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New Details Emerge in Death of Jersey City Nanny Found in Lake

Carolina Cano's roommate says she went out to exercise around 5:30 a.m. one Sunday morning and never came home

What to Know

  • A man has been arrested in the death of a 45-year-old NJ nanny who was found in a lake at a park about a block away from her home
  • The victim was identified as Carolina Cano; her Jersey City roommate told News 4 she went out around 5:30 a.m. and never came back
  • Cano's alleged attack was a stranger to her, the city's mayor said; parks in Jersey City will have increased security as a precaution

Enhanced security is expected to continue around the New Jersey park where a nanny was found dead in a lake last week, apparently kidnapped and strangled by a stranger when she left home to exercise two weekends ago.

Calling the death of 45-year-old Carolina Cano a "stranger on stranger attack," Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop reaffirmed Monday the increased security measures at Lincoln and other parks would continue on a precautionary basis. 

Cano, whose roommate says she was a 45-year-old nanny for a family in Passaic County, was found dead March 24 in the lake in Lincoln Park. Cano, who was wearing sneakers at the time, did not appear to be in the water long, investigators have said. Her roommate told News 4 that she went out to exercise around 5:30 a.m. that Sunday morning and never came home.

A week later, on Sunday, March 31, authorities announced a 33-year-old man named Jorge Rios, also of Jersey City, had been charged with murder, kidnapping and aggravated assault in the death of Cano. Rios is in the country without proper legal authorization, law enforcement sources said. 

Investigators said surveillance video was crucial in making the arrest, though didn't immediately provide additional information on how she died.

Rios was being held at Hudson County Correctional Facility in Kearny. It wasn't immediately clear whether he had an attorney. 

Cano's roommate told News 4 that the dead woman's entire family lives in Peru and that she and they were absolutely devastated by her death. 

"It has affected us so much because it happened so suddenly," the roommate said. "It didn't happen because she was sick, it happened from one moment to the next. "She was like family because I've known her since she was a little girl."

"She was a working woman, a good woman," her roommate added. "She didn’t bother anyone. She was a woman that was always with God, that’s how she lived. She was really a beautiful woman. She had a very beautiful heart."

The lake where Cano was found is surrounded by running trails, roads and tennis courts. 

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