DAD SHRIEKS AT GRISLY FIND

New York Post ^ | June 25, 2005 | C. J. Sullivan

[kcvl]

June 25, 2005 -- CAMDEN, N.J. — The father of a missing 6-year-old boy dropped to his knees and let out a blood-curdling scream after opening the trunk of a parked car last night to discover the body of his son and two young friends who had been missing since Wednesday.

The bodies of Jesstin "Manny" Pagan, 5; Daniel "Danny" Agosto, 6; and Anibal Cruz, 11 — who were last seen playing in a yard in this hard-luck suburb of Philadelphia — were found by Danny's father, David Agosto, shortly before 7 p.m. in the maroon Toyota Camry.

"Anibal's father told me that there was a plastic bag over his son's head," Anibal's babysitter, Nancy Santana, told The Post last night.

The death car belongs to Anibal's grandmother and had been parked in the driveway of the family's house throughout the three-day search for the boys in neighboring woodlands and the nearby Delaware River.

Hearing Agosto's anguished screams, family and friends frantically ran from a nearby porch where they had held a vigil hoping for a miracle. The grim discovery echoed across the community.

"This is a moment that the families and the city hoped and prayed we wouldn't have to face," said Camden County Prosecutor Vincent Sarubbi.

Last night, law enforcement officials declined to elaborate on their investigation, but said they were searching for Angel Martinez, 28, of Camden, as a "person of interest" in the case.

snip

Sarubbi and Figueroa said the car had been searched on Thursday with a canine unit.

snip

"We looked in the car on Thursday," an anguished neighbor, who did not want to be identified, told The Post.

"I can't believe we didn't look in the trunk."

[LRS]

*The 11 year old was mentally challenged. He had the mentality of a 4-6 year old, I was told..*

If that's the case, this very well could have been a horrible accident. The "bag around the head" of one of these kids could have simply been an old plastic grocery bag that one of the kids got over his head (not his head in it) while struggling at the end.

[scoopscandal]

I do the same. In fact, I pretty much turn into Rainman when I lose things. This doesn't strike me as odd.

[bill1952]

My 94 mustang doen't have a trunk release at all.
No key, no open.

[kcvl]

A Cherry Hill police dog tracked one of the boy's scents near the Delaware River by Farragut Avenue but the trail went cold. Variables such as the weather could have confused the animal, authorities said.

Officers acting on a tip from an 11-year-old girl - a classmate of Anibal Cruz - began searching the woods near River and Farragut avenues around noon but found nothing.

snip

"I just want to think that they are sleeping in an abandoned home or an abandoned car," added Jennifer Calo, Anibal Cruz's aunt, who clutched two cell phones on Thursday in hopes of receiving good news from relatives or police.

[Snowy]

police dog tracked one of the boy's scents near the Delaware River by Farragut Avenue but the trail went cold.

That could very easily be a CYA. There was a great deal of speculation that the kids were in the water.

[jdm]

"The photo of the car makes it look like a mid/late-90's Camry."

Yes, looks like a '95 Camry to my eye. I have an '01 Camry and there's a trunk release latch INSIDE the trunk. Not sure if the '95's had a similar release latch. Not sure when Toyota introduced this potentially life-saving latch.

[SkyPilot]

Dogs? DOH!

The did use dogs, and despite the incorrect rumors some people on the board are spreading, they were not "drug dogs" but bloodhounds.

DoD satellites? Uggh. Even with the superior resolution of satellites, there are severe limitations to their utility. They are not some omniscient "1984-1sh" eye. First of all, a satellite has to have a fly over window of a particular parcel of land on the earth in order to view it. Satellites can be rerouted, but this is no small task, and must be approved at the highest levels of intelligence and military channels. Moreover, satellites cannot see into murky rivers and through locked doors. The most effective way to find these children was through a ground search, which is what they tried.

I really cannot believe we are having this conversation on FR.

[HiTech RedNeck]

"I just want to think that they are sleeping in an abandoned home or an abandoned car," added Jennifer Calo, Anibal Cruz's aunt,

Oh, buh-rother. And she's apparently happy with the coplady who told her "I looked in that car in your yard." Instead of calling the nearest locksmith, or even taking a sledgehammer to it.

[No Surrender No Retreat]

Three boys and 10 minutes to suffocate all of them. Place them in a trunk in the parent's drive way and not be observed?

Competent police work in Camden? I think this may be a drug related revenge case or some loose screws involving one of the adults in the family(s) concerned. NSNR

[HiTech RedNeck]

They shoulda used cats. They would view dead people as food. /gross

[Maria S]

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newjersey/ny-bc-nj--missingchildren-t0624jun24,0,6243223,print.story?coll=ny-region-apnewjersey

Anibal "Juni" Cruz was 11, but he often played with younger children _ in part because they were more like him than kids his age.

"He may be 11 years old, but his mind is more like a 4- or 3-year-old," said his grandmother, Carmen Cruz, of Philadelphia said Friday as the search was going on.

Anibal had just finished fifth grade at a Willingboro school for special needs students. Relatives said he suffered from neurological problems, including attention deficit disorder, and kept a schedule more than most children, making sure he took his medication on time.

[philetus]

Damn man, what the hell is going on here?"


(AgapePress) - In comments at an Ivy League school, the president of the American Civil Liberties Union has indicated that among the "fundamental rights" of people is the right to polygamous relationships -- and that the ACLU has defended and will continue to defend that right.

In a little-reported speech offered at Yale University earlier this year, ACLU president Nadine Strossen stated that her organization has "defended the right of individuals to engage in polygamy." Yale Daily News says Strossen was responding to a "student's question about gay marriage, bigamy, and polygamy." She continued, saying that her legal organization "defend[s] the freedom of choice for mature, consenting individuals," making the ACLU "the guardian of liberty ... defend[ing] the fundamental rights of all people."

[SkyPilot]

I don't know enough about your private search and rescue efforts to comment. I appreciate your commitment to such a thing, and believe your motives to be a noble one.

Can local law enforcement be bureaucratic and inflexible? You bet. Is there a hesitancy to allow outside, volunteer agencies into police investigations and searches?

You bet. If this becomes a criminal investigation (and it may), then allowing self-described "SAR teams" into the area could compromise evidence, indictments, and possible a conviction by the DA. Don't believe me? Look what Jonnie Cochrain and his ilk did to an very professional, thorough, and legal investigation into the crime scene of the OJ double murder.

Thanks again for your efforts.

[KenmcG414]

Law enforcement blew this one bad. Basic police work would have indicated a complete search of all the homes where the boys lived at as well as the family autos. These boys did not die instantly. The police relied too much on their dogs.

[Mo1]

Though that may be a dumb comment from the aunt .. I don't think she meant it to come out that way

[Mo1]

Though that may be a dumb comment

let me corrct myself .. it WAS a dumb comment

[SkyPilot]

Well the kids didn't bleed so the hounds didn't notice them. Obviously.

Is that an attempt at a joke about this terrible tragedy?

[SkyPilot]

It sounds drug-related for sure. I'm also wondering how they knew to look for Angel Martinez, and whether or not the father was TOLD to go look in the trunk of the car. That's what it sounds like to me.

That is the most logical, and reasonable, speculation I have heard today on this.

Camden is a drug hell hole.

May God bless these kids who are in His arms now.

[HiTech RedNeck]

The joke is the hounds. Unless the kids were put in the trunk after the hounds sniffed it.

[Snowy]

I understand what you are saying, but we are also trained in preserving crime scenes. Oh, two weeks ago we were involved in a search for an individual in a 150 acre park. The police had used their dogs and had been searching for the individual for two weeks. My team (my task) found them within 4 hours. They were questioning why we were re-searching an area that they had already searched. I still don't know how they missed him. He was in the woods for two weeks. He did not smell good. It was a crime scene and we handled it properly.