The Missing
Janaina Freire Goncalves
Elizabeth, New Jersey
Absolutely. I’ve incorporated the new developments, including the murder charge, SWAT standoff, and the information surrounding Brendan Trivisonno and Robin Trivisonno. I’ve kept the allegations attributed to authorities or reporting and separated confirmed facts from unverified connections.💔🕯️ Janaina Goncalves: A Mother Still Waiting to Be Found
💔🕯️ MISSING FROM ELIZABETH — WHAT HAPPENED TO JANAINA GONCALVES?
Janaina Freire Goncalves was a 47-year-old mother from Brazil who disappeared from Elizabeth, New Jersey, on March 10, 2025. More than a year later, her disappearance has become a homicide investigation, but Janaina’s body has never been found.
Janaina was last known to be at her apartment on the 600 block of New Point Road in Elizabeth. She had originally come to the United States from Brazil following the COVID-19 pandemic, hoping to build a new life. She worked as a bartender at Casa Nova Grill before later working as a personal trainer and exotic dancer.
To the people closest to her, Janaina’s sudden silence was deeply alarming.
Her son, Eduardo, was living in Brazil and was extremely close with his mother. The two spoke every day. When Janaina suddenly stopped answering him, he became worried and traveled from Brazil to New Jersey to look for her himself. Eduardo spent approximately 10 days searching alongside police, hoping that they would find some indication that his mother was safe.
They didn’t.
Eventually, Eduardo collected some of his mother’s belongings and returned to Brazil without the answers he had traveled thousands of miles to find.
💔 A RELATIONSHIP SURROUNDED BY SECRETS
Janaina had married Brendan Trivisonno approximately one year before she disappeared. According to friends and family, Janaina believed she was married to Brendan and reportedly had a marriage certificate.
She later discovered that Brendan was already married to another woman in Lyndhurst, New Jersey, and that he had a daughter.
Friends said Janaina and Brendan had been experiencing problems in their relationship. One friend, Lalique, said the couple had been fighting frequently. Janaina was reportedly in the process of ending the relationship when she disappeared.
Another friend, Geanne, said she texted Janaina on March 10 and that everything appeared normal. But when Geanne reached out again the following morning, Janaina did not respond.
On March 12, Geanne attempted to contact Brendan but could not reach him. On March 13, she was finally able to speak with him. According to Geanne, Brendan told her he had moved out of the apartment and didn’t know where Janaina was.
That was when Geanne contacted authorities.
🔎 THE INVESTIGATION
On March 14, police went to Janaina’s apartment to search for her. Brendan was there and allowed investigators inside, giving them the keys. He declined to answer questions without an attorney present, but he did provide a DNA sample.
Police also seized his cellphone and truck as part of the investigation.
At the time, Brendan told authorities that he did not know where Janaina was and that he wanted her to be found.
He described Janaina as independent and goal-oriented and said she had a mortgage on a property in São Paulo, Brazil, that she was working to pay off.
According to his account, he and Janaina had a major argument around Thanksgiving after she discovered more about his family situation. He said he subsequently moved out so he could spend more time with his other wife and daughter.
Then, more than a year after Janaina disappeared, the investigation took a dramatic turn.
⚠️ TRIVISONNO CHARGED IN JANAINA’S DEATH
According to reporting and a subsequent statement from the Bergen County Prosecutor, detectives obtained an arrest warrant accusing Brendan Trivisonno of killing Janaina on March 10, 2025 — the same day she was last reported seen.
Authorities reportedly said security camera footage showed Trivisonno and a coworker leaving the building that night carrying black bags and a box. The evidence that led to the murder charge has not all been publicly released.
Janaina’s body has still not been recovered.
Then came a dramatic confrontation.
When law enforcement went to Trivisonno’s Lake Avenue home in Lyndhurst to arrest him, he barricaded himself inside. A Bergen County Regional SWAT team was called to the scene as officers attempted to negotiate with him.
During the standoff, two gunshots were heard.
According to Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella, Trivisonno, who was alone inside the residence, fired a gun and sustained a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. SWAT officers entered the home and found him inside an attic crawl space. Emergency medical personnel attempted to revive him, but he was pronounced dead.
Because Trivisonno died before his case could proceed through court, there will be no trial in which the evidence against him can be tested before a jury.
Janaina’s body has never been located.
🕯️ ANOTHER TRAGEDY FROM THE PAST
There is another deeply disturbing part of this story.
Trivisonno’s mother, Robin Trivisonno, disappeared in 1997 when Brendan was just nine years old.
Robin was a dancer who was last seen leaving Heartbreakers, a nightclub on Route 35 in Neptune Township where she worked. She reportedly left the club with an unidentified man and never returned.
Her black 1994 Jeep Cherokee was later found abandoned in a handicapped parking space.
Four months later, Robin’s jacket, purse, and wallet — which reportedly still contained approximately $500 in cash — were discovered in a wooded area behind another Route 35 establishment in South Amboy.
Robin was subsequently presumed dead, although her remains were never found.
Brendan’s father raised him and his two siblings after Robin disappeared.
The circumstances surrounding Robin’s disappearance and Janaina’s disappearance have understandably raised questions. However, no verified connection between the two cases has been established, and any relationship between them remains unconfirmed.
💔 TWO MOTHERS. TWO DISAPPEARANCES. DECADES APART.
Janaina’s family is now left with an unimaginable reality.
A woman they loved disappeared.
Her son traveled from Brazil searching for her.
Investigators spent months and eventually more than a year working to determine what happened.
A murder charge was ultimately issued against the man authorities say was responsible for her death.
And yet, Janaina herself has never been found.
For her family, there is still no place to bring flowers. No grave to visit. No final goodbye.
There is only the question that has haunted them since March 10, 2025:
Where is Janaina?
📢 INFORMATION COULD STILL MATTER
Anyone who saw Janaina around New Point Road in Elizabeth on March 10, 2025, or who has information about what happened to her, is urged to contact investigators.
The Union County Crime Stoppers has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to Janaina’s whereabouts.
📞 Union County Prosecutor’s Office
Detective Scott Chertoff: 908-358-9162
📞 Union County Crime Stoppers
908-654-TIPS
Anonymous tips can also be submitted through Union County Crime Stoppers.
Janaina was a mother, a daughter, a friend, and a woman who left Brazil hoping to build a life in America.
Her son is still living with the loss and unanswered questions.
And despite everything that has happened, one question remains painfully unresolved:
🕯️ Where is Janaina Freire Goncalves?
Her family deserves to know where she is. 💜
Sources:
https://abc7ny.com/post/son-flies-elizabeth-new-jersey-brazil-searching-answers-mother-missing-2-months/16297999/
https://ucpo.org/news/article/2210
https://www.nj.com/union/2025/04/nj-woman-mysteriously-disappeared-1-month-ago-amid-breakup-friends-plea-for-answers.html
https://www.nj.com/union/2025/04/10k-reward-offered-to-help-find-nj-woman-missing-for-7-weeks.html
https://patch.com/new-jersey/westfield/missing-elizabeth-woman-police-seek-help
https://dailyvoice.com/nj/elizabeth/disappearance-of-elizabeth-woman-prompts-police-investigation/
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