TIM LARSEN/The Associated Press David Agosto, center, father of Daniel Agosto, collapses in the arms of a friend in Camden, N.J., yesterday after finding the bodies of his son, 6, Jesstin Pagan, 5, and Anibal Cruz, 11, in the trunk of a car.
Posted on 06/25/2005 4:18:48 AM PDT by 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."
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Me too. And at that point I think, where is the most unlikely place for this item to be. I usually find the item after searching the most unlikely place. What a tragedy for these families. Prayers, for all of them.
The article says that car was checked on Thursday and that the one boy was found with a plastic bag over his head
Sounds like a murder.
Too many unanswered questions...the scent dog leading them to the river, a plastic bag and now a person of interest...this is beyond horrible...
Bad pooches, no milkbone for you
Eyewitness News reporter Anthony Johnson is in Camden now with details.
We witnessed that discovery. At about 7:00 p.m. Friday evening, a few family members decided to walk out to a car that was actually parked in the very same yard as where the boys were last seen. It was a burgundy Toyota Camry.
They went to the back of the car, they opened the car up and then they opened the truck, where they found the bodies.
They shut the doors and then they started screaming, they started crying, friends and family members came up and started hugging everybody there. It was a tragic discovery. It's almost unbelievable that the three boys who were missing since Wednesday were actually found in a car just a few feet away from where they were last seen.
snip
A neighbor, Carmen Cilla, said she saw David Agosto open the trunk of the maroon Toyota and collapse to his knees screaming.
Police rushed to the scene and immediately cordoned off the property with yellow crime scene tape and draped white sheets over the tape to shield the car from view.
Camden County authorities said at a Friday night news conference that the medical examiner was preparing to do autopsies on the bodies. But the cause of death hasn't been determined yet.
Neighbors say the car had been parked behind the Cruz home for at least three months. City Police Chief Edwin Figueroa says the vehicle had been searched before, but it's not clear whether the trunk had been checked.
I don't know...something about this one just doesn't pass the smell test. Car trunks are not airtight so why couldn't the kids have survived several days? Additionally, how come nobody heard the kids crying out for help?
TIM LARSEN/The Associated Press David Agosto, center, father of Daniel Agosto, collapses in the arms of a friend in Camden, N.J., yesterday after finding the bodies of his son, 6, Jesstin Pagan, 5, and Anibal Cruz, 11, in the trunk of a car.
I'm sorry but there are some cops that need to be seriously disciplined over this.
The car was parked in the driveway and was searched with a canine unit, but failed to find THREE BOYS IN THE TRUNK?
Heads should roll.
How did things get this way?
Unless, they were somehow put in the trunk after the search.
I think these kids were killed somewhere else and put in the trunk at the very end.
Out in the sun it could get pretty darn warm in there, and hot air built up inside the windowed part of the car would migrate behind the back seats into the trunk.
Well just who has the key to this cars trunk.
I’m not sure that anyone was capable of that. But being that the 11 yo had the mind of a 4 yo, that opens him up to suspicion.
"Angel Martinez, 28, of Camden". How about starting the hunt for him in Mexico?
Wait for the autopsies report. Since MSM isn't reporting this, please keep us updated.
I tend to agree with you, but when/how could they have done it...the whole area was swarming with family, neighbors,searchers and police...one person could only carry one body at a time.
Kids hear all kinds of weird stuff at a young age. Shoot I remember 2nd grade boys trying to be gross singing a little ditty "Suffocation" to the tune of "Alouette." "Pull a bag over your head, go to bed and wake up dead"... in that vein. (There were others about shooting the teacher, etc. But funny, nobody actually did it.)
Probably late at night. They don't search all night long I don't think. The best time to transfer bodies is in the late night (I think I watch too many crime stories)
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