Bodies of mom, son found in Brockton dumpster

BROCKTON, Mass. -- The body of a little boy was found in the same dumpster as his mother in Brockton on Monday.

A 25-year-old mom and her 2-year-old boy were found dumped in a dumpster behind their apartment building on Warren Avenue.

A neighbor says police told her a body was found stuffed in a duffle bag and placed in the dumpster. The DA wouldn’t confirm that.

The mother has been identified as Maria Avelina Palaguachi-Cela, believed to be an immigrant from South America.

Police received an anonymous 911 call about 9:30 p.m. Sunday night, some twelve hours before the scheduled trash pickup. Somebody searching for items in the dumpster found the woman’s remains.

“They had found a body of a lady approximately 25-years-old,” said Francis Kiranga, neighbor.

“They told us they found a young woman’s body stuffed in a duffle bag in the dumpster,” said Denise Agnello, neighbor.

The DA says after finding the mother’s body they made yet another gruesome discovery.

“In the dumpster was also an additional body of her toddler son, Brian Palaguachi, date of birth: 3/17/2008” said Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz. “At this point there’s nobody in custody, and at this point nobody’s under arrest. They are working very hard right now to come to a determination of whoever did this heinous crime.”

The DA wouldn’t comment on reports the victim’s boyfriend has been questioned. He did admit to being concerned about the risk that a suspect might flee.

Crews expressed outrage at this crime.

“It’s a terrible crime especially when you think of what happened to a small child and his mom. I think that gives the investigators and police the resolve to make sure that they work very hard, as quickly as possible to get somebody off the streets who would do that. Who would do that to a 2-year-old child?” said Cruz.

Police seized a Ford F-150 pickup, and neighbors said they’ve seen the victim driving it.

“Nothing like this has ever happened so we were all just horrified,” said Agnello.

Inside one truck leaving the Brockton Police Department 7NEWS found a group of men and woman who apparently know the victim. They spoke with detectives and were then urged not to speak with 7NEWS.

Cruz is reassuring the people of Brockton that he doesn’t think this is a random crime. It’s a very active investigation and the medical examiner is performing the two autopsies.

The mother was last seen Thursday.

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