WSVN — Her smile was contagious.
Milly Gonzalez: "She was always very happy, loved to dance."
Her heart was enormous.
Milly Gonzalez: "Very family-oriented. She was very loving."
Noemi Custodio loved people, and they all loved her.
Milly Gonzalez: "You had a problem, she would try to cheer you up."
Milly Gonzalez was Noemi's oldest daughter and her best friend.
Milly Gonzalez: "She was looking forward to starting over her new life. She had just split up with her ex-husband, so she was looking forward to being on her own."
But, four years ago, her life ended.
Milly is the one who found her going to her apartment to check on her mother when she didn't answer the phone.
Milly Gonzalez: "I knocked, no answer, and then I turned the door, and it was unlocked, so I walked right in."
Milly walked right into Noemi's bedroom and found her naked from the chest down, laying in a pool of blood after being stabbed several times.
Milly Gonzalez: "So I called 911, and the first thing they tell me is try to do CPR or mouth to mouth, and I couldn't even open her mouth. She was already cold."
As Milly waited for paramedics, she sat with her dead mother, holding her one more time.
Milly Gonzalez: "I started talking to her, 'Mom who did this to you? What happened?' and it's just a nightmare. I was in shock, 'This can't be happening. I'll wake up from this.'"
But that nightmare will never end.
Dan Rivers: "It was a scene that appeared it had all the signs of someone knowing this victim. It didn't look like it was a stranger involved."
Noemi knew her killer, probably even let him into her apartment, but, so far, detectives can't put a name on the killer.
Dan Rivers: "The person who did this took time to clean up after themselves and remove items of evidence from the house."
So much work was done at the crime scene, Rivers suspects the killer had a helper.
Dan Rivers: "There is no doubt in my mind that there is more than one person that knows about this. This is not a secret that the killer is keeping. Somebody knows something."
The family doesn't know who the accomplice was, but they think Noemi's ex-husband knows about the case.
Milly Gonzalez: "He was just that type of possessive, controlling type of person, but she was very strong, so she didn't really let him control her either."
But police say that doesn't make him a suspect.
Dan Rivers: "I had the opportunity to interview Carlos Aguiar extensively. I can't tell you that Carlos killed Noemi. I don't have any evidence to indicate that."
It's a tough case for detectives. They found quite a bit of evidence at the crime scene including DNA from Aguiar, Noemi's ex-husband, but he had helped her move there. He had visited Noemi there, so there is a reason for the DNA being there. Instead he is just a suspect like several other people, as detectives keep searching, hoping if the killer won't talk, maybe his accomplice will.
Dan Rivers: "Somebody knows, and that will be the key, someone that will have that moment of consciousness or that feeling really help this family get some closure in this case, someone that will come forward and point us in the right direction."
It's what the family hopes for everyday.
Milly Gonzalez: "I'm not OK. None of us are OK. I just feel that she deserves justice. The person that did this to me is a monster. It's not even a person, and they need to pay."
Noemi loved to dance, loved to smile, loved her family. She was so endearing, a detective who never met her, is vowing to never forget her.
Dan Rivers: "As long as I'm a police detective I'm going to continue to work this case until it's resolved. It's a promise that I made to this family."
A family that will never forget and will never stop suffering.
Milly Gonzalez: "I used to talk to her everyday, and I miss that. She was my best friend, and she was everything."
And now the family and Miami-Dade detectives need one thing: if two people were involved in this killing, odds are one of them talked to someone. If you know something about the murder of Noemi Custodio, Miami-Dade cold case detectives would appreciate a call.
If you have a friend or family member that was murdered, and you are still out for justice, we would like to hear from you. Please give us a call. We are still out for justice as well.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Out for Justice MIAMI-DADE: 305-598-HELPBROWARD: 954-796-HELP