Police: body found may be Vazquez

ANTWERP — Human remains believed to be those of Annette Y. Vazquez were found Monday off Vrooman Hill Road in the town, according to Watertown police.

A person walking along the rural road saw blue jeans down an embankment off the east shoulder, about a mile south of County Route 22, Lt. Frank J. Derrigo said.

The person, not identified, was aware that “this was our area of interest,” he said, and notified police about 3:30 p.m. City police detectives were joined by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department crime scene mobile unit and state police. The road was closed.

Lt. Derrigo said a portion of a woman’s back and legs were visible, but snow and ice still covered much of the body. Removal was delayed until a state police forensics team arrived from Oneida.

Police Chief Joseph J. Goss, District Attorney Cindy F. Intschert, her chief assistant, Kristyna S. Mills, and Assistant District Attorney Aaron D. Carr also responded to the scene.

Lt. Derrigo said it was too early to make a positive identification, but that the woman’s body appeared to be well preserved.

“This has been our area of interest for quite some time,” he said.

Police have not confirmed a U.S. marshal’s comments in Puerto Rico that Ramon Robles-Ruiz, 29, told investigators where to look for her body.

Robles-Ruiz is being charged with second-degree murder in connection with the woman’s death. He remains in Puerto Rico awaiting extradition and disposition of fraud charges on that island. He was her boyfriend, and is said by Ms. Vazquez’s family to have threatened to kill her if she broke off their relationship.

Ms. Vazquez, 33, disappeared the morning of Dec. 8 after a neighbor at 657 Olive St. heard her arguing with a man. Earlier that day, she was seen at the takeout window at the McDonald’s restaurant on State Street, where she was employed.

She was reported missing in the afternoon after she failed to pick up her two daughters, ages 12 and 6, at school. That evening, her car, a 2005 Chevrolet Aveo, was found in a parking lot in the 200 block of Arsenal Street.

Ms. Vazquez previously had divorced in Puerto Rico. Her daughters were returned to the custody of their father in Puerto Rico following her disappearance.

Ms. Vazquez had moved to Watertown to manage several apartment houses owned by her brother, Carlos Vazquez, Jacksonville, Fla.