The location where Paola Illera's body was found

This is the location where serial killer Arohn Kee dumped the body of Paola Illera.

On the afternoon of January 24th, 1991, the 13-year-old left her school and walked back to her apartment building at 420 East 111th Street.

Paola was a Colombian immigrant who had moved to New York City with her mother and two siblings in June of 1990. At the time, they were staying with her uncle on the 30th floor. Her father, Cesar, was still in Colombia, working as a taxi driver and trying to save up enough money to join them.

At around 4.45 p.m., Paola reached the entrance of the building and called her apartment's intercom. Her mother, Olga, answered the call and buzzed her into the lobby.

Although she entered the elevator, she never made it to the 30th floor.

Ten minutes later, when she still hadn't shown up, her brother and two uncles decided to look for her. However, when they went down to the lobby, they saw that it was completely empty.

Her body was found under the Wards Island Bridge

Nearly three hours later, a dogwalker stumbled across Paola Illera's remains at this section of the promenade under the Wards Island Bridge—a site that is roughly half a mile south of the apartment building that she vanished from.

The autopsy revealed that she had been raped, strangled, and stabbed three times in the chest. A male's pubic hair was also collected from the body.

During the investigation, the police learned that a teenager named Arohn Warford had stepped onto the elevator at the same time as Illera. However, he claimed that he got off on the 19th floor and that the young girl had continued upward.

For the next few years, the case went cold. Although you might expect the violent killing of a 13-year-old to garner massive media attention, that sadly wasn't the case. Instead, it seems as though Paola's murder was quickly forgotten about. In comparison to news coverage of other crimes at the time, it was merely a blip on the media's radar.

East Harlem Rapist

As the decade progressed, it started to become clear to the authorities that a sexual predator was targeting girls in the East Harlem area.

Between 1994 and 1998, two murders and four rapes occurred in the neighborhood. The victims were either light-skinned or Hispanic, and they were all between the ages of 13 and 19.

In February of 1999, the police held a press conference and asked for the public's help in identifying clothing that was found at one of the crime scenes. They also began to distribute a sketch of the attacker, whom the media had dubbed the "East Harlem Rapist".

Arohn Kee becomes a suspect

Shortly afterwards, a tipster contacted the authorities and told them about a man named "Ace".

After looking into "Ace's" background, they discovered that his real name was Arohn Kee and that he lived in the exact same building that Paola Illera had been abducted from. He had also known one of the other victims.

During the investigation, it was determined that Arohn's father's surname was Warford. This was significant, as Arohn Warford was the name of the teenager who had last seen Paola alive.

When Kee caught wind that the police were narrowing in on him as a suspect, he fled to Miami. However, the authorities managed to track him down and extradite him back to New York.

He is found guilty of Paola Illera's murder

Kee's DNA proved to be a match with the pubic hair that had been found on Paola's body. It also connected him to two other murders and three rapes.

Although he attempted to spin a far-fetched conspiracy theory about how he had been framed, the jury didn't fall for it.

On December 16th, 2000, he was found guilty on all charges. When the verdict was announced, Kee started shouting expletives at the court.

However, at his sentencing, he broke down and cried that he was "Sorry." He also refused to look at the victims' families.

During her impact statement, Paola's mother, Olga, said the following:

"I hope that you experience what it is like to not be able to sleep, to eat, to walk, to breathe, to not have a moment of peace, thinking of my daughter's suffering at the time of her death. I will never learn to live without my daughter, who I brought to this country in search of the American dream."

On January 26th, 2001, Arohn Kee was sentenced to three consecutive terms of life imprisonment. He is currently incarcerated at the Attica Correctional Facility in Wyoming County, New York.

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