Woman whose body was found in Kendall home had not been heard from for days, neighbor said
A neighbor who has lived for more than 40 years next to the Kendale Lakes home where four bodies were discovered on Sunday afternoon says no one had heard from the family since Wednesday.
“Nurses would come every day to give the elderly woman a sponge bath, and they saw them on Wednesday and everything was fine, and they came on Thursday and they called and called and called and nobody answered,” Josephine Ramirez told the Herald Monday.
Alarmed, Ramirez called 911 on Friday after the nurses told her they had still not heard from anyone in the family. Miami-Dade police arrived around 11 a.m. Friday to the home in the 4500 block of Southwest 137th Court in the Bent Tree neighborhood of Kendale Lakes. They left without entering the house, she said.
A spokesperson for Miami-Dade police told the Herald Monday they are investigating. “We are still waiting to confirm whether that call was made to us,” said Miami-Dade police Det. Andre Martin.
Miami-Dade police on Monday evening confirmed the identities of the four bodies: Mercedes Morato, 84, Jesus Regueira Sr., 83, Kerstyn Stahre, 61, and Jesus Regueira Jr., 62. Police believe the younger Regueira shot the other three before turning his weapon on himself.
READ MORE: Four found dead after a murder-suicide in Kendall area home, police say. What we know
According to Miami-Dade property records, Morato and the senior Regueira owned the home. Morato and Regueira had been divorced for years, but he had moved back into the home due to his failing health, Ramirez said.
Morato’s second husband had lived in the home until he died of Parkinson’s disease, said Ramirez, who said Morato had lived in the home about 20 years.
Ramirez said Mercedes was “lively” but she hadn’t seen her in a few weeks after she had a stroke. Ramirez says she did not have many encounters with Regueira. Their son and his wife lived with them, she said.
“The nurses told me that the son was always very distraught,” said Ramirez. “Every time they went in, he was crying.”.
Ramirez said she would often see Stahre walking around the neighborhood and described her as a “nervous Nellie.”
The four bodies were discovered by family friend Joanna Cruz on Sunday. Cruz’s mother had gone over to deliver food to Morato on Sunday, according to Local 10. When no one answered the door, she called Cruz, who had a spare key and went to the home.
“I feel like I’m in a nightmare because it’s very unpleasant to see that, and an elderly woman that was a beautiful soul — a beautiful person,” Cruz told the station.
