Missing North Jersey Mom Had Expressed Fears Of 'Husband' Before Her Death

NORTH JERSEY — In March 2025, friends of Janaina Freire Goncalves, 47, of Elizabeth became concerned when she didn't return their calls.

The Brazilian immigrant had been fighting with her new husband, Brendan, after she found out he was already married to another woman, friends told NJ.com in a report last April.

The Union County Prosecutor's office asked the public for tips around that time. So did a friend, who posted on Facebook.

Last week, detectives went to the Lyndhurst home of the "husband," Brendan Trivisonno, to charge him with Goncalves' murder, prosecutors have said.

Trivisonno barricaded himself inside the home, then fatally shot himself, prosecutors said.

Court documents and prior reports show that Goncalves was scared of what Trivisonno might do to her, and friends were concerned as well.

Year-Long Investigation

On the night of March 10, a friend spoke to Goncalves, then didn't hear from her for days, said the report last April.

Friend Lalique Melnikoff posted a phone number on Facebook in April 2025 looking for anyone with information.

"With heavy hearts, we are still searching for answers about the disappearance of our dear friend Janaina Freire Goncalves, who has been missing for over three weeks," she wrote.

Goncalves' adult son, who was 27, flew in from Brazil to look, with the help of a Portuguese interpreter, media reports said.

Officials spent a year investigating, without publicly releasing new information.

Where Was Goncalves?

It was only days after detectives went to Trivisonno's home in Lyndhurst to arrest him last Thursday that prosecutors released the complaint in the case.

Prosecutors have declined to give more information, including whether they found Goncalves' body. But the complaint indicated that Goncalves had feared for her life.

According to the complaint, Goncalves had left a handwritten letter in her safe deposit box, saying she was afraid of Trivisonno.

Last year, friends were concerned as well.

Friends Worried

Friends declined to respond to messages and phone calls from Patch for comment this week. But they had told reporters last year that they were worried.

They said Goncalves had been working as an exotic dancer. They also said she had been fighting with Trivisonno after she found out that he was already married and had a daughter.

“They were fighting a lot,” Melnikoff said last year. “Janaina was last heard from on March 10 and was really hurt when she found out he had two wives.”

A spokesperson for the Elizabeth Police Department said all requests for further comment were being handled by the Prosecutor's Office.

Neither the Union County nor the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office was willing to release further details this week.

The Prosecutor's Office had issued this statement last year:

Video Showed Last Moments

Goncalves was reported missing on March 13, 2025, the complaint says.

Elizabeth police responded to an apartment at 634 New Point Road.

They found surveillance video of Trivisonno parking at the building on the night of March 10, in a white van marked with "Triv Construction." Goncalves was then seen on the video letting Trivisonno into the building.

At some point, according to a neighbor's account, Goncalves said "Give me the keys for the car," banged on the wall, and threatened to call police.

"And minutes later," the complaint says, "the noise stopped."

Surveillance video showed Trivisonno leaving just before 11 p.m. that night, holding a duffel bag and trash bag. He drove away, the complaint says, but returned at 2:11 a.m., leaving again at 6:06 a.m. with more trash bags, which he placed in a passing garbage truck.

Letter Found

Inside Goncalves' safe deposit box were identification, and a "hand-written letter, saying she was in fear of [Trivisonno] and that if the letter was found, something happened to her."

Goncalves' first wife told police that she remembered him returning home "in the middle of the night" on March 11 and saying his truck had broken and he needed a different vehicle.

Detectives found blood in Goncalves' bedroom, the report says, and compared it to that of Goncalves' son. Some of the blood contained DNA from both Goncalves and Trivisonno, the report says.

Over the ensuing year, Trivisonno was questioned in the disappearance, say media reports from 2025.

In the NJ.com report from 2025, he acknowledged that he had been fighting with Goncalves over his prior marriage, but he said he was wondering where she was, as well.

Last Thursday, just after 5 a.m., detectives headed to Trivisonno's home on Lake Avenue in Lyndhurst. He was alone in the house, said Jeff Angermeyer, chief of detectives for the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office.

After releasing the complaint on Tuesday, officials said they would not release further information. They did not respond to new requests from Patch.

In an unusual twist, Trivisonno's own mother, Robin, disappeared from Neptune Township in 1997 and has never been found.

An Asbury Park Press story from 2019 noted that she was 28 at the time, and left behind three young boys. Brendan, then 7, was the oldest.

PRIOR REPORTING: Man Who Fatally Shot Himself Was Wanted In Death Of Missing Woman