COOPERSBURG, Pa. (1010 WINS) – A man was arrested in the murder of a New Jersey woman whose body was found in a dumpster in a small Pennsylvania town on Saturday, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Rolando Corte, 42, was charged with first-degree murder in connection with the killing of Lucrecia Jadan Sumba, 39, of Elizabeth, according to the Union County Prosecutor’s Office.
Authorities haven’t confirmed their relationship, but a GoFundMe set up for Sumba’s family indicates they were husband and wife and that he was the father of her four children.
Sumba was discovered dead in a dumpster near a Santander Bank in Coopersburg, which is about 10 miles southeast of Allentown, on Saturday.
It’s unclear exactly what time she was found, but she was pronounced dead around 6 p.m. Saturday.
According to WFMZ, a coroner determined that she died from “sharp force injuries” and ruled her death a homicide.
A joint investigation by Union County prosecutors, as well as Elizabeth police, Coopersburg police and the Lehigh County D.A. led to the arrest of Corte on Sunday.
Sumba was reported missing by her family and friends Thursday after she failed to show up for work at a nail salon in Elizabeth on Wednesday, which is the day investigators believe she was killed in Elizabeth.
According to the GoFundMe that was set up to pay for Sumba's funeral and to support her children, she arrived in the U.S. from Ecuador in 2021 and worked as a housecleaner and babysitter before taking a job at the nail salon.
“A very hardworking woman, raising her children with love and sacrifices, Lucrecia Elizabeth decided to come to the United States looking for a better future for her family,” the fundraiser says.
Corte was being held at the Union County Jail pending his first court appearance, which was scheduled for Thursday. He faces life in prison if convicted.
Authorities haven't released a potential motive for the killing.