Reports: Mexican Officials Identify Remains of Jenni Rivera

Authorities in Mexico are said to have positively identified the remains of Mexican-American musician Jenni Rivera.

According to CNN, a spokesman for the Nuevo Laredo state government claimed that Rivera’s remains were handed over to her family.  In addition, positive nitrifications were supposedly made of Rivera's publicist and co-pilot of the charter plane that crashed in the early hours of Sunday.

The Associated Press, meanwhile, reported that Nuevo Leon state security spokesman Jorge Domene said that Rivera’s remains were identified but that DNA tests are still pending.

Rivera’s brother, fellow singer Lupillo Rivera, Tweeted today a picture of a red urn that will supposedly hold Jenni’s ashes.

Mexican transportation officials said that the investigation into the plane accident that killed Rivera and six others is ongoing.  Nevertheless, they detailed that the private jet went into a very sharp dive minutes after taking off from Monterrey. The plane plummeted nose-first and 28,000 feet in thirty seconds, which left the wreckage strewn across a mountainside.

The crash has raised questions about the safety of the 1969 Learjet 25 that Rivera was allegedly interested in purchasing.  The aircraft had failed a takeoff attempt seven years ago that caused one wing to weigh more than another.  The plane’s owner, Christian Eduardo Esquino Nunez, has a criminal record that included a 2005 conviction for falsifying plane maintenance records.


The investigation into the accident has also received scrutiny after two police officers were arrested and accused of stealing items from the crash site.  Additionally, authorities are looking into how Mexican media outlets obtained photos of the secured site including images of body parts and personal documents.

Rivera’s fans have spent nearly a week mourning the death of their musical idol nicknamed “La Diva de la Banda” (“The Diva of Banda Music”).

“I think it’s a nightmare.  It can’t be true,” said one fan that participated days ago at a vigil outside of the Rivera’s family home in California.

Rivera was a woman of many hats apart from being a successful singer and songwriter.  She was an entrepreneur that founded several businesses that specialized in fragrance, clothing, and real estate, amongst others.  She was also a reality TV star producing several shows for the Mun2 channel and last week signed a deal with ABC to develop an English-language sitcom.

Rivera will appear on the silver screen in “Filly Brown,” a “hip-hop driven indie drama” that will be released in theaters in April.  The film was well received when it was screened and Sundance this year and her debut movie performance received great praise by one of her co-stars:

Edward James Olmos, who served as executive producer on the film - which was written and directed by his son Michael D. Olmos and Youssef Delara - calls Rivera's performance "Oscar-worthy."

Rivera is hardly recognizable in the film, having shed her usual glammed up hair and make-up for the chola-inspired look of a drug-addicted, imprisoned mother whose daughter (Gina Rodriguez) turns to rapping to help bust her out of jail.

Video Source – YouTube via user ourtiempo (“A clip of the late Jenni Rivera in her debut role in the film ‘Filly Brown.’”)
 
Online Sources – CNN, EW.com, Los Angeles Times, ABC News, New York Daily News, Fox News Latino