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Mom, 38, found dead next to a bloody iron in $110-per-night New York City hotel

Writer's picture: Victor NwokoVictor Nwoko
Denisse Oleas-Arancibia was found in her room by a maid at SoHo 54 Hotel around 10:30 am on Thursday



The son of a 38-year-old woman found dead with a bloody iron next to her head in a Manhattan hotel has disclosed that she had been feeling 'nervous' in the days leading up to her death.

Denisse Oleas-Arancibia was discovered in her room at the SoHo 54 Hotel around 10:30 am on Thursday by a maid.


Authorities found her unconscious and unresponsive with facial trauma, and she was pronounced dead at the scene by EMS, police said.

Her son, 18-year-old Edwin Cevallos, revealed that the last time he spoke to his mother was the day before she died and noticed a change in her demeanor in the week before the tragedy.


"In the week before, she seemed sad. She was very nervous and anxious," Cevallos told the New York Daily News in Spanish, though he's uncertain if there's any connection to her death.

Cevallos was unaware of his mother's occupation but mentioned she left for Manhattan daily at 2 pm for work, striving to achieve the American Dream after immigrating from Ecuador, where her other son and several relatives still reside.


"I am in shock. 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 had been residing with Oleas-Arancibia and her young nephew in a Queens apartment.

"My mom worked very hard," Cevallos said. "She was always working to provide us with the best life in this country."


He recounted waiting for her to come downstairs on Thursday morning and contacting the police when she hadn't appeared by 1 pm.

A police officer informed him of the tragic news shortly after. Oleas-Arancibia arrived in America five years ago, with her son following two years later.

"I want people to know that she was always helping others. She was a very kind person. She never harmed anyone. She was always covering expenses. She never owed money to anyone. She always sought to help them progress," he said.

He described his mother as joyful and always enjoying herself, stating she had realized much of the American dream for him.


"She wanted a better life because Ecuador has many dangerous people. It was very unsafe," he said. "She provided us with the life we always desired."

Their final interactions displayed that dedication, as she prepared breakfast for him Wednesday morning and paid for his haircut.


As he left for school that day, she said, "Goodbye, I love you," and made the sign of the cross.

Victoria Marinucci, a guest in the room adjacent to where Oleas-Arancibia's body was discovered, described the hotel's atmosphere.


"The manager was banging and yelling, 'Hello? Hello? Hello?'" Marinucci, visiting from Los Angeles, recalled. "Then there were detectives everywhere."


The hotel was filled with guests attending New York Fashion Week.


"It was really frightening. We knew the person didn't make it."


The medical examiner will determine the cause of death, but detectives are treating it as a potential homicide.

The woman sustained a head injury that detectives suspect resulted from blunt force trauma.


No arrests have been made yet, and the investigation continues, according to the NYPD.

The victim had been lodging at the three-star hotel, located on Manhattan's Watts Street near Sixth Avenue, for several days, as reported by the New York Post.


The hotel, formerly the Hampton Inn, advertises rooms for approximately $110 per night on its website.

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