Strafanger, whose body was sexually violated after he died last week on R train, was a hardworking dad whose presence was heartily overlooked by his loved ones, his estranged wife said Tuesday.
Jorge Gonzalez is remembered as a man from a dedicated family who had “so many dreams” before the mysterious death of the 37-year-old, and his body was sexually abused by another man on a Manhattan subway train last week.
“He wasn’t just a random person, he was a father, a man of his family and cared about his Mexican family,” said his wife Teresa, 38.
She said she hopes he can remember who he is as a deep and important person to those who love him, not the horrifying crime committed with his body.
“I want him to remember that as a lively person he was, he had so many dreams and so many goals that he wanted to achieve.
“That’s what I remember… he was a person, he was a person, he loved him, there were people who missed him, there were people who wanted something better for him.”
Gonzalez, who married Teresa in 2012, worked a variety of jobs despite living a turbulent life damaged by alcohol abuse, she told the Post. He also suffered from cirrhosis. This is a condition in which the liver is damaged.
“He was suffering,” a Brooklyn analyst said.
“He was fighting alcoholism and he had cirrhosis so he almost caught up with him.”
The Chief Medical Examination Bureau said on Tuesday that the autopsy could not determine how the man died and further research is needed.
Sources initially said police suspected Gonzalez had succumbed to natural causes.
Gonzalez moved from Mexico to the United States about 20 years ago, in the hopes of supporting his family in his hometown.
“He did a lot,” recalled the grieving widow. “He did construction, worked in the kitchen, worked as a waiter, he was a bath boy.
When he was not working, his substance abuse often took over. He was known to ride the rails while drinking for a long time, she added.
Police said they had sex with Gonzalez’s body at about 11:45pm on April 8th before leaving at Whitehall Street Station in Lower Manhattan near midnight, police said.
Security footage captured the moment when the suspect was engaged in sexual activity with the victim.
“I want to see him caught,” Teresa said of the Purge.
“I don’t understand what’s going on in this person’s mind. I do something like that to a lifeless body. I want this person to leave the streets. If he’s willing to do it, what else does he want to do?”
The widow who identified Gonzalez’s body is currently working to return her spouse’s body to Mexico for a proper funeral and to closure her mother following a horrifying crime.
“I don’t understand how that kind of thing happens,” Teresa said. “I mean, I don’t understand.”
Officers are also trying to talk to a woman who saw him sprint through the pockets of a man who died after he became unconscious, police sources previously said.
