Family pleads for public's help as Englewood police release suspect's identity in murder case
A family in the Denver metro area is one step closer to justice for their loved one after Englewood police announced an arrest warrant for the person they say allegedly killed a woman and left her body in an alleyway.
"We just want to ask our community to help us find this person that did this to my mom, because she didn't deserve it," said Suany Figueroa.
Figueroa is the daughter of 41-year-old Suany Melgar Almendarez. Almendarez, a Lakewood resident, was found dead back on Sept. 11 in Englewood in the alleyway near Vallejo Street and Adriatic Place.
The Arapahoe County Coroner's Office later confirmed Almendarez's death was a homicide.
"She was a wonderful person. She was very happy. She was a hard-working woman and caring," said Figueroa.
CBS News Colorado reporter Gabriela Vidal sat down with Figueroa and Almendarez's sister, Leti Melgar.
"When I had problems, I called her. She was my confidant," said Melgar. "I still can't sleep well thinking about how someone would do this to my sister. My sister didn't deserve to die like that."
For the last two months, loved ones continued to wonder who could possibly have wanted to kill her.
"She was so happy with her granddaughter. She thought about her future," said Melgar.
In October, police managed to track down a Blue Chevy Silverado believed to be connected with her death. Then, they were able to link that car to a suspect; 41-year-old Jose Bustamante.
The name came as a shock to family.
"He was one of my mom's ex boyfriends," said Figueroa.
Figueroa says she was living with her mother during the time Almendarez was seeing Bustamante, but she never saw any signs he would want to harm her. Almendarez eventually broke up with him back in January, according to Figueroa.
"He couldn't accept that my mom didn't want to be with him," she said.
A $5 million cash only warrant has been issued for his arrest, but the suspect remains at large, and police say he is considered dangerous.
"Thank God and the police for putting in a lot of work in this, so that my sister's death is not in vain," said Melgar.
The family hopes that with attention on finding Bustamante, they will finally be able to get the justice they need for the mother of three.
"Because today it was my sister. Tomorrow it could be someone else," said Melgar.
There is still a $2,000 award through the Metro Denver Crime Stoppers for anyone who can provide information leading to Bustamante's arrest or knows his whereabouts.