https://www.nydailynews.com/news/cri...nne-story.html

The ex-boyfriend of an aspiring actress whose body was found stuffed in a suitcase floating in a Florida canal nearly 20 years ago has been arrested in connection with her slaying.

The Miami-Dade State Attorney?s Office on Tuesday announced that they have charged Berkley Curtis Jr. with second-degree murder in the 2001 death of Rebeca Pena. The 46-year-old suspect also shared a child with his alleged victim, according to the Miami Herald.

The 26-year-old was last seen alive leaving a movie set in her white Honda Civic on April 10 around 2:15 a.m. She?d been working as an extra at the time in the Muhammad Ali biopic starring Will Smith. She was reported missing the following day, sparking nearly a week long search in Southern Florida.

On April 16, a trio of men spotted a suitcase floating in the Biscayne Canal underneath the I-95 overpass. They pulled it onto the bank and saw blood on the surface, prompting them to waive down a police officer. Pena?s body was discovered inside along with a set of weights and a magazine addressed to the victim at the Silver Springs, Maryland, home where she once lived with Curtis.

Investigators said at the time that Pena had complained to friends and family about her ex-boyfriend, ?stalking? her, and even filed a protection order against him in Broward County.

According to an arrest affidavit obtained by NBC Miami, investigators later discovered the same type of Weider weight plates found with the suitcase while speaking with Curtis?s father at his Miami home. He was not arrested at the time however, because his girlfriend provided him with an alibi, saying they both went to bed early the night of Pena?s disappearance.

More than a decade later, Curtis? former girlfriend admitted to authorities that they were not together the entire night.

State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle also credits the use of modern technology in solving the years-old case, which was not available at the time of the killing.

?An unsolved homicide gnaws at the heart every parent and every family member left behind,? said Rundle.

?Each survivor waits for the day that the killer of their loved one is brought to justice. For the Pena family, we believe that day has finally arrived. I want to commend the Miami-Dade Police Department for their hard work and commitment toward bringing the accused killer of Rebeca Pena to justice.?