Singer Killed in Crash Was Divorcing Former Sox Pitcher

Jenni Rivera and Esteban Loaiza filed for divorce in October

A popular Mexican-American singer killed in a plane crash over the weekend was in the midst of divorce proceedings with a former Chicago White Sox pitcher.

Jenni Rivera is presumed dead after the Learjet 25 she was traveling on disintegrated on impact Sunday in rugged territory in Nuevo Leon state in northern Mexico.

Rivera was married to Esteban Loaiza -- a pitcher for the Sox in 2003-2004 and 2008 -- for two years. The two had filed for divorce in October.

At a press conference following a Saturday concert in Monterrey, Mexico, Rivera spoke of her emotional state following the dissolution of her third marriage.

"I can't get caught up in the negative because that destroys you. Perhaps trying to move away from my problems and focus on the positive is the best I can do. I am a woman like any other and ugly things happen to me like any other woman," Rivera said Saturday night. "The number of times I have fallen down is the number of times I have gotten up."

Loaiza is retired, but played for several MLB teams throughout his career in addition to the Sox, including the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Yankees.

Rivera, a 43-year-old mother of five children and grandmother of two, was known as the "Diva de la Banda" for her frank talk about her struggles to give a good life to her children despite a series of setbacks.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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