The straphanger whose body was sexually violated after he died on an R train last week was a hardworking dad whose presence is dearly missed by loved ones, his estranged wife said Tuesday– stressing that he wasn’t “just a random person.”
Jorge Gonzalez was remembered as a committed family man who had “so many dreams” before the 37-year-old mysteriously died and his corpse was sexually abused by another man on a Manhattan subway train last week.
“He wasn’t just a random person, he was a father, he was a family man, he cared about his family in Mexico,” said his 38-year-old wife Teresa, who had been separated from Gonzalez for about six years.
She said she hopes he can be remembered for who he was as someone who mattered deeply to those who loved him, rather than the ghastly crime committed on his remains.
“I want him to be remembered as the lively person that he was, that he had so many dreams and so many goals that he wanted to achieve.
“And that’s what I want to remember…he was a person and he was somebody who had people that love him, who have people that miss him and have people who would have wanted something better for him.”
Gonzalez, who married Teresa in 2012, had worked various jobs despite leading a turbulent life marred by alcohol abuse, she told The Post. He also suffered from cirrhosis – a condition in which the liver sustains damage.
“He had been suffering,” said the Brooklyn analyst, who shares a 13-year-old son with the victim and did not want her last name published.
“He had been battling with alcoholism, he had cirrhosis, so that pretty much just caught up to him.”
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said Tuesday an autopsy was unable to determine how the man died and further study is required.
Sources initially said police suspected Gonzalez succumbed to natural causes.
Gonzalez immigrated to the United States from Mexico about two decades ago in hopes of supporting his family back home.
“He did many things,” the grieving widow recalled. “He did construction, he worked in kitchens, he worked as a waiter, he was a busboy. You know, anything you really could do to try to get ahead.”
When he wasn’t working, his substance abuse often took over. He was known to ride the rails while drinking for long periods of time, she added.
Police said the twisted fiend — who remains on the loose — had sex with Gonzalez’s body around 11:45 p.m. on April 8 before exiting at the Whitehall Street station in lower Manhattan shortly after midnight.
Security footage captured the sickening moment of the suspect engaging in sexual acts with the victim.
“I want to see him caught,” Teresa said of the perp.
“I don’t understand what’s going through this person’s mind to do something like that to a lifeless body. I want this person off the streets. I mean if he’s willing to do that, what else is he willing to do?”
The widow, who was the one to identify Gonzalez’s body, is now working to get her spouse’s remains back to Mexico for a proper funeral and to give his mother some closure following the horrific crime.
“I just don’t understand how something like that could happen,” Teresa said. “I mean, I don’t just understand.”
Cops are also looking to speak with a woman who was seen rummaging through the dead man’s pockets after he became unconscious, police sources previously said.
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