Woman Found Dead in Trunk of Car in Newark, NJ; Boyfriend Charged

Forty-one-year-old Diana Boggio of Bellville, NJ was found in her Honda Accord on Verona Avenue in Newark Tuesday morning 1/31/17. Diana was reported missing to Belleville police around 2:30 p.m. Saturday, prosecutors said. A preliminary investigation found she was slain in another location and left in an industrial area of Newark, near McCarter Highway, prosecutors said. “Information developed during the course of the investigation led our detectives to the car,” prosecutor's office spokeswoman Katherine Carter said. An autopsy was pending Wednesday, but Diana likely died from a gunshot wound, officials said.

On the same day that the body was found, police took into custody a 42-year-old Belleville man, Pedro Lora-Pena, and charged him with murder, moving or concealing human remains and weapons offenses. Pena was alleged to be Diana’s boyfriend at the time of the murder.

Eyewitness News reported that a neighbor of Diana's (her Belleville home pictured above) told them that she spoke of getting a restraining order against her boyfriend just before she went missing on Friday. Prosecutors did not disclose a possible motive in the slaying, however, a source close to the deceased explained her story to me.

Possible Motive: Days after the murder Pena called Diana’s Girlfriend (GF) and had a discussion. During the talk, the GF asked, “Where is Diana?” Pena responded, “She is home, why?” She explained that it was unusual for Diana not to respond to her for that long of a period of time. Pena then explained that he had suspected Diana of cheating on him with another man. Pena claimed that he went through Diana’s phone and had seen several scandalous text messages between Diana and the unknown man. Pena then claimed that he had killed the man and stuffed him in a trunk of a car. He said that he had intensions of killing Diana as well. The GF pleaded with him not to, stating that her child [who is mentally challenged] needed her. Pena played along for a moment then said that he was just kidding and changed the subject.

Pena is scheduled for a first appearance in Essex County Thursday morning. He did not immediately have a defense attorney to comment on the allegations, court records show.