Funeral service held for Natalie Belmonte

A funeral service was held this morning in Miramar, Florida for 43-year-old Guyanese Natalie Belmonte, whose adopted son Gerald has been charged with her murder. The real estate agent had been missing for nearly a week, before her body was discovered.

Her adopted son, Gerald Belmonte, has been charged with first-degree murder and remains in custody.

According to the Miami Herald, on Sunday, a viewing was held at the Boyd Funeral Home in Pembroke Pines.

The Herald said that those who knew Belmonte all described her as a person of empathy and love for others.

“It’s crushed our whole family,” said Belmonte’s cousin Sass Sonntag.

Belmonte’s aunt, Ann Marie Boller, said she still can’t believe something like this happened, the Herald said.

“I can’t even think right now,” said Boller, “She’s a beautiful, beautiful person. She was kind, loving, just fabulous, she was my heart.”

Some of Belmonte’s friends became very emotional at her viewing”, the report said.

The funeral Mass in remembrance of Belmonte was held today at the Blessed Pope John Paul XXIII Catholic Church on Miramar Parkway.

On Friday night hundreds of people who knew Belmonte gathered at a school parking lot in western Pembroke Pines to pay their respects. Belmonte’s family — including her mother, daughter, son and brother-in-law — joined the crowd to lead the vigil and make a statement about Natalie, the Herald said.

The marshland where her body was dumped  was where the crowd ended up on Friday night. They placed photos of Natalie, candles and flowers as part of a memorial to her.