PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Nearly a week after a body was found inside a car in Southeast Portland, officials released that person’s identity.
The body of Jaquona Lakaya Goggans was found inside a vehicle on February 7 in a parking lot in the 13500 block of SE Division Street. Crime scene tape was seen around the parking lot of Foxy’s Den Eatery.
How she died was not released and Portland police are still calling the death of the 43-year-old woman “suspicious.”
Initially, officers and medical personnel said the body appeared to be a man.
Goggans’ cousin, Laurie Palmer, said Goggans was a loving mom and grandmother and was also close with her own mother.
“She liked to shop because she liked to look nice,” said Palmer. “I think, more or less, she was a homebody a lot with her mom.”
Goggan’s mother, Annette, talked to KOIN 6 News about her daughter’s death.
“I don’t know how someone could do that to my child, especially a woman,” she said.
Palmer said that Goggans was a tiny baby who needed a lot of care but that she grew up to be a great caregiver to her younger brothers.
“She would give you the shirt off her back,” Palmer said.
The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information is asked to call Detective William Winters at 503.823.0466.
Palmer hopes someone comes forward with information about her cousin’s death. She believes someone killed Goggans and is still loose.
“Somebody normal just don’t think ‘I’m just going to kill a woman in a car — put her in a car and leave her there,'” said Palmer. “It’s somebody that has something going on with their mind, very dangerous.”
The victim’s mother has no doubts about what will happen to Goggans’ presumed killer.
“They are going to get caught,” said Annette.
