Police say Eliana Bigoni went to her estranged husband’s apartment for their children and never returned from what should have been a brief exchange.
PLANO, Texas — The two children at the center of an ordinary school-morning handoff were 2 and 5 years old. Their mother, Eliana Alexandra Bigoni, was supposed to pick them up Aug. 12 at their father’s Plano apartment and leave within minutes. She never made it to a planned breakfast afterward.
Instead, police responding to a welfare concern later found the 34-year-old mother dead in the trunk of a car in the apartment’s garage, according to an arrest affidavit. Her estranged husband, Jake O’Brien Bigoni, 37, has been charged with murder and abuse of a corpse without legal authority. Investigators allege a confrontation occurred after Eliana Bigoni arrived, but the charges have not been proven and authorities have not publicly established a motive in the materials reviewed for this report.
The children’s pickup provides the framework for the morning described by witnesses and investigators. The couple was separated and going through a divorce, according to the affidavit. Eliana Bigoni nevertheless had a practical reason to go to Jake Bigoni’s apartment at The Parker complex on Charles Place: she was there to collect the children and take them to school. A witness told police that the process should have lasted only about 10 to 15 minutes.
That expectation is what made the silence afterward notable. A friend or other witness had spoken with Eliana Bigoni in a six-minute call beginning at 7:17 a.m., according to reporting based on the affidavit. The two planned to meet for breakfast at 8:30 a.m. When Bigoni did not appear and stopped responding, the witness checked the location she had shared from her cellphone. It showed the device still at the apartment complex at about 8:35 a.m.
Family members and friends were also unable to reach her as the morning went on. The affidavit says the person who contacted authorities expressed concern not only because of the missed plans but also because of the pending divorce. Plano police later characterized the call as a welfare concern involving potential family violence. Officers were dispatched to the 4700 block of Charles Place at 10:23 a.m.
Jake Bigoni answered their questions and confirmed that his wife had been there earlier, according to the affidavit. He told officers that she had come to pick up a child, but the child was not feeling well. He said he did not know where she was then. Officers also noticed a conspicuous wet area on his shirt. At that stage, however, they were still trying to locate Eliana Bigoni and determine whether there was an emergency inside the residence.
The account Jake Bigoni gave police contained one important fact that investigators could independently see: a white Hyundai Genesis associated with Eliana was in the garage. Officers returned to ask about the vehicle and the wet area on his clothing. Bigoni said he had been cleaning the house, according to the affidavit. The explanation came as officers were receiving additional information that was rapidly changing their understanding of the call.
Police dispatch notes indicated concern that someone had been killed, the affidavit says. Another note reported that a son had said his mother was dead. Officers also contacted Jake Bigoni’s mother. She told them she had spoken with her son at about 10:15 a.m. and that he told her his wife was dead and that the couple had gotten into a fight, according to the probable cause account.
That reported telephone call placed the officers in a different situation from the one they encountered when they first knocked. Jake Bigoni had allegedly given his mother information suggesting he knew Eliana was dead, but he had told police he did not know where she was. Officers went back to the door at about 10:46 a.m., detained him and continued asking where his wife was.
Bigoni still denied knowing, according to the affidavit. Officers also reported that the mark on his shirt, which initially looked wet, had become a darker reddish-brown stain as it dried. They then entered the apartment under what the affidavit describes as an emergency search intended to determine whether Eliana Bigoni was inside and needed immediate medical assistance.
They found her in the garage, inside the trunk of the Hyundai. Police said she was unresponsive and not breathing. Investigators described blood in the residence and injuries to her head and face. Those descriptions are allegations and observations in the probable cause record; public reporting located for this story does not include a final medical examiner’s conclusion establishing an exact cause and manner beyond authorities’ decision to pursue a murder case.
The presence of the children adds a particularly sensitive dimension to the investigation. Local reporting based on the affidavit says both were at the apartment when police arrived. Officers removed them after finding their mother. Beyond a dispatch note attributed to a son, authorities have not publicly detailed what either child knew, saw or heard. The available record therefore supports only a limited account of their involvement, and it would be inappropriate to speculate about their experience.
The children also help explain how an encounter that might have looked routine from outside came to carry such high stakes. Separated parents frequently must manage exchanges involving school, transportation and daily schedules, but police records in this case describe a handoff that never progressed beyond the apartment. Investigators say Eliana Bigoni’s inability to leave, combined with her missed breakfast and stationary phone location, caused those close to her to seek help.
Police first arrested Jake Bigoni on the allegation of abuse of a corpse without legal authority. At that time, the department publicly said officers had discovered an adult woman dead at the residence and that the husband had been taken into custody. On Aug. 13, detectives obtained a murder warrant and identified both the accused and the victim. Plano police said the case remained under investigation by its Crimes Against Persons Unit.
Later reporting identified the murder allegation as a first-degree felony under Texas law and the corpse-abuse allegation as a state jail felony. Those classifications describe the charges, not a finding of guilt. The criminal process will determine whether prosecutors can prove their account beyond a reasonable doubt, and the publicly available material reviewed for this article does not contain a trial verdict resolving the allegations.
Relatives and friends have meanwhile described Eliana Bigoni in a way that restores some of the life missing from a criminal affidavit. Funeral-home information lists her full name as Eliana Alexandra Bigoni Ruiz and says she was born in Bogotá, Colombia, in 1992. Tributes remember her as a devoted mother and an energetic, caring friend. One person recalled meeting her through a pet-grooming business and remembered her love for animals and family.
Her family arranged a Sept. 11 visitation in Houston and announced plans to transfer her remains to Colombia. The remembrance page repeatedly returns to the two sons she left behind. Those family tributes do not establish facts in the criminal case, but they provide context for the loss created by a morning that began with a plan to take children to school.
The central legal questions remain unresolved. Police allege Jake Bigoni killed his estranged wife and attempted to conceal or improperly handle her body; he is presumed innocent unless convicted. The reviewed public record does not conclusively explain what caused the alleged confrontation, whether prosecutors have presented the case to a grand jury or when a trial might occur. Plano police’s most recent substantive public statements located for this report continued to describe the matter as an active homicide investigation.
Author note: Last updated Sept. 22, 2026.