Body of missing woman found in shallow grave one week after she was abducted by her ex-boyfriend, police say

The body of a 29-year-old woman was found buried in a shallow grave in the woods of Fox Chase on Thursday, one week after investigators believe her ex-boyfriend abducted her, police said.

Police recovered the remains of Melody Rivera, covered with twigs and leaves, Thursday afternoon on the 900 block of Tustin Avenue, near Pennypack Park, said Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore.

Rivera’s family had been posting online and searching the Northeast area for days, holding out hope they might find her unharmed. But their worst fears were confirmed as soon as they learned of the body recovered, said Martha Fred, Rivera’s sister.

“It’s her,” she said solemnly Friday morning.

Rivera was last seen by her family on Halloween in the Summerdale section of the city, police said. According to posts from relatives on Facebook, the woman called her mother to say she was being held against her will by a man known as “G.”

Police believe that man to be 29-year-old Geovanni Otero, Rivera’s ex-boyfriend, said a law enforcement source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.

Vanore said investigators are looking to speak with him about the case. He said Rivera’s family told police Otero had been harassing and threatening the woman in recent weeks.

According to the source, Rivera was driving with her girlfriend when Otero attacked them, threw the girlfriend out of the car, and drove off with Rivera. Police found the car abandoned days later, said the source, but did not find Rivera.

Investigators believe she was likely killed on Nov. 1, said the source, and that her body has been in the woods since then. Her cause of death was not immediately clear, the source said.

Otero, of Hunting Park, has served time in jail on drug and gun charges since 2015. In 2018, he was convicted of illegal gun possession and sentenced to 3 ½ to eight years in jail, court records show.

At the time of Rivera’s disappearance, he was out on parole and wearing a GPS ankle monitor, said the source.

That ankle monitor ultimately led detectives to the woods — and to Rivera’s body — the source said, after Otero’s GPS location pinged twice in that area.