Landscaper and helper charged with kidnapping New Jersey woman and burying her alive

CAMDEN, N.J., May 15 (UPI) -- A landscaper and his helper kidnapped a New Jersey woman and killed her by burying her alive, prosecutors said Thursday.

Fatima Perez, 41, of Camden was reported missing Monday. Her body was discovered Wednesday in Monroe on the fringe of the New Jersey Pine Barrens.

Carlos Alicea-Antonetti, 36, who had done landscaping for Perez, and Ramon Ortiz, 57, were arrested before her body was found.

Alicea-Antonetti allegedly told police he agreed to drive Perez to buy a car Monday. Family members said she had about $8,000 cash on her for the purchase, while police said they seized $7,000 from the two suspects.

Ortiz and Alicea-Antonetti allegedly buried Perez alive in a wooded area and covered her with lime. After burying her, they used branches to hide the grave, investigators said in a probable cause statement.

Perez was the single mother of two children.

"For a woman of her character and stature to have died in this manner is horrible and very traumatic to her family," Camden County Prosecutor Warren Faulk said in a statement.

The two men appeared in court in Camden, where a judge set bail at $5 million each Thursday afternoon.