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 ...
If it wasn't for the sloppiness of the police, the boys would be alive.
Yes, the parents are also at fault.
But once the police show up and start searching, they kind of take over responsibility.
Example..........
Police: "We need all the parents in the next room for questioning."
Parents: "No, I am going out to search the yard for the kids."
Police: "We already searched the yard. We need you in the other room for questioning. And we need you there now."
"Hello, 911? My daughter is missing. Can you send out the police?"
"Sorry, it's not the cops job to keep track of your children, you welfare queen."
If these children were mine, I would be so guilt ridden for having NOT thought to look in the trunk that I don't believe I could go on. It's bad enough to lose a child and it must seem completely unforgiveable to know you could have saved them but were simply too stupid to think.
As if either are needed when conducting a search of a car for missing children. What the police needed was a little common sense, resources, and dedication to the task (that is, take the time to completely search the entire car, front to back, top to bottom). If they had done that, then these children may be alive today.
On the other side of that coin, you are right, the parents are responsible for their children and could have prevented the children from accessing the trunk. If they had done so, then these children may be alive today.
So next time, perhaps the police will be a little more thorough in their job and perhaps parents will be a little more mindful of their children and their environs.
Children go missing. Who's job then is it to help find them?
But the cops are at fault if they don't find them?
Are you a trial lawyer?
So if the cops don't find your kids, they owe you $$$$MONEY$$$$?
How convenient.
Read his personal page. It should answer all your questions.
You don't think it is the job of police to keep track of missing children?
If it is not their job to track missing children, why did they even show up?
They should have stayed home and told the parents that it wasn't their job.
But for the parents' negligence, they never would have been in trunk in the first place. And I can see how the police, having been told the parents had searches for hours before calling them, could jump to the conclusion the kids were no longer in the immediate area.
I am not trying to absolve the police of fault entirely here. This tragedy is big enough to share lots of blame and I have no idea why someobody did not think to pop that trunk. But I still think you have to look at the parents in the first instance and I still wonder how long they were in that trunk before anyone started looking.
In Chandra Levy's case, the police searchers also overlooked the body. Same for scores of other missing children, such as Polly.
And you think if they don't find them the cops owe you money?
Oh no.
Exactly.
While my wife would be on the phone with the cops I would be searching every crawl space, closet, vehicle (trunk and under the hood)... basically anywhere anything could fit, I would check. Then I would proceed to do the same to my neighbors homes and property.
Yup, and not being able to live with yourself if it really was your fault, you probably would look for someone to blame. I really hope that was what was driving the parents' statements.
The officer comes back and tells you the car was searched but no clues were found.
And then you find out that he did not even look in the trunk.
What would you have to say to the officer?
"Hey, don't feel bad. You gave it the ol' college try. At least the parents can't sue us. Come on... I'll buy you a dough-nut."
...if the cops don't find your kids, they learn from their mistake and improve their processes so crap like this doesn't happen again.
Stop clenching your wallet for a second. Yes, the parents are at fault for not keeping track of their children. However, it would seem that the police made a fatal error in not being thorough when initially searching the trunk of that car. So let's insist they make steps to improve on that. That said, I agree with you, (ok, now we can both start clenching our wallets) in this case, the parents should not be awarded money for something they could have prevented.
You said it was not the cops job to track missing children.
It's such a horrific tragedy.
I still can't figure out how the car was missed in the search by everyone.
I was thinking that maybe there should be some changes made in car trunks - sort of the way they had to pass legislation and change the way refridgerators were made when so many children suffocated in them....something like the trunk could always be automatically released by some button even overriding a "lock" so that if anyone was every trapped in a trunk they could escape.
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