Missing Orlando Teen Spent Last Day Alive In Church, Pastor Says
The 16-year-old Orlando teen who went missing last week spent her last day alive in church, her pastor said at a recent prayer vigil.
During a prayer vigil held on August 4, exactly one week after Alexandria Chery went missing, Pastor Daniel Jacques of Kingdom Church in Orlando, Florida told congregants that one day before Chery went missing on July 28, he saw the 16-year-old attending a mass and praying loudly.
"That particular service was our 11:45 a.m. and she sat right there on the front row. We may have not known but God was intervening with her on that Sunday morning. Anybody who was at that 11:45 (a.m.) service seen her at the altar and she was crying out to God. She was the loudest one here at the altar," the pastor shared, according to Hollywood Life.
A body possessing "numerous similar features and characteristics of Alexandria Chery" was discovered by a landscape worker last Friday in Osceola County. Although the medical examiner's office is still working to identify the body, investigators have described Haitian-born Sanel Saint Simon as a prime suspect. Saint Simon is the boyfriend of Chery's mother, and investigators told Bay News 9 that he repeatedly lied to investigators about his whereabouts on the day Chery went missing.
Additionally, investigators say what appears to be blood was found in Saint Simon's vehicle, as well as in Chery's bedroom and bathroom.
On Tuesday, prosecutors requested that Saint Simon's bond be raised to $500,000 pending further investigation.
"Mr. Saint Simon knows that he is a suspect in this investigation, that the Orange County Sheriff's Office continues to work that investigation with our partners, and I question why someone would want to stay around in the community knowing that this investigation is continuing to go forward and we're finding new evidence every day," Assistant State Attorney Ryan Vescio said at Tuesday afternoon's hearing.