Post by admin4laney on Oct 3, 2005 9:18:53 GMT -5
Murder Charges Filed In Search For Missing Mom
POSTED: 10:22 am EDT October 1, 2005
UPDATED: 3:26 pm EDT October 1, 2005
NEW YORK -- A Queens man was charged Saturday with murdering his live-in girlfriend, the latest twist in a week-long mystery that began when the slain woman's 4-year-old daughter was found walking alone down a Queens street in the middle of the night, police said.
Cesar Ascarrunz, 32, was arrested on murder charges two days after he was picked up by investigators, police said. The body of his alleged victim, 26-year-old Monica Lozada, was not recovered, police said.
Investigators were led to Ascarrunz by a dozen tips that came in from the public after 4-year-old Valerie Lozada appeared on television Thursday, describing her mother as looking "like a princess." The little girl remained in a foster home Saturday.
Ascarrunz lived with the Lozadas in an apartment in the Rego Park section of Queens.
It was one week ago that Valerie was found barefoot and shivering on the streets of Queens, where she told residents that her father had dropped her off and driven away.
But it wasn't until Friday, after six days of digging and about 100 phone calls from the public, that police finally identified Monica Lozada and declared her a missing person. Records from the little girl's day care center in Queens were used to figure out her mother's identity.
The dry facts of the mom's appearance were beamed citywide: 5-foot-6, 105 pounds, thin build. A scar on her left knee and a bluebord tattooed on her stomach. Her face, left slightly swollen by recent oral surgery. She is believed to be from Bolivia.
Monica Lozada was last seen at her Queens apartment on Sept. 24, at 11:45 p.m. About 75 minutes later, her daughter was found walking along 76th Street in the Middle Village section of Queens.
"She was scared, she was crying," said Kevin Flood, 34, a city firefighter who gave Valerie a drink and a fruit snack that night. "She said her daddy had left her on the corner."
Flood, who has a three-month-old son, said walked around the corner of his block in the quiet neighborhood, thinking he would find the girl's dad. Instead, the street was empty.
"I thought maybe he would have a heart," Flynn said.
According to the Flynn, the girl's hair was tousled as if she'd just been awakened. Her cries from the street awakened several neighbors, who provided the girl with a blanket and summoned police. The girl showed no signs of abuse or neglect.
Valerie, a precocious child who speaks both English and Spanish, couldn't remember her last name, said Petrovic's wife, Maya. The little girl was turned over to the Administration for Children's Services for care as police tried to unravel the mystery of the little girl lost.
The case finally turned when ACS officials took the extraordinary step of putting the girl on television in hopes it would produce new information. It did, as authorities received phone calls that helped identify the mother and led them to question the boyfriend.
POSTED: 10:22 am EDT October 1, 2005
UPDATED: 3:26 pm EDT October 1, 2005
NEW YORK -- A Queens man was charged Saturday with murdering his live-in girlfriend, the latest twist in a week-long mystery that began when the slain woman's 4-year-old daughter was found walking alone down a Queens street in the middle of the night, police said.
Cesar Ascarrunz, 32, was arrested on murder charges two days after he was picked up by investigators, police said. The body of his alleged victim, 26-year-old Monica Lozada, was not recovered, police said.
Investigators were led to Ascarrunz by a dozen tips that came in from the public after 4-year-old Valerie Lozada appeared on television Thursday, describing her mother as looking "like a princess." The little girl remained in a foster home Saturday.
Ascarrunz lived with the Lozadas in an apartment in the Rego Park section of Queens.
It was one week ago that Valerie was found barefoot and shivering on the streets of Queens, where she told residents that her father had dropped her off and driven away.
But it wasn't until Friday, after six days of digging and about 100 phone calls from the public, that police finally identified Monica Lozada and declared her a missing person. Records from the little girl's day care center in Queens were used to figure out her mother's identity.
The dry facts of the mom's appearance were beamed citywide: 5-foot-6, 105 pounds, thin build. A scar on her left knee and a bluebord tattooed on her stomach. Her face, left slightly swollen by recent oral surgery. She is believed to be from Bolivia.
Monica Lozada was last seen at her Queens apartment on Sept. 24, at 11:45 p.m. About 75 minutes later, her daughter was found walking along 76th Street in the Middle Village section of Queens.
"She was scared, she was crying," said Kevin Flood, 34, a city firefighter who gave Valerie a drink and a fruit snack that night. "She said her daddy had left her on the corner."
Flood, who has a three-month-old son, said walked around the corner of his block in the quiet neighborhood, thinking he would find the girl's dad. Instead, the street was empty.
"I thought maybe he would have a heart," Flynn said.
According to the Flynn, the girl's hair was tousled as if she'd just been awakened. Her cries from the street awakened several neighbors, who provided the girl with a blanket and summoned police. The girl showed no signs of abuse or neglect.
Valerie, a precocious child who speaks both English and Spanish, couldn't remember her last name, said Petrovic's wife, Maya. The little girl was turned over to the Administration for Children's Services for care as police tried to unravel the mystery of the little girl lost.
The case finally turned when ACS officials took the extraordinary step of putting the girl on television in hopes it would produce new information. It did, as authorities received phone calls that helped identify the mother and led them to question the boyfriend.
