Camden mother found in S. Jersey grave

KIDNAPPED from her small circle of church, work and family, a good woman was killed and buried in a shallow South Jersey grave miles from her Camden home, authorities said.

Fatima Perez, 41, a single mother of two, "didn't know what bad was," her sister said yesterday.

"My sister was so kind, so generous. A good mother. A good sister," said Vanessa Castro, 36. "My sister was the best to everyone. So innocent. I think that's the reason why they took advantage of her."

Perez, of East Camden, was reported missing on Monday. Authorities said they believe she was in the company of two Camden men described as her landscapers, Carlos Alicea-Antonetti, 36, and Ramon A. Ortiz, 57, and possibly heading to Burlington County.

Camden County Prosecutor Warren Faulk said at a news conference yesterday that two "persons of interest" were in custody but were not charged. Investigators did not confirm whether Ortiz or Alicea-Antonetti were the persons of interest.

Faulk also wouldn't say what led investigators to a field in rural Monroe Township, Gloucester County, where they unearthed Perez's body, but he said she was a churchgoer, a woman of habit, kidnapped and killed by asphyxiation, mostly likely in the Camden area.

"It's horrible," Faulk said. "Absolutely horrible."

Another sister, Xiomara Montes, said Perez worked constantly, cleaning buildings and offices. She attended church every Sunday at St. Joseph Pro-Cathedral on Federal Street in Camden.

Neither sister said they knew Ortiz or Alicea-Antonetti beyond their employment cutting lawns.

"She left at 9 a.m. She didn't tell anyone she was leaving. Then she didn't answer her cell," Montes told the Daily News in an interview in Spanish. "She sent a text to her older daughter, and when she called back Fatima, the phone was turned off."