Body in suitcase ID'd as that of young Gloucester Co. mom

The human remains stuffed in a suitcase and found by a hunter near the Shore have been identified as that of a 30-year-old mother from Gloucester County.

The Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office said the remains are that of Tara Rogers-Alicea, of Monroeville, a section of Elk Township in Gloucester County. Her death has been ruled a homicide.

Rogers-Alicea's family reported the young woman missing on Oct. 22 to the Clayton police department in Gloucester County, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office said, adding that it was not known exactly when Rogers-Alicea was last seen alive.

Rogers-Alicea's remains were discovered in woods off Broadway Avenue in Egg Harbor Township, behind the Harbor Square shopping complex, formerly known as the Shore Mall. She was identified from a tattoo of shooting stars on her right foot.

Detectives were able to further confirm her identity based on fingerprints. They are currently having DNA analyzed.

The New Jersey Medical Examiner's Office ruled her cause of death as asphyxiation with strangulation.

Authorities have not released further details.

According to her Facebook page, Rogers-Alicea attended Clayton High School. She said she lives in Turnersville, a section of Washington Township, Gloucester County. But authorities say her last known address was Monroeville.

She also posted that she was a mother of at least two children.

In two postings, Rogers-Alicea at least suggested she enjoyed going to Atlantic City at times.

"I got a room in the water club borgata hit me the club mur mur is gonna be popin tonight," she wrote in June.