Staten Island teacher confirmed dead; husband charged with murder
NEW YORK (FOX 5 NY) - Staten Island teacher Jeanine Cammarata, who went missing last weekend, has been found dead. And now her estranged husband and his girlfriend are behind bars and accused of killing her.
Police charged Michael Cammarata, 42, and Ayisha Egea, 37, both of Queens, with murder, concealment of a human corpse, and tampering with physical evidence.
Jeanine Cammarata left her boyfriend's home in the New Springville section of Staten Island on Saturday night to visit her children at Michael Cammarata and Egea's apartment in Queens, police said.
She had just served her husband with divorce papers two days earlier and they were in a custody battle, her lawyer said. They had a court date on Monday but she never showed up, police said. Then when she didn't come to work at P.S. 29 on Staten Island on Tuesday, she was reported missing.
Detectives investigating her disappearance spoke to Michael Cammarata on Wednesday and ended up arresting him on unrelated assault, harassment, and stalking charges related to previous allegations, a source told FOX 5 NY.
Police on Thursday morning found a charred body inside a storage room at the Extra Space Storage in Arden Heights, about 5 miles from where she was last seen.
An NYPD official said on Thursday that the body was burned beyond recognition and that the medical examiner was working to identify it and find a cause of death.
On Friday, the police said Jeanine Cammarata had been "located and pronounced deceased."
Detectives said that security video shows Michael Cammarata carrying a large duffle bag out of his apartment on Saturday night. Another video shows him bringing the bag to the storage facility, authorities said.