Troy

The weeks-long search for Noel Alkaramla, last seen Nov. 22, ended Thursday when an autopsy confirmed her body was found inside a suitcase pulled from the Hudson River near Albany.

The submerged luggage was found Wednesday south of the USS Slater floating ship museum.

After weeks of searching the east side of the tidal river near Troy, State Police divers moved to Albany, on the west bank, after a suitcase loaded to simulate a body was dropped into the water and drifted downriver for a couple of miles, a law enforcement official said.

Capt. Daniel DeWolf, Troy police spokesman, said Alkaramla's stepfather Johnny Oquendo, 39, of Troy is a suspect in the case — the first time police have identified him as such.

Oquendo, a trained butcher, was taken into custody in December on a parole violation. He allegedly told investigators they should look for a suitcase, then asked to speak to an attorney, law enforcement officials said at the time.

Alkaramla, 21, disappeared after finishing her shift at Verdile's Restaurant in the city's Lansingburgh neighborhood. Her personal papers were found in the vicinity of Fourth and Washington streets in the Little Italy neighborhood a few blocks from Oquendo's apartment.

In a telephone interview with the Times Union on Thursday, Alkaramla's mother, Debra Napoli-Oquendo was distraught and said she hasn't slept for days. "Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's were all awful," she said.

"I ask for prayers," Napoli-Oquendo said. "That's my baby. Oh my God, please, Lord please, I lost my only child."

DeWolf said the autopsy confirmed the death as a homicide but he declined to discuss the condition of Alkaramla's body, the cause of death or other related details. He did not elaborate on what charges Oquendo would face.

District Attorney Joel Abelove's office was briefed on the developments, police said.

Oquendo is at the Rensselaer County Jail.

The State Police and FBI searched city neighborhoods for evidence of Alkaramla at the request of Troy police before attention turned to the river.

FBI agents visited businesses around Riverfront Park and River Street seeking copies of surveillance video. The law enforcement sources said video showed a man taking a suitcase to the park and returning without it.

Evidence was taken from Oquendo's Third Street apartment. Police said witnesses reported seeing Oquendo struggle to carry a heavy suitcase from his third-floor apartment, damaging a stairway and a door.

State Police, city firefighters and city police searched the river.

Working with FBI experts from Quantico, Va., police in early December dropped a suitcase weighted with packaged meat into the river to see how far it would drift. Officials believed the suitcase quickly sank. A second suitcase loaded with a dead pig to simulate air pockets in the lungs — and making it more buoyant — was put in the water last week, a law enforcement official said.

That's when the search of the river moved south. State Police and Troy police spent Wednesday afternoon near the USS Slater and found the submerged suitcase, taking it from the river between 5 and 6 p.m., DeWolf said.

He credited State Police divers for their "tireless efforts."

"Those guys are great ... they never gave up, they never talked about it," he said.

He also said police are satisfied to be able to bring closure to Alkaramla's family and friends.

Relative Amber Ferrandino of Troy said the family is still processing the news. "There's no words, there's no words for how much pain this is."

She said relatives had held out hope that Alkaramla was still alive until they learned police were looking for a suitcase. Law enforcement officials told them to prepare for the worst.

"I wish I had one more time to speak to her," Ferrandino said Thursday.