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 ...
Pornography and the Web.......years ago you had to look for the garbage.now you just clik and there you have it.......
"Shameful too, doesn't the tabloid mentality know any shame at all?"
It's the local news from Philly .. the video was when the news frist broke that the boys were found
here is what Channel 6 News was reporting
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/news/062405_nw_missingboysfound.html
....but there usually is no handle to grip to pull it down..
The overriding question that I have is how all of these professionals could have been so stupid as to not look in that trunk on day one.
One afternoon my dad found a dead (rabid) fox in the woods were my sister and I were playing a few hours earlier. We must have scared it to death. My mother said I hope you two weren't in those woods today. NO, WE WEREN'T, WE PROMISE.
I think some cars have a mechanical cable operated remote latch to let the driver pop the trunk. But why would anybody have left the car itself unlocked, even if it was abandoned or in "redneck storage." Maybe a busted door lock, but then why did the cop lady who looked, not check all the doors, especially if the car was on the property of the family looking for one of the kids and so would not have problems with permission.
Yeah. Like I was just saying, an 11 year old ought to know better. I can see 6 year olds locking themselves in, but age 11? Stranger things have happened. I just don't know.
I admit I don't know which way to go here right now. There's plenty of questions to be asked.
Yep.
Same thing in Lorain, Ohio.
He may as well be named John Smith.
Wouldn't they be banging on the door though?????
The kid had neurological disorders.
He appeard to be smaller for his age and was in a special education class.
Gene, I wondered the same and why wasn't that one of the very first places searched.(immediate vicinity)? The lady went inside the house for ten minutes, returned and the three boys were gone?
The numbers are not commensurate in this story, but we will find out when the unraveling starts.
It is a damn shame three little boys, who never had a chance at the American Dream. NSNR
The 11 year old was mentally challenged. He had the mentality of a 4-6 year old, I was told.
Read the quote from a Magdalena Medina up thread somewhere - she hopped in her car and volunteered to search because of all the possibilities - abandoned buildings, dumpsters, etc. That changes things a bit from my view.
The underside of a trunk lid (that doesn't have to look decent on the inside like a hatchback lid) has a metal web structure. Simple enough to hook fingers in, and pull.
OK, I just saw #79:"The photo of the car makes it look like a mid/late-90's Camry. My sister had one. The trunk release is mechanical and located on the floor near the driver's left foot."
Knowing the vehicle is a big help. I have never had one with a mechanical latch. (Station wagons, trucks, and full size US sedans, which had a button in the glove box.)
here is the news from Channel 3 News from 11pm last night
http://kyw.com/news/local_story_174103452.html
The police say the car was checked, but since so many police were involved in this case, they are checking their logs to see of the trunk of the car was actually checked
Thanks....our two vehicles our hatchbacks...so I didn't know..
They way it looks, that car is against a brick wall. That would have cut the sounds the kids might have made in the car. Also, have you ever tried to hear your kids inside a van? You really can't hear much if anything if you are far enough away. I would suggest that a thick metal enclosure would pretty much muffle any sound.
Not to mother who was "watching" them: she wasn't watching them. She probably left them 1/2 hr and by that time they were dead from the suffocating heat of that trunk. Another reason why nobody heard them cry, even if they were close by.
I suspect a tragic accident thought this Martinez person might provide interesting "details" if he were involved.
Moral of story: look in all small enclosed places if God forbid one of your children runs off.
God bless those poor people...
If the death was that quick, though, then why the bag over one child's head. A suicide move after days unnoticed in the trunk I could understand. But not half an hour.
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