The body of an 18-year-old last seen in late October was found in a wooded area near a Metro ventilation shaft for nearly two weeks before being discovered. Tuesday night, police confirmed the body found on Nov. 8 near the Anacostia Station is that of Alexander Pavón-Rios.
Pavón-Rios was shot to death, D.C. police esaid.
Family members said Pavón-Rios was last seen at about 10 p.m. on Oct. 27.
A friend said he saw him at the Fort Totten Metro Station in Northeast D.C. He told family members he saw the teenager talking to a group of people he did not know.
Metro has an extensive surveillance camera system that would likely have captured images of the teenager’s travels through the system that day.
Nearly two weeks later, Pavón-Rios’ body was found in a wooded area near the Anacostia Station in Southeast. A D.C. police spokesperson previously said his body was found in a ventilation shaft.
The D.C. Fire Department was called about a technical issue in a ventilation shaft, located in a wooded area adjacent to Suitland Parkway. When they arrived on the scene, they discovered the body was not in the shaft but on the ground nearby, according to officials.
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In her Northwest D.C. home, where her son lived until he moved to Prince George’s County recently, his mother spoke to News4's partner Telemundo 44.
She did not want to be identified because her son’s killers remain at large, but she expressed concern that the friend who last saw her son at the Fort Totten station told her investigators had not spoken to him.
She said she hopes for help now.
The family is making arrangements to have Pavón-Rios' remains returned to their native Nicaragua.
Editor's Note: A previous version of this story stated that the body of the 18-year-old was found inside a ventilation shaft on Metro’s Green Line, according to a previous statement by D.C. police. Metro, D.C. police and the D.C. Fire Department clarified to News4 that Pavón-Rios's body was found in the woods near a ventilation shaft, not inside of it.
