The body found in a storage facility on Staten Island on Thursday has been identified as Jeanine Cammarata, the 37-year-old teacher and mother of three who was reported missing earlier this week, police said.
Her estranged husband, Michael Cammarata, 42, and his girlfriend, 41-year-old Ayisha Egea, of Queens, have been charged with second-degree murder, concealment of a human corpse and tampering with physical evidence, according to the NYPD.
Jeanine Cammarata was last seen around 9 p.m. Saturday leaving Staten Island for Queens, where Michael Cammarata lives with their children. Concerned friends and family reported her missing on Tuesday after the typically "punctual" teacher didn’t show up for work or a Monday court appearance related to her ongoing divorce, NYPD Assistant Chief of Detectives William Aubry said.
Her body was discovered inside a bag in a unit at Extra Space Storage on Arden Avenue, but the remains were "charred and unidentifiable," Aubry said during a briefing on Thursday afternoon. The medical examiner’s office was able to confirm the body was Cammarata through dental records. Her cause of death is still pending, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office said.
Michael Cammarata was already in police custody — charged with assaulting and stalking his estranged wife on an occasion unrelated to her disappearance — when investigators discovered her remains in the storage unit. At that point, the investigation changed from a missing persons case to a murder probe, Aubry said.
The pair had a history of domestic disputes dating to 2016, according to police. They separated two years ago and Jeanine Cammarata had initiated divorce proceedings in February, which sparked a custody battle, The New York Times reported.
The children were placed with the Administration for Children’s Services earlier this week when Michael Cammarata was taken into police custody, Aubry said.
