Missing New Jersey mother found dead in Tennessee, family says

Monday, July 12, 2021

Missing New Jersey mother found dead in Tennessee

The body of a missing mother from New Jersey was found in Tennessee, according to her family.

RAHWAY, New Jersey (WABC) -- The body of a missing mother from New Jersey was found in Tennessee, according to her family.

It's the outcome her family and friends, who held a vigil for 24-year-old Yasemin Uyar in Highland Park Saturday, feared.

On Friday police issued an Amber Alert for Yasemin's 2-year-old son Sebastian.

They believed she and Sebastian were taken by the boy's father, 27-year-old Tyler Rios, on Thursday from her apartment in Rahway against their will.

Authorities say Sebastian did not show up for daycare Friday, Uyar did not arrive for work, and she was not home when police officers carried out a wellness check.

Late Friday, Sebastian was found safe with his father at a family member's house in Monterey, Tennessee, but Uyar was still missing.

Later in the day, investigators found her body in a wooded area nearby.

Neighbors and friends left flowers on the front steps of Uyar's Rahway home, a day after she was found dead.

"It's horrible as a mom, as a mother, as a woman -- you try to protect your family," said Patty Kiokenny.

Her family says she had a restraining order against Rios, who she has been trying to get away from and they had a long history of domestic violence.

"When you've had a child, and I call her a child because she's my child, who's dealt with domestic violence for a long period of time, in a way, in your mind you prepare for things. I never prepared, I don't think, fully for this moment, but I think there's a part of you, as the anger and the violence progresses in the relationship, where you know that there's a day where you may face this possibility," Uyar's grandmother, Karen Uyar, said.

Rios is in police custody in Tennessee and being extradited to New Jersey to face charges.

Prosecutors say he's facing a kidnapping charge in Sebastian's alleged abduction while additional charges in connection with Uyar's death are pending.

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