By Joe Anuta
The family and neighbors of a missing Flushing mother found strangled to death in the trunk of her car were attempting to come to grips with the grisly crime this week.
Young Joo Byun, 42, was discovered strangled to death Monday afternoon, according to police and the city medical examiner. Cops found her body in the trunk of her Honda Civic, parked near 61st Street and 47th Avenue in Maspeth days after she was last seen working at a borough bakery.
“She was a nice mom,” Byun’s ex-husband told reporters outside the couple’s home on the border of Flushing and Whitestone.
Byun reportedly had three children.
Her neighbors were in disbelief upon hearing news of the homicide.
“I’m shocked,” said next-door neighbor Mona Collins, who said Byun gave her a hug last time they met. “She was lovely.”
Byun and her family had lived in their home for about two years, according to Collins and other neighbors, who described the family as friendly.
Another neighbor who lives across the street said she did not know something was amiss when she saw police cars arrive at the home Saturday.
That was when Byun’s family had reported her missing, cops said.
According to the NYPD, co-workers last saw her leaving a Korean baked goods factory near the corner of 55th Avenue and 46th Street Friday at about 4:30 a.m., but she did not return home.
After locating the car, officers found Byun in the trunk covered in trash bags, Police Commissioner Ray Kelley told reporters recently.
As of Wednesday afternoon, there were no arrests in the case.
Reach reporter Joe Anuta by e-mail at januta@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
