Missing Teacher Found Dead In Shallow Grave; Death Ruled Homicide By Blunt Force Trauma

A missing New Jersey kindergarten teacher was found dead in a shallow grave a day after she was reported missing. The death of the 33-year-old woman, Luz Hernandez, was deemed a homicide, prosecutors said Thursday.

Hernandez, a mother of three from Jersey City, was reported missing Monday after she did not turn up for work at Beloved Community Charter School. Her family grew worried after they could not contact her over the weekend, USA Today reported.

Jersey City police officers conducted a welfare check at Hernandez's home Tuesday and reportedly got enough lead to contact their office for assistance. During the investigation, cops found Hernandez's body buried in a shallow grave in Kearny, miles away from her home, Hudson County prosecutors said in a news release.

An autopsy confirmed the identity of Hernandez. It ruled the death a homicide caused by blunt force trauma and compressions to the neck.

Hernandez's family was devastated by the tragic discovery.

"We love her, her family, the friends. She was an amazing girl and it's so unfair somebody takes away the life from her. Why? She was one of the best teachers, everybody loves her, all the kids. It's just like, so complicated to think about this. We just want justice," Hernandez's cousin told NBC New York.

Meanwhile, investigators have not identified any suspects in the killing.

"The Hudson County Prosecutor's Office Homicide Unit is actively investigating this case with assistance from the Jersey City Police Department and the Kearny Police Department," the news release said.

Anyone with information about the case can contact the Office of the Hudson County Prosecutor at 201-915-1345 or submit a tip online at the prosecutor's office.

In a similar incident last month, a 20-year-old Maryland woman was found dead around a month after she was reported missing. Keylin Yolibeth Chavez-Dominguez was reported missing by her family on Jan. 2. She was last seen leaving her apartment complex in Rockville with a Hispanic male on New Year's Eve. Investigators consider the death a homicide.