Posted on 07/19/2005 9:34:10 AM PDT by AbeKrieger
CAMDEN, N.J. — Three boys who suffocated in a car trunk last month were alive for at least 17 hours, slowly succumbing while police searched their neighborhood, a lawyer for the family of one of the boys says. Lawyer Peter M. Villari told The New York Times that officials of the Camden County prosecutor's office went over details of an autopsy report with him, the newspaper reported Tuesday. The boys, ages 5, 6 and 11, disappeared from the yard where they were playing a little after 5 p.m. on June 22. Their deaths were ruled accidental. Relatives searched for the boys for three hours and then called authorities. A two-day search that included dogs, helicopters and boats on the nearby Delaware River ended when the father of one of the boys found them dead in the trunk of an inoperable car sitting just feet from where they had been playing. The autopsy report, which has not been released publicly, found that the boys died between 10:30 a.m. on June 23 and 2:30 a.m. on June 24, Villari said. That estimate was based on fluid and tissue samples and weather data, he said. Villari told the newspaper that responsibility for the deaths is now "squarely on the shoulders of the police." "I think the numbers speak for themselves," he said. "They were certainly alive when the police arrived and certainly well after the search started." Villari did no immediately return a call seeking additional comment Tuesday. The prosecutors' office had no immediate comment.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
And I hope that if this ever gets to a jury, they realize the same and do not try to "ease the pain" with a huge payout at the expense of a hard dose of reality.
At the point that the kids were missing, I'll bet that one or all of the parents were being looked at very closely by the police.
I doubt if the cops would have let the parents do much searching.
The cops probably had to keep the *potential* crime scene as sanitized as possible.
What if one of them had killed the boys and was out trying to cover up the crime?
Liar.
I said "So it's the cops' job to keep track of your children?"
Evidently your answer is "yes."
A horrible tragedy, and I can't imagine what the parents must be going through. However, that the first reaction to this horror is to sue the police...
Two words: Litigation Lottery.
Your comments would be a great letter to the editor in their community.
They said the parents searched for 3 hours prior to calling the cops.
If that were true, then the parents are to blame.
If my kids disappeared and they were on my property still, I would have found them in 10 minutes no more.
Evidently you DON'T think its the cops' job to track these missing children.
uhhhh, well the cops werent deaf and the kids obviously didnt make a sound now did they?
What was the make and model of the car? Perhaps they could sue GM, Ford or who ever? Heck, why stop there? Let's sue the local weatherman for not warning us about the dangers that lurk in an otherwise beautiful, sunny day?
Do your realize how many missing kid calls they get everyday, 99.99% of which are false alarms?
So you're a cop, you come to a house on a missing child call, you stand in front of the house next to an abandoned car talking to the single mother about her missing boys, it's obvious that the whole neighborhood has been walking past that car for the past three hours in search of the boys, so you don't search the car very hard.
And you want a policy for this situation?
Priceless.
Great points. I can't understand the vitriolic reaction from some on this thread when we dare criticize the pathetic police work on this case. Blows my mind...
Nope, I think I and every other thinking person would ream the heck out of him for his incompetence. And I hope the officer involved would feel every bit as horrible as he should for his role in what happened. If he didn't he doesn't belong on the police force and donut jokes aside I still think the vast majority of cops are pretty decent people (subject to some notable exceptions) who are hurt when things like this happen.
All of which is a long way from finding the police legally responsible for these childrens' death even assuming the truth of the fact pattern you posted. There still is a lot that does not make sense here and I am not sure any of us have the facts to make any kind of judgment. Maybe the report will shed some light on things, although I am sure its accuracy will be questioned.
Just a horrible case.
You need to catch up on this thread.
We have already come to the conclusion that it is impossible for cops to search the trunk of a car witout having x-ray vision or ESP.
Don't you think that river or stream nearby loomed so large in everybody's mind, fearfully so, that it could have been why the car was only cursorily searched? Also, how did the kids get the trunk lid down by themselves? Inside handle?
There have been several such suits against car manufacturers that is why most (all?) new cars come with trunk releases you can open from the inside. It may be required by NTSA now.
The trunk should have been opened, and left opened, at the begining of the search. Ditto for any possible containers in the area.
The town should not pay, but the chief of police should be fired for incompetentcy.
thanks thread nazi
Agreed.
What's priceless is that, given the stats made up, you don't think one is necessary.
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