MA - Barbara Hovey Novaes, 61, found dead in recycling container, Medford, May 23, 2022

[waldojabba]

I just joined Websleuths after a couple months of lurking, because this case is so close to home. Literally a mile from me. It started off as a plea to our neighborhood Facebook group someone looking for their mother and it escalated to this.

We were all making sure our doors and windows were locked, and I’ll admit to double checking the area around me when I got out of my car.

The facts of the case that have been released so far don’t make a whole lot of sense to me.

What happened between the time the son saw her at 4pm and 6 am the next day. Was he out of the house & came back & fell asleep before this all happened? Can you imagine waking up to an open door and your mother missing? From my experience, these recycling bins are not quiet. It’s been warm and we’ve all had windows open. How would the bin have been moved to its location without alerting someone?

I do not know this woman or her family, but I am praying for them all. I hope the case can be solved quickly.

Welcome ! I started out as a lurker too - for years. I joined when a crime happened in my home town in my old neighborhood.
So yes, this is a really a very safe area so pretty shocking to hear this I bet especially so close to home. From what we know my own speculation is that maybe she was at the back of the house throwing away her garbage when an intruder interupted her?
Maybe she walked out the door and it did not shut and her hands were full ao she figured no problem I am going right back in ?
Or maybe she answered the door - there was someone she knew there and that person said I just want to talk to you lets go around back ? I don't know. Its heart breaking. Every picture shows her so full of life and love its just beyond senseless.
Praying that camera's caught activity.

 

[waldojabba]

Welcome!

BBM - I agree about the little that has been released. And I know how loud our bins are here too. Do you think that is where their bins were stored? I thought maybe she was taken to the bin and left there. I am curious about when recycling would have been picked up too. Leaving her in her recycle bin seems to me to be a rush decision.

Per article up thread the bins were stored in an enclosed area in the back of the house. I posted a tweet showing a pic of them up thread

 

[bestill]

No outward signs of trauma. Was she drugged?

 

[Bostongirl]

Welcome!

BBM - I agree about the little that has been released. And I know how loud our bins are here too. Do you think that is where their bins were stored? I thought maybe she was taken to the bin and left there. I am curious about when recycling would have been picked up too. Leaving her in her recycle bin seems to me to be a rush decision.

Thanks! Now that I see photos online of her house, it appears likely that the bins were not moved but she may have been. Bins would have been picked up this week. My day is tomorrow but no way to know her pickup day. I agree, doesn’t make sense unless there was a plan to potentially come back to move it later?

 

[Bostongirl]

Welcome ! I started out as a lurker too - for years. I joined when a crime happened in my home town in my old neighborhood.
So yes, this is a really a very safe area so pretty shocking to hear this I bet especially so close to home. From what we know my own speculation is that maybe she was at the back of the house throwing away her garbage when an intruder interupted her?
Maybe she walked out the door and it did not shut and her hands were full ao she figured no problem I am going right back in ?
Or maybe she answered the door - there was someone she knew there and that person said I just want to talk to you lets go around back ? I don't know. Its heart breaking. Every picture shows her so full of life and love its just beyond senseless.
Praying that camera's caught activity.

Yes, very safe area. Have definitely left doors unlocked when doing things in the backyard. There is a college very nearby, Tufts, but you don’t hear about issues there outside of noise complaints. Just so sad.

 

[Yemelyan]

I just joined Websleuths after a couple months of lurking, because this case is so close to home. Literally a mile from me. It started off as a plea to our neighborhood Facebook group someone looking for their mother and it escalated to this.

We were all making sure our doors and windows were locked, and I’ll admit to double checking the area around me when I got out of my car.

The facts of the case that have been released so far don’t make a whole lot of sense to me. EDIT: I’ve just seen some new info from the link tweet above from Boston25. More seems to be coming to light.

What happened between the time the son saw her at 4pm and 6 am the next day. Was he out of the house & came back & fell asleep before this all happened? Can you imagine waking up to an open door and your mother missing? From my experience, these recycling bins are not quiet. It’s been warm and we’ve all had windows open. How would the bin have been moved to its location without alerting someone?

I do not know this woman or her family, but I am praying for them all. I hope the case can be solved quickly.

Always a good idea to be aware of surroundings and safety conscious. But, based on the facts that are known, if this is indeed a homicide I doubt this was random. I don't think police will have a hard time solving this one.

 

[formerlyme]

So sad, such a beautiful little oasis she created. I read the bin was under the porch is that where they are usually kept there? perhaps the killer was planning on returning to move her? Or setting someone else up ... by putting her there, I can only imagine someone would open the bin to toss something in or wonder why the weight when trying to move it?

 

[waldojabba]

Missing mother Barbara Novaes found dead in recycling bin at Medford home

The body of 61-year-old Barbara Novaes was found by police inside a recycling container under her porch.

www.cbsnews.com

The video in the above shows the exterior of the house /entrance etc. It is mentioned that she also had a dog. If the front door was wide open all night, I wonder where the dog was? Maybe with the son in his bedroom with the door shut ?

Also I am sitting in my home office at my computer- about 15 miles away from her house - looking at my neighbors similar recylce/garbage bins across the street. I am not sure how tall she was/her wieght etc but it would take a bit to lift someone up and "scrunch" them into the bin and close the top IMO

 

[bestill]

Missing mother Barbara Novaes found dead in recycling bin at Medford home

The body of 61-year-old Barbara Novaes was found by police inside a recycling container under her porch.

www.cbsnews.com

The video in the above shows the exterior of the house /entrance etc. It is mentioned that she also had a dog. If the front door was wide open all night, I wonder where the dog was? Maybe with the son in his bedroom with the door shut ?

Also I am sitting in my home office at my computer- about 15 miles away from her house - looking at my neighbors similar recylce/garbage bins across the street. I am not sure how tall she was/her wieght etc but it would take a bit to lift someone up and "scrunch" them into the bin and close the top IMO

I wondered about her size vs the bins. Had to be a struggle to get her in that, imo.

 

[formerlyme]

Missing mother Barbara Novaes found dead in recycling bin at Medford home

The body of 61-year-old Barbara Novaes was found by police inside a recycling container under her porch.

www.cbsnews.com

The video in the above shows the exterior of the house /entrance etc. It is mentioned that she also had a dog. If the front door was wide open all night, I wonder where the dog was? Maybe with the son in his bedroom with the door shut ?

Also I am sitting in my home office at my computer- about 15 miles away from her house - looking at my neighbors similar recylce/garbage bins across the street. I am not sure how tall she was/her wieght etc but it would take a bit to lift someone up and "scrunch" them into the bin and close the top IMO

unfortunately I tossed something in the bin once and needed it, I laid the bin down and crawled in, someone could roll a person in the bin that way. *not my favorite moment and my niece took a picture....

 

[Yemelyan]

There are more details about the withdrawn petition for a protective order in this article: Woman found dead in recycling bin sought restraining order, court documents show

According to documents from Somerville District Court, on May 9, the victim requested a restraining order against her husband, whom she was divorcing.

In her own handwriting, Hovey Novaes described a May 6 incident in which he came to the house multiple times after drinking and wouldn’t leave.

“The conversation then became much more emotional with him not accepting my decision … ” she wrote in an affidavit.

She wrote that she had changed the locks and threatened to call the police.

“I asked him to please leave that I could not speak to him after he was drinking … I remained in my bedroom with a locked door,” she wrote.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Tragic case. If this was foul play, hopefully they find CCTV footage that helps solve it and DNA on her body of the person who harmed her.

 

[Yemelyan]

This reminds me so much of this other local case from 2020: Boston Doctor Admitted to Strangling Wife to Death, Dumping Body in Pond: Prosecutors

Another wife who filed for a divorce and order of protection, then asked for it to be vacated, and then was found dead just a few days later. Seems like a predictable pattern.

 

[bestill]

No updates on this case?

 

[Bostongirl]

I assume the autopsy is done by now, then await toxicology? I do want to know what they find so we could have an idea of what happened to Ms Novaes. Seems very quiet or maybe I’ve watched too many crime shows!

 

[bestill]

I assume the autopsy is done by now, then await toxicology? I do want to know what they find so we could have an idea of what happened to Ms Novaes. Seems very quiet or maybe I’ve watched too many crime shows!

Makes me think they have a good idea of who did it and are putting the pieces together. Certainly is quiet with LE. JMO

 

[Tealgrove]

I think we all know where this is heading.

 

[Bostongirl]

I think we all know where this is heading.

Yes I’ve been sitting on my hands

 

[formerlyme]

I think we all know where this is heading.

I still feel it could be one of two ways.

 

[iQuill]

Such a tragedy, hoping we hear something today ... her son and daughter must be devastated. Moo