Police in Rochester want anyone who knows what happened to 16-year-old Jakarah Lopez-Moore to come forward. Her body was found in the woods on the west side of the city.
The mur*der investigation was talked about by RPD Capt. Frank Umbrino on Tuesday morning. He said that police can only share so much information. Police won’t say what k*illed her so that she doesn’t give a false confession.
Umbrino said, “Right now, not many people know how she died.”
Umbrino said that on Saturday, fishermen along the Erie Canal found a body in the woods behind 5 Vanguard Parkway, close to some railroad tracks, and called the police. The body was found to be Jakarah’s by the Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office. It had been more than a month since the body was last seen.
Umbrino said that Jakarah left her Weld Street home “of her own free will” at 1:45 a.m. on August 27 and never came back. On August 29, her family said she was missing, and the police said they thought she was in danger.
“Somebody knows something and that person needs to find it inside themselves to call us and give us the information that we need,” Umbrino said.
News10NBC talked to Jakarah’s best friend about how shocked she was when she heard that Jakarah had been found dead. She said that Jakarah was a nice, happy, and smart friend.
Umbrino said that after Jakarah was reported missing, there were some fake ransom messages. With the help of the FBI, the RPD found that they were not true.
Anyone who knows something should call 911 or email MajorCrimes@cityofrochester.gov.
RPD has more than 60 open cases for missing children right now, Umbrino said. Here is where you can watch Umbrino’s whole news conference:
