A friendship that began during a World Cup match quickly grew into a bond over family, food and their shared Colombian heritage. Now, Andrea Peters is remembering her close friend Eliana Bigoni, a 34-year-old mother of two who Plano police say was killed by her estranged husband. Peters said she and Bigoni met during a World Cup match and quickly realized how much they had in common. “We are married with American guys, we have family, and we live in North Texas, and we’re Colombian so we were, like, this is amazing to have, like, a friends-family group,” Peters said. The women became part of a close-knit group of friends, with Peters describing Bigoni as calm and happy. On July 31, the group went out to celebrate Bigoni’s birthday. Video from that night shows her surrounded by friends. “That day she was just happy trying to celebrate her birthday with girls. She didn’t do anything wrong,” Peters said. But Peters said the celebration took a turn when Bigoni’s estranged husband, Jake Bigoni, showed up unannounced and demanded that she come home. “The feeling that I had in that moment was he is going to kill her. He’s going to shoot somebody here. Just look at his face,” Peters said. Twelve days later, Eliana Bigoni was dead. Plano police said officers found the 34-year-old mother at the townhome she had shared with Jake Bigoni before she began staying with a friend. Jake Bigoni is charged with murder and abuse of a corpse. He is being held in the Collin County Jail without bond. “When I saw the message, I just said, he killed her, because I had the feeling,” Peters said. Peters said her friend had been trying to move forward and described Jake Bigoni as controlling. “He wanted to have control of her,” Peters said. As she struggles to understand what happened, Peters said there was no justification for her friend’s death. “Only they know what happened, but that is not a reason to kill a person. That is not a reason to kill a person,” Peters said. Days before her death, Bigoni had celebrated another year of life surrounded by friends. Peters said that is how she wants to remember her. If you or someone you know needs help, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24 hours. This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC DFW. AI tools helped convert the story into a digital article, and an NBC DFW journalist edited it again before publication. ...read more read less