver is described as being in 30s, 5 feet 9 inches tall with black hair.
The cause of the Cabreja's death is unknown.
Anyone with information on the man or the truck is urged to call Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS.
