Woman Found Dead In East Hampton Had Difficult Life, Family Says

While the death of a young Ecuadorian woman in East Hampton in late September has left her family and some in her community with unanswered questions, it is clear that Andrea Gabriella Armijos’s journey to America was filled with hardship.

Ms. Armijos, 21—whose body was found on September 28 in the Springs woods, near the Bistrian sand pit, apparently after she hanged herself from a tree with her own sweater—had left her native country of Ecuador in June to come to East Hampton, according to her sister Alexandra Pucha during an interview on Wednesday, October 8, at Jazmin Hair Salon in East Hampton, Ms. Pucha’s place of work.

Ms. Pucha explained that Ms. Armijos left behind five other siblings to come to America to work and be with her sister, and the two had plans to travel back to Ecuador together in late December. She was also seeking asylum in America, according to Ms. Pucha, after escaping an abusive relationship with her father as a child.

Ms. Armijos, attempting to enter the country illegally in June, was detained in Texas for two months, Ms. Pucha said through a translator. She said that her sister had a very difficult time during the detention and it affected her emotionally. Ms. Pucha and her husband, Manuel Pucha, paid $10,000 to release her from detention, and Ms. Armijos arrived in East Hampton in late August.

When she first arrived in America, Ms. Armijos didn’t have many friends, was unhappy and missed her home, said Mr. Pucha, adding that she began working at Jazmin Hair Salon and seemingly became more comfortable.

On the Wednesday prior to her death, Ms. Armijos had come home late from work with dirt on her, said Ms. Pucha. Ms. Armijos told her sister she’d gotten lost in the woods between Springs-Fireplace Road and Three Mile Harbor Road, and Ms. Pucha said that she assumed that the dirt on Ms. Armijos had been from her walk in the woods.

However, Mr. Pucha was concerned, and he contacted East Hampton Town Police, who came to his home to check on Ms. Armijos’s well-being, he said. The police conducted an interview, asking Ms. Armijos, with Mr. Pucha translating, if she was all right. Ms. Armijos told police she was okay, and the officers left. According to Mr. Pucha, Ms. Armijos never did not say how she ended up with dirt on her clothes.

The following day, Mr. Pucha asked Ms. Armijos to show him where she’d gotten lost on her way home. The two walked through the patch of trees, behind Bistrian’s sand mine—which is how Mr. Pucha said he knew where to look for Ms. Armijos on the morning she was found dead there.

On September 26, two days before Ms. Armijos’s body was found in the woods near where she’d gotten lost days before, she had been at home with her family watching TV. Ms. Armijos and Mr. and Ms. Pucha had been lying on the floor together with the Pucha’s young children, watching soap operas and the news, Ms. Pucha recalled. When she and her husband went to bed, Ms. Pucha said goodnight to Ms. Armijos, who responded with, “I’m going to be here,” Ms. Pucha said.

On September 27, Ms. Pucha said Ms. Armijos left early in the morning, and by 3 p.m. the family became worried that she hadn’t returned home. After searching the nearby woods, where Ms. Armijos said she’d gotten lost a few days earlier, Ms. Pucha called the police.

The woods behind Bistrian’s pit is dangerous, according to hair salon owner Jasmin Leon. She said it is a gathering place for those looking to drink and do drugs, and sometimes people live there. It takes only a matter of minutes to travel down the well-worn paths to discover dozens of beer cans, liquor bottles, cigarette butts, broken lawn chairs, dirty clothes, and other garbage strewn about the area.

Mr. Pucha said he’d never known Ms. Armijos to take drugs.

“She didn’t know this area,” Ms. Leon said, cradling Ms. Pucha’s baby at the hair salon.

Early on the morning of September 28, Ms. Leon, her husband, Mr. Pucha, and his nephew Hector went out looking for Ms. Armijos, whose lifeless body was found with a sweatshirt around her neck as a makeshift noose, which was tied to a low-hanging tree branch. Her feet were touching the ground, with her knees flexed—as though she strangled herself by simply tying the sweater around the tree, and her neck, and sitting down.

The Puchas said they are unaware of any autopsy being performed. The Suffolk County medical examiner’s office could not provide any information on the case. However, East Hampton Town Police said that they are awaiting the results of an autopsy before they can cite an official cause of death.

Ms. Armijos’s body was flown back to Ecuador and buried last week. A previous story erroneously reported that Ms. Armijos’s body would be flown back to Queens from Ecuador.

Ms. Pucha said she is hopeful the police, who said they do not suspect foul play, will continue to investigate the death of her sister and keep a close eye on the wooded area between Three Mile Harbor and Springs-Fireplace Road. East Hampton Town Police said there is a death investigation under way but could not comment on the specifics.