The son of a 38-year-old woman found dead with a bloody iron next to her head in a Manhattan hotel said she had been “nervous” in the days leading up to her death.
Denisse Oleas-Arancibia was found in her room by a maid at the SoHo 54 Hotel around 10:30 a.m. Thursday.
Responding officers found Oleas-Arancibia unconscious and unresponsive with trauma to her face. She was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics, police said.
Her son, 18-year-old Edwin Cevallos, said the last time he spoke to his mother was the day before her death and that he had noticed something different about her in the week leading up to the tragedy.
‘The week before she was sad. She was so nervous and worried,” Cevallos said the New York Daily News in Spanish, although he’s not sure if that had any connection to her death.
Denisse Oleas-Arancibia was found in her room by a maid at the SoHo 54 Hotel around 10:30 a.m. on Thursday
Cevallos didn’t know what his mother did for work, but said she left for Manhattan every day at 2 p.m. to do her job, trying to achieve the American Dream after arriving here from her native Ecuador, where one of her other sons and several other family members are still living.
‘I am shocked. I can’t believe this happened. This is surprising,” Cevallos added. ‘Everything here in New York reminds me of her. Everything.’
According to neighbors, Cevallos lived with Oleas-Arancibia and her young nephew in an apartment in Queens.
“My mom worked really hard,” Cevallos said. ‘She was working all day. She has always worked for us to give us the best life in this country.’
He said he was waiting for her on Thursday morning and called police when he still didn’t see her at 1 p.m.
Shortly afterwards, a police officer came to his house to tell him the tragic news.
Oleas-Arancibia came to America five years ago, while her son followed her to New York two years ago.
“I want people to know that she was always helping people. She was a very good person. She never hurt anyone. She always paid for everything. She never owed anyone money. “She was always looking to help them move forward,” he said.
Oleas-Arancibia (pictured left) was found in her room by a maid at the SoHo 54 Hotel around 10:30 a.m. on Thursday
Her son, 18-year-old Edwin Cevallos, said the last time he spoke to his mother was the day before her death and that he had noticed something different about her in the week leading up to the tragedy.
Cevallos didn’t know what his mother did for work, but said she left for Manhattan every day at 2 p.m. to do her job while trying to achieve the American Dream after arriving here from her native Ecuador, where one of her other sons and several other family members are still living
Interior of the room where Oleas-Arancibia was found on Thursday
The unknown victim was found in her room by a maid at the SoHo 54 Hotel
He said his mother — who he described as happy and always having fun — achieved a big part of that American dream for him.
‘She wanted a better life because there are a lot of bad people in Ecuador. It was so dangerous,” he said. “She gave us the life we always wanted.”
His final interactions with his mother showed that dedication, as she made him breakfast Wednesday morning and paid a barber for her son’s haircut.
She said to him, “Goodbye, I love you,” as he left for school that day and gave him the sign of the cross.
Victoria Marinucci, a woman who stayed in the room next to where Oleas-Arancibia’s body was found, described the scene around the hotel.
‘The manager banged and shouted, ‘Hello? Hello? Hello?’ Marinucci, visiting from Los Angeles, said. “Then there were detectives everywhere.”
The hotel was full of guests who stayed there especially for New York Fashion Week.
‘It was really scary. We knew the person didn’t make it.”
Victoria Marinucci, a woman who stayed in the room next to where Oleas-Arancibia’s body was found, described the scene around the hotel as very scary.
The hotel was full of guests who stayed there especially for New York Fashion Week
According to the NYPD, no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing
According to reports, the victim had been staying at the three-star hotel on Watts Street in Manhattan, near Sixth Avenue, for several days.
The medical examiner will determine the cause of death, but the detectives proceed as if it were a murder.
The woman suffered a laceration to the head that investigators believe could have been the result of blunt force trauma.
According to the NYPD, no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The victim had been staying at the three-star hotel on Watts Street in Manhattan, near Sixth Avenue, for several days, the New York Post reported.
The hotel, formerly known as the Hampton Inn, has rooms advertised for about $110 per night, according to its website.
SoHo 54 did not immediately respond to a request for comment.