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MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca

When Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca, a young mother on the brink of a new beginning, is found murdered just weeks after she vanished, the search for answers unravels a web of her boyfriend’s lies...
Duration
55m
Broadcast on
16 Dec 2024
Audio Format
other

When Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca, a young mother on the brink of a new beginning, is found murdered just weeks after she vanished, the search for answers unravels a web of her boyfriend’s lies and manipulation.

If you or a loved one is experiencing domestic abuse of any kind, you are not alone. You can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233); for TTY: 1-800-787-3224; or text “START” to 88788..

For a list of domestic violence resources, click HERE.

 

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Hi, crime junkies, I'm Ashley Flowers. And I'm Britt. And today's story, the one I have for you, is a powerful tragic reminder that the most dangerous time in an abusive relationship often comes when a victim is trying to break free. And that sometimes the person closest to you can become your worst enemy. This is the story of Lizbeth Almond-Papoka. It's Wednesday, July 1st, 2020, and Yanneth Almond's phone rings with a call that she's not expecting. On the other end is her sister's long-time boyfriend, Jonathan. Now, in all the years that she's known him, Jonathan has only ever called her for one thing, like two arranged child care for their daughter, Yanneth's seven-year-old niece. But this isn't one of those calls. I mean, right off the bat, Jonathan asks her if she knows where her sister, Lizbeth, is, because he says she's fully just like MIA. And she's left their daughter, Astrid, at their East Haven, Connecticut apartment alone. And again, she's seven. In fact, it was Astrid who alerted him to Lizbeth's absence in the first place. I guess when she woke up, she realized that mom wasn't there, and she called him, that was at like 9.15 in the morning, just as he was kind of wrapping up his shift at UPS. And he said he really didn't think much of it at first. Like he thought maybe Lizbeth just stepped out for a minute, so he kind of was just, you know, assuaged her concerns, you know, finished his shift, headed home as usual. But when he got there at around 10, there was still no sign of Lizbeth. And her car, a 2007 white Lexus, was gone too. When's the last time anyone saw her? Well, Yanneth talked to her sister the night before via Instagram. And Jonathan says that he was with her in bed, and then he left for work. So that was at like 3.15 in the morning. He works out like an overnight shift. So it hasn't been that long that they've gone without talking to her, but Yanneth knows her sister's world revolves around Astrid, like there isn't a world where she would just leave her alone, especially since Yanneth is always available to babysit. Again, that's what she was kind of expecting the call to be, right? So Jonathan also says that Astrid isn't the only thing that she left behind. Her phone is still there. So he's like, I can't even try and call her, but even though her phone is there, along with her car, some other things are gone, like her purse, her passport, some clothes, and apparently $10,000 from there safe. Oh, that kind of sounds like she left on purpose. Yeah. Or at least there's like some clear signs of that, right? That's like important things. Yeah. So Yanneth wonders if her sister maybe just needed some space. And so she asked Jonathan, like the obvious question, did you guys have a fight? And he admits like, yeah, we did have this like little argument the night before, but it wasn't serious. We kissed. We made up before bed. The thing is that Yanneth is pretty sure that's not the full story because Elizabeth

Transcription truncated.

When Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca, a young mother on the brink of a new beginning, is found murdered just weeks after she vanished, the search for answers unravels a web of her boyfriend’s lies...