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."

[TheOtherOne]

Authorities: No Foul Play Suspected in Boys' Deaths

By Geoff Mulvihill Associated Press Writer
Published: Jun 25, 2005 CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) - Three boys whose bodies were found in the trunk of a car following a massive, two-day search died from accidental suffocation, not foul play, authorities said Saturday.

The bodies were discovered Friday when David Agosto lifted the trunk of a banged-up maroon Toyota Camry in the yard where the boys were last seen. There, he found the bodies of his 6-year-old son Daniel Agosto; 5-year-old Jesstin Pagan and 11-year-old Anibal Cruz.

Officials said no foul play was suspected, but it was not clear why searchers - who combed the yard next to Cruz family home - did not find the boys sooner.

The car was searched when police first responded to the report of the missing children Wednesday at about 8:30 p.m., Police Chief Edwin Figueroa said, though prosecutor Vincent Sarubbi said it can be inferred that the trunk of the battered car had not been checked. He said police and prosecutors will issue a report on the handling of the search within 30 days.

A neighbor was watching when David Agosto made the tragic discovery. He broke out in tears, throwing himself against a car, and was later taken away on a stretcher by paramedics, crying and flailing his arms and legs.

"I saw him open the trunk and he just started screaming and he collapsed to the ground," said Carmen Villa, 37, who lives across the street.

"It's just a tragedy," said Melissa Martinez, 25, weeping as she watched from Villa's front yard across the street as police began cordoning off the scene. "They've been there all the time. We were just standing here yesterday saying 'Where could they be?' and the whole time, they were right there. It's just heartbreaking."

The boys vanished without a trace Wednesday night while playing in the yard, according to authorities.

For two days, searchers combed alleyways and woods, abandoned houses and vacant lots. Helicopters scanned from the sky, and boats searched the nearby Delaware River.

Strangers handed out missing persons fliers to passing motorists, civilians aided in the search and everyone wondered how three children could suddenly go missing at once.

Sarubbi said an uncle of one of the boys wanted to look in the trunk because he was searching for a set of jumper cables. Agosto accompanied him because "the thought may have crossed his mind that the boys may have been in that trunk," the prosecutor said.

The car belonged to Carmen Lopez, the maternal grandmother of Anibal Cruz. The car was not working properly and had been parked in the shady, weedy area for about three weeks, Sarubbi said. He said one of the boys had in the past played in the car, but did not say which one.

The prosecutor said the hydraulic plunger that keeps the trunk from closing was not working, so the lid was able to swing close and lock as soon as the boys stopped propping it up.

Some periods of hard rain on Wednesday evening may have muffled any noises from the well-insulated trunk, which was parked far enough from the house to make it difficult to hear any voices coming from it.

A full report from the medical examiner is expected, but no timeline for that was made public. That report is also expected to reveal the time the boys died, which authorities said they did not yet know.

Figueroa said if any law enforcement officials broke department rules in the search they would be disciplined, but otherwise he might simply order more training for officers.

"I feel very bad, just like the community and law enforcement agencies, that three children were found in the trunk of the vehicle," Figueroa said.

Cruz and Agosto both lived in the vibrant multiethnic Cramer Hill neighborhood where the bodies were found. Pagan lived in neighboring Mount Ephraim and was visiting Cruz's home when they disappeared.

Relatives said Cruz often played with younger children, in part because he suffered from neurological problems and had just finished the fifth grade at a school for special needs students.

"He may be 11 years old, but his mind is more like a 4- or 3-year-old," said his grandmother, Carmen Cruz.

Agosto, who disappeared a day before his last day of kindergarten at the H.C. Sharp Elementary School just down the block from his house, had never been off the block alone before, according to his mother, Iraida Roman.

She described him as a regular kid who liked to "ride bikes, play in the dirt - simple kid stuff."

Pagan also attended a special needs school, said a family friend, Cornell Worlds Jr. The boy idolized the Los Angeles Lakers and star player Kobe Bryant, Worlds said.

He was "a good-spirited type of kid," Worlds said.

--

AP reporter John Curran in Camden contributed to this story.

AP-ES-06-25-05 1241EDT

[Snowy]

The human scent has to be on the ground in order for the dogs to pick it up.

Not with air-scenting dogs.

[LRS]

Good experiment, and the little boy who died just sitting in his carseat in a closed van, was Dead in 5 to 7 hrs later from Dehydration.

We are talking x3. The air in the trunk would have been poisonous rather quickly.

I don't know how the kids got in the trunk, or when the Mother realized they were gone in seconds, why she didn't hear them make a commotion in the trunk if she was outside looking for them?

I don't know the real length of time involved. But, any commotion made while they were still alive could have gone unheard before anyone knew they were missing.

On a boarder note, no one knows why some people die faster than others. If someone manages to live 7 hours in a carseat, it doesn't mean everyone will (I guess that's why some people have such faith in guardian angels and miracles.) These boys could have died rather quickly, especially if they increased their oxygen use with some panic.

Again, as I said earlier, there is nothing here that rules out what they are saying: accidental death. However, seeing how people do all sorts of wicked deeds, if, when further details are known, we find out the father was faking it, (when he had to be taken to the hospital after finding the bodies), I won't be shocked. Afterall, mothers drown the kids in tubs, and dads slash up their daughters and friends. I'm saying this because while I believe this was an accident, I'm not going to be upset with those who are cynical. Clinton may feel your pain, but I understand your cynicism...

[spectre]

I realize it isn't in good taste to suggest foul play, but with posts like yours..spelling out how quickly the kids can die...it eliminates a ton of speculation.

Thank you..sw

[Snowy]

FNC just showed a video of a detective on Thurday looking around and under the car .. but she didn't open the car or the trunk

This is what irritates me. You have to think like the person(s) you are looking for. Is this the first time anyone has ever heard of kids locking themselves in the trunk of a car??? Again, they screwed up big time. The kids probably would have been found dead anyway, but they could have saved the community and families 2 days of false hope and agony. The poor father should not have been the one to find them. The Camden authorities should be ashamed of themselves. They should have used the proper tool for the job (Search and Rescue teams).

[LRS]

Your welcome!

Now to destroy any semblance of sanity on my part.

When young, but still a lot older than these lads (early teens), my cousins and I would climb into a car on a hot day, (temps in the upper 90's), roll up the windows, and have a "cook out", where the first person to bail out was a wuss. We would up the ante with some cigarette smoking for good measure. That we didn't croak in the process...

[Huck]

My first reaction to this story was that I didn't like them sensationalizing the father's agony. It's not newsworthy what his anguish sounded like. That's thrown in there, as you say, for entertainment.

[Mo1]

The poor father should not have been the one to find them.

I totally agree

The sight of his son in that car will haunt him

Sending prayers to all involved

[SkyPilot]

I dunno. They are now saying there was no foul play, and the kids just jumped into the trunk as something to do, and accidently locked themselves there.

[Mr. Mulliner]

Does anyone else think it's odd that the headline of this story is about the father's very natural reaction to a tragedy instead of the fact that 3 boys were found dead? Just looking at the headline you'd have no idea what this story is about.

[GOPJ]

Yes, you "get it".

My first reaction to this story was that I didn't like them sensationalizing the father's agony. It's not newsworthy what his anguish sounded like. That's thrown in there, as you say, for entertainment.

[Snowy]

Yes, everything about this is odd.

[go-ken-go]

could be. how else could they get in a closed trunk. can't figure out,why they would open the car door, and then purposely pull the latch to open trunk, and get in and play... just seems like a huge stretch to believe that.... doesn't seem right. why would that enter their minds to do that. poor little guys.

[lizma]

my cousins and I would climb into a car on a hot day,

What is it about cousins????? My cousin and I would routinely hide in the trunk of my aunt's car and eat all the date bar cookies. It was tradition. Luckily we never closed the lid all the way and our parent knew we where were every minute.

I'm happy to say I've inherited my mother's eyes in the back of your head. You don't leave kids that young at all these days. My kids are 11 and 13 and I still keep them within earshot. It's not worth not doing it.

[budwiesest]

I realize it isn't in good taste to suggest foul play,

Was someone behind in a 'crack' payment? These boys will play rough.

[eccentric]

I wouldn't think the kids would be stupid enough to get into a trunk if they didn't think they had a way to get out.

Then you know NOTHING about kids.

Note: the 11-year-old was mentally retarded.

[bill1952]

Seems strange doesn't it?

Why is it automatically ASSumed by the media and the powers that be, that they did it it themselves, and that they were not put there?

All I have seen, now that the plastic bag thing has been debunked, is that 3 kids were found dead, locked in the trunk of a car, and that the very short time frame quoted by the mother does not seem credible at first glance.

I suppose it could have been a strange pre thought out game of hiding from the mother after slipping out for a minute, but I tend to turn a cynical eye on such things.

And due to the large time frame between the deaths/reported missing and the finding of the bodies, the time-line is further obscured.

I'm not categorically stating that murder was committed, just that I am adverse to assumptions of this sort.

[Churchillspirit]

The boys had mental ages of six, five and three. Unlikely they could have devised a way out.

[Dante3]

I agree. This case needs further investigation. There are just too many odd things about it that don't make sense.