A Texas man has been charged with murder in the death of his estranged wife, Eliana Bigoni, who had recently celebrated becoming a U.S. citizen. Jake Bigoni, 37, was arrested after police found Eliana Bigoni, 34, dead in his Plano apartment on August 12.
Police were called to the apartment for a welfare check after a friend reported Eliana had missed a breakfast meeting and was not responding to calls or texts. Officers arrived to find Jake Bigoni at the door wearing a shirt stained with what he claimed was cleaning residue, but which police later identified as blood. Eliana Bigoni's body was discovered in the trunk of a car in the apartment's garage.
A Dream Dashed
In October 2024, Eliana Bigoni had proudly shared a photo on social media celebrating her U.S. citizenship, expressing gratitude for the opportunities America offered compared to her native Colombia. She wrote at the time that building her family was the most important thing in her life. Less than two years later, that life was tragically ended.
The couple had separated and were in the process of a divorce. Eliana had gone to the apartment that morning to pick up their two young sons, aged two and five, who were found unharmed inside the apartment during the incident.
Controlling Behavior Alleged
Friends of Eliana Bigoni have described a pattern of controlling and possessive behavior exhibited by Jake Bigoni. One friend, Andrea Peters, told NBC that just days before the killing, Jake had shown up uninvited to Eliana's birthday celebration and demanded she leave with him, an interaction Peters described as menacing.
By early August, Eliana had moved out of the apartment and was staying with friends. Jake Bigoni is believed to have met Eliana in Las Vegas shortly after she arrived in the U.S. in 2016. She went on to launch a pet grooming business there. The couple married and moved through several states before settling in Texas in mid-2023.
A Troubled Past
An old friend from Jake Bigoni's teenage years in Oregon described him as a socially awkward loner who struggled to make friends. This friend expressed shock at the allegations, stating, "This Jake who is now in jail – this is not the Jake that I ever knew." Others who knew him as a teenager reportedly called him "weird" and were not surprised by the accusations.
Roughly half an hour before the welfare check, Jake Bigoni's mother, Kathleen, had also contacted police with a report that her son had called her saying, "I have something to tell you. She's dead. We got in a fight and she's dead." Kathleen Bigoni declined to comment when reached by the Daily Mail.
National Context
Intimate partner violence affects millions of women in the United States annually, resulting in approximately 2 million injuries and over 1,000 deaths each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Eliana Bigoni's death is a stark reminder of this ongoing issue.
Eliana Bigoni is remembered by friends and family as an elegant and ambitious woman who was determined to build a better life in the U.S. She reportedly worked long hours and taught herself English through online videos in her spare time. Her social media posts reflected pride in her new country and her love for her sons, calling them her "engine" and inspiration for a better future.
Jake Bigoni is being held at the Collin County Jail without bond and faces charges of abuse of a corpse and murder. He has not yet entered a plea or appointed an attorney.