MONTGOMERY VILLAGE, Md. — People who know 46-year-old Haitian earthquake survivor Jean Jocelin Pierre say his life has been defined by tragedy. However, there were no signs of trouble in his marriage that would explain the shocking murder charges filed against him this week.
Pierre, of Montgomery Village, is accused of murdering his wife Nerlande Foreste and disposing of her body so expertly that Montgomery County police still have not found her remains.
Left behind is Pierre’s 15-year old daughter who came with him to the U.S. after the 2010 Haitian Earthquake which killed the rest of their family, according to friends who do not want their names made public.
The friends said Pierre’s wife and one other child died in the earthquake when the family’s home collapsed on them. Pierre escaped. The girl was rescued after being buried in the family’s home for several days.
Pierre and his daughter fled to the U.S., where Pierre met and married 41-year-old Nerlande Foreste, who had left Haiti just before the earthquake and stayed in the U.S. afterward.
Foreste was a devoted stepmother, the friends said. The family lived in an apartment in The Rothbury, a complex in Montgomery Village.
Foreste worked as a registered nurse. Pierre, a former bank manager in Haiti, was working in the U.S. as a nursing assistant with Alzheimer’s patients, the friends said.
There was no sign of trouble in the couple’s marriage according to people who knew them. They are shocked and mystified by the accusations by investigators.
Montgomery County police issued a missing person alert Aug. 25 after Pierre went to the 6th district station the evening before to report his wife had not been seen since Aug. 21. At the time police reported that her family was concerned for her welfare.
Five days after Pierre made the missing person report, detectives arrested him and charged him with murder.
On Aug. 29 police then announced they had arrested Pierre and charged him with murder.
Investigators said there were "several inconsistencies in Pierre’s account of events that led detectives to believe Pierre was potentially involved in Foreste’s disappearance," according to a statement from Montgomery County police.
The same day of Pierre's arrest, detectives searched the Rothbury Lane apartment.