Rinnyers Pena pleads guilty, sentenced for body removal

Rinnyers Pena, 47, pleaded guilty Thursday to disinterring the body of Alenny Matos, 38, after investigators say her death in 2020 was tied to his actions. He received a three-year prison sentence that will run concurrently with his existing 17-to-20-year term

When the missing woman’s family realized months had passed since Alenny Matos was last heard from. the search turned into a grim discovery. More than three months after Jan. 25. 2020—when Matos planned to visit her sister but never arrived—a woman walking her dog found Matos’ body in a trash bag near Enneking Parkway in Hyde Park. The body had been “significantly affected by animal activity,” according to prosecutors.

Thursday, Rinnyers Pena, 47, pleaded guilty to disinterring Matos’ body, an admission tied to her 2020 death. Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office officials said Pena admitted guilt on one count of disinterring a human body in connection to the case. and that the three-year sentence for Matos will be served concurrently with his current prison term. Prosecutors said Pena had been expected to plead guilty in April but backed out at the last minute.

Pena is already serving time from a separate case. He was found guilty May 15 and sentenced the following week to 17 to 20 years in state prison for convictions including rape. strangulation. drugging for sex. and photographing an unsuspecting nude person. The added three-year term in Matos’ case will run at the same time as his existing prison sentence, prosecutors said.

After Pena’s prison term ends, the DA’s office said he will face five years of probation with GPS monitoring and sex offender registration.

What authorities say happened to Matos’ body starts with the timeline of her disappearance. On Jan. 25, 2020, Matos planned to visit her sister but never arrived. When she hadn’t made contact for more than 24 hours, her sister contacted Boston police and requested a well-being check.

Boston police launched a missing persons investigation on Jan. 27 after Matos’ son also hadn’t heard from her, prosecutors said. Her body was later identified after it was taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and identified via dental records. Prosecutors said postmortem toxicology produced positive tests for fentanyl, acetyl fentanyl, and mercury.

Investigators also laid out how Pena was connected to what happened around the night Matos disappeared. Prosecutors said investigators learned Pena planned to pick Matos up at her home and bring her to his home on Jan. 26. They said he called her three times between 12:36 a.m. and 1:13 a.m., and call location data showed he traveled from his home to hers.

At the time of the third call, Matos called Pena’s phone and prosecutors said that was the last time her phone made an outgoing call. About five minutes later, Pena’s work truck was observed on video driving onto his street and returning to his home.

During the next 14 hours, Pena’s phone remained within proximity of his home, prosecutors said. Between 1:54 a.m. and 5:46 a.m., Matos’ phone received 11 incoming calls, all tracked to the cell tower closest to Pena’s home. Prosecutors said none of the calls were answered, and that the 5:46 a.m. call was the last one Matos’ phone received.

The next night, prosecutors said, Pena’s phone was within proximity of Enneking Parkway between 2:15 a.m. and 2:17 a.m. Additional cell phone data showed that three hours after Pena’s phone was at the parkway. it called a tow truck. At 6:15 a.m. Pena’s work truck was seen on video on the back of a tow bed turning onto his street.

In that footage, prosecutors said Pena removed a bin from his work truck and rolled it down the sidewalk. Massachusetts State Police later searched the truck using a human remains detection dog, which alerted them to the area behind the driver’s seat.

The human toll came through in the impact statements offered Thursday. Matos’ family—her mother and youngest sister were named by prosecutors as speakers—described the loss in direct terms.

Matos’ sister told the court that while the whole family was affected, “the person who this hurts the most is her son, who is left without a mom,” prosecutors said.

Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden. in a statement. said Matos was “a much-loved mother. sister and daughter. ” and added that her death—“especially combined with the callous disposal of her body by Rinnyers Pena”—has brought “eternal grief and sadness” to her family and everyone who knew her.

Pena’s attorney, Paul Davenport, declined to comment on his plea and the outcome of the case.

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