THE CHANGE HER FAMILY DIDN’T SEE COMING — PAMELA CISNEROS APPEARED TO BE GETTING BETTER. THEN EVERYTHING CHANGED

For years, Pamela Cisneros’ family had watched her struggle through serious mental-health problems.

There had been difficult periods before — including postpartum depression, a later reported diagnosis of bipolar disorder, a suicide attempt and the breakdown of her marriage.

But by the time 49-year-old Cisneros entered Times Square on August 31, her family believed she was doing better.

Her father, Mario Cisneros, said he had seen his daughter the week before the attack and believed she appeared to be on the right track. He also said she was not a violent person.

Her brother Patrick Peralta has since described a very different picture emerging in the days surrounding the tragedy.

Family members noticed changes in Pamela’s behavior, including signs that concerned them.

And then came the afternoon that none of them could have imagined.

A HISTORY THAT BEGAN AFTER MOTHERHOOD

According to her brother, Pamela’s mental-health struggles became particularly serious after the birth of her second daughter more than two decades ago.

Peralta said she experienced postpartum depression and was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

The family also faced a difficult period after Pamela’s marriage broke down.

Court records cited by the New York Post show that her husband filed for divorce in Florida in 2020. The case remained sealed and was finalized in 2025.

Pamela was a mother of three daughters.

After the divorce, the family became increasingly complicated. Two daughters eventually lived in Florida with their father, while another daughter, who relatives said has autism, lived in a care facility in Brooklyn.

Yet relatives say Pamela continued to care deeply about her children.

HER FAMILY THOUGHT SHE WAS GETTING BETTER

This may be one of the most haunting parts of the story.

Pamela had reportedly received treatment for her mental-health problems, including medication.

Her father said he had seen her shortly before the Times Square attack and believed she was doing well.

Her brother also described a woman who had seemed relatively stable in recent years.

Police had previously documented mental-health-related encounters involving Cisneros, including incidents in 2018 and 2019. But she had no prior New York City arrest record.

Then, according to relatives, something appeared to change.

The family could not know that those changes would precede one of the most shocking attacks in Times Square.

THEN SHE CROSSED PATHS WITH ERIN PIACENTI

On August 31, Pamela Cisneros allegedly approached strangers in one of the busiest areas of New York City.

Police said she attacked a 68-year-old man before moving toward 32-year-old Erin Piacenti.

Piacenti was a Bank of America vice president and a new mother who had just returned to work following maternity leave.

She was taken to Bellevue Hospital but died from her injuries.

Cisneros was then confronted by NYPD officers while holding two knives.

Police said officers repeatedly ordered her to drop the weapons. When she refused and advanced toward officers, they opened fire.

Cisneros later died at the hospital.

THE QUESTIONS HER FAMILY IS LEFT WITH

There is no simple explanation for what happened.

Pamela’s relatives are now trying to reconcile the woman they knew — a mother, a daughter, a sister and a woman who had spent years battling serious personal struggles — with the person described by police during the final moments of the Times Square attack.

Her father said he had seen no indication that she was about to become violent.

Her brother has described the family as devastated and struggling to understand how her life reached that point.

And perhaps that is what makes the story so difficult to comprehend.

The family thought Pamela was getting better.

Then, within days, everything changed.

And somewhere between those two moments lies the unanswered story of what happened to Pamela Cisneros.