The San Jose Police Department says the father of 3-year-old Ellie Lorenzo, who was found dead at a recycling center, is suspected of her murder.
Ellie's mother told The Times in a statement Tuesday that before the girl's death, her father had found out she was moving with the girl to another state.
Police identified the father as Jared Lorenzo, 42. His body was found last week, shortly before the girl's body was found at the recycling plant. Police have said the man's death was an apparent suicide.
Authorities said the investigation into Ellie’s death is ongoing, but Ellie was last seen alive alongside her father on the night of July 11. The next morning, Lorenzo left his apartment in Fremont, California, and drove to San Jose, where he dumped her body in a “dumpster,” according to police.
Ellie Obi Lorenzo, 3, was murdered by her father in San Jose.
(San Jose Police Department)
A garbage collection company later emptied the dumpster and took its contents to the recycling center, where Ellie's body was found. After disposing of his daughter's body, police said, Lorenzo drove to several Bay Area cities before stopping in San Francisco, where he was found dead.
Authorities have not revealed a motive for the crime.
Chrystal Obi, the girl's mother, offered an explanation in her statement, expressing anger over her daughter's death and criticizing the justice system that she says allowed it to happen.
Obi said she constantly feared for Ellie's safety with her father, but the courts “continued to grant him partial custody and access.”
“Last week, on Tuesday, I finally received confirmation that the courts would allow me to move with Ellie out of state, which he also found out about.”
She said that on Thursday morning in the Bay Area town of Mountain View, where they lived and Ellie attended preschool, she kissed her daughter goodbye, telling her she loved her before the girl left with her father on a “court-ordered visit.”
“But my daughter never came back.”
Obi said she and her family had been experiencing overwhelming pain and grief.
“We humbly ask for privacy as we mourn the heartbreaking loss of our sweet Ellie.”
