2005 Media Releases:

CAMDEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE
VINCENT P. SARUBBI, CAMDEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR
MEDIA   INFORMATION

July 19, 2005

Camden County Prosecutor Vincent P. Sarubbi and Camden Police Chief Edwin J. Figueroa reported today that autopsy reports do not establish a precise time of death for three boys who died last month in Camden, N.J., but indicate an estimated range.

The reports, written by Camden County Medical Examiner Paul J. Hoyer, state that the times of death "would range from 2/3rd to 1 1/2 days" prior to discovery of the boys' bodies in a car trunk on the evening of June 24, 2005. Dr. Hoyer states that he bases the estimate on his autopsy examinations and "local environmental conditions" such as temperature. In the report, Dr. Hoyer reaffirms his earlier findings, noted on death certificates, that the cause of death was suffocation and the manner of death was accidental. On the death certificates, he noted time of death as "unknown."

The bodies of Anibal Cruz, 11, Daniel Agosto, 6, and Jesstin Pagan, 5, were discovered by a relative of Anibal Cruz's at approximately 6:45 p.m. on June 24, in the trunk of a Toyota Camry parked in the yard of the Cruz home.

Dr. Hoyer's time-of-death estimate calculates to between 16 and 36 hours prior to discovery - some time between 6:30 on Thursday morning, June 23, and 2:30 on Friday morning, June 24. The boys were last seen playing in the yard of the Cruz home at approximately 5 p.m. on Wednesday, June 22. Camden Police were contacted at approximately 8:25 p.m.

Sarubbi and Figueroa also reported that a three-member committee they appointed has made substantial progress on an after-action review of the missing persons and search operation. Led by the Camden Police Department, the operation also included numerous other public safety agencies as well as citizen volunteers.

The committee consists of First Assistant Camden County Prosecutor James P. Lynch, Deputy Chief of Camden County Investigators Michael Kantner and Camden Police Deputy Chief Edward Hargis. The group has obtained and reviewed hundreds of pages of reports written by officers from multiple law enforcement agencies and made follow-up inquiries where necessary.

Sarubbi and Figueroa said they expect the report to be completed on July 25, the time frame they set when they empanelled the group on June 25. The report will then be made available to and discussed with the boys' families before being released to the public, they said.

"Once the panel review is complete and the report is issued, we will make ourselves available to field questions," Sarubbi said. "It would be inappropriate to comment on other aspects of the case until we have established a clear and complete picture of the events and discussed our findings with the families."