Fire baaad!

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » March 2, 2004, 3:39 pm

Interesting...

Mother finds kidnapped girl who 'died' in fire
BY AP IN PHILADELPHIA

A ten-day old girl thought to have died in a 1997 house fire was actually kidnapped by a woman who started the blaze to cover her tracks, US police said today.

The mother of the child contacted the authorities after recognising the girl six years later at a birthday party.

Delimar Vera was thought to have perished in the blaze at her family's home in the Feltonville neighbourhood in North Philadelphia. The fire was blamed of a faulty extension heater.

Everyone believed that the girl's body had been consumed by the intense heat of the fire.

But in January, Luz Cuevas spotted a little girl at a birthday party and was certain she was her daughter.

Ms Cuevas told WPHL-TV, a local television station, that she recognised the child from a dimple on her face: "I said to my sister, 'Look, she's my daughter'."

DNA tests confirmed her suspicion and police issued a warrant for the arrest of Carolyn Correa, 41, on charges of arson, kidnapping and conspiracy.

Ms Correa was a "loose acquaintance" of a cousin of Delimar's father, Pedro Vera.

Manuel Gonzales, an officer with the special victims unit, said that after the DNA confirmation, Ms Chevas "didn't know whether to cry, to yell or to scream.

"She just stood in shock. She was just in total shock."

Captain Darby said: "This child, now six years old, who has been raised by Carolyn Correa as her own, is not her own."

Angel Cruz, the state representative who helped Ms Cuevas work with the police after she spotted the little girl, credited "motherly instinct" for connecting mother and child.

Mr Cruz said that since the house fire, Ms Cuevas remained convinced that her child was somehow alive.

On the night of the fire she had rushed to her baby's room but had not been able to find her and had eventually been repelled by the smoke and heat.

But Ms Cruz had thought it odd that a window in her baby's room was open, although it was the middle of December.

The little girl was placed in the custody of New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services. It was not immediately clear when she would be reunited with her biological mother.

Midnyte_Ragebringer · Post by **Midnyte_Ragebringer** » March 2, 2004, 4:41 pm

Wow, that is sad.

I don't quite understand why Children Services has the girl, instead of the real mother, but oh well.

kyoukan · Post by **kyoukan** » March 2, 2004, 4:49 pm

Because, mister family values, you don't just scoop a six year old kid out of a home and put her in a new one and say "that woman was never your mother in the first place. here, meet your real mom!"

use your goddam fucking brain. christ almighty.

archeiron · Post by **archeiron** » March 2, 2004, 4:51 pm

Midnyte_Ragebringer wrote:Wow, that is sad.

I don't quite understand why Children Services has the girl, instead of the real mother, but oh well.

I am sure that from the 6 year old's perspective, it would be incredibly traumatic. The woman that she has called "mommy" for her entire (short!) life is actually a kidnapper.

If they just turned her over to the mother, the screams of "You are not my mommy!" would be traumatic for the pair of them. This is probably one of those occassions when having Childrens Services step in to ease the transition is probably warranted.

Although, I really hope that the biological mother and daughter are reunited soon! (And they live happily ever after, wouldn't hurt either!)

Midnyte_Ragebringer · Post by **Midnyte_Ragebringer** » March 2, 2004, 5:02 pm

kyoukan wrote:Because, mister family values, you don't just scoop a six year old kid out of a home and put her in a new one and say "that woman was never your mother in the first place. here, meet your real mom!"

use your goddam fucking brain. christ almighty.

Oh gosh thanks Kyo. Silly me. I should have PM'd you for advice on this topic before embarassing myself like that.

Dregor Thule · Post by **Dregor Thule** » March 2, 2004, 5:16 pm

Well someone should edit your thoughts for you. Hire a publicist maybe.

kyoukan · Post by **kyoukan** » March 2, 2004, 6:38 pm

Midnyte_Ragebringer wrote:Oh gosh thanks Kyo. Silly me. I should have PM'd you for advice on this topic before embarassing myself like that.

It's such a shame that you are too much of a mongloid to see the irony behind the fact that this is actually the smartest thing you have ever said.

Xzion · Post by **Xzion** » March 2, 2004, 6:59 pm

godamn, i feel bad for that kid

but then again anyone that would start a fire to kidnap a 10 day old child wouldn't be a great mom

Midnyte_Ragebringer · Post by **Midnyte_Ragebringer** » March 2, 2004, 7:00 pm

kyoukan wrote:
Midnyte_Ragebringer wrote:Oh gosh thanks Kyo. Silly me. I should have PM'd you for advice on this topic before embarassing myself like that.
It's such a shame that you are too much of a mongloid to see the irony behind the fact that this is actually the smartest thing you have ever said.

uh-huh

kyoukan · Post by **kyoukan** » March 2, 2004, 7:07 pm

why even reply if all you are going to say is "uh huh"

what exactly does posting "uh huh" accomplish for you?

Acies · Post by **Acies** » March 2, 2004, 7:41 pm

You know, maybe Midnyte was not thinking so much as the wrong against the child than against her real mother. I know if my child was kidnapped from me, I would want her back immediately and not in child services.

However, I think asking for realitive empathy from Kyoukan is like asking a dog to understand Linear Trig., so nm.

kyoukan · Post by **kyoukan** » March 2, 2004, 9:29 pm

Acies wrote:You know, maybe Midnyte was not thinking so much as the wrong against the child than against her real mother. I know if my child was kidnapped from me, I would want her back immediately and not in child services.

well that's very noble of you to think of yourself before the well being of your child.

fortunately child protective services and other government authorities exist to protect children from people like yourself.

Sirensa · Post by **Sirensa** » March 2, 2004, 9:39 pm

kyoukan wrote:why even reply if all you are going to say is "uh huh"

what exactly does posting "uh huh" accomplish for you?

Uh huh is right up there with:

WHATEVER

I know you are - but what am I?!?!?

Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me! (or is that whips and chains excite me?

)

Vetiria · Post by **Vetiria** » March 2, 2004, 10:40 pm

Sirensa, you forgot Un-American.

Midnyte_Ragebringer · Post by **Midnyte_Ragebringer** » March 3, 2004, 2:35 am

Vetiria wrote:Sirensa, you forgot Un-American.

Aye. Thank you. But since Kyocunt is Canadian it's a given that she is un-American.

And "uh-huh" is very similar to whatever, but with a tinge of superior sarcasm to it. I know that most of what Kyocunt says is ridiculous ans juvenial and so do most of VV, so it seems an approriate response to most of what she says.

Truant · Post by **Truant** » March 3, 2004, 7:06 am

You know, the kyoucunt thing just gets more hilarious everytime. It's so old, you're beating glue bottles now.

Give it up, you are a fucking moron. I seriously hope you aren't as much a reject in real life as you are here, though I fear it is in vain...because you need some fucking help.

Midnyte_Ragebringer · Post by **Midnyte_Ragebringer** » March 3, 2004, 10:51 am

uh-huh

Deward · Post by **Deward** » March 3, 2004, 11:48 am

I agree that this kid will need some major counseling before she can just be given back to her real parents. When I was nine, I went a whole year without seeing my dad and it was pretty traumatic at the age to see him show up suddenly again.

Psyloche · Post by **Psyloche** » March 3, 2004, 12:41 pm

I heard this on the radio this morning as well and I couldn't believe that the mother actually recognized or thought that was her child. I think it was kind of shitty that when the incident first happened and the woman told the fire fighters about the window being open, they credited it to her "nerves acting up" or something. I mean come on, she ran in the room, didn't find her baby in the crib and the window was open in the winter time. I know fires can get really fuckin hot but do babies, granted 10 day old ones, just up and vanish like a fart in the wind? You'd think there'd have been something left in the craddle if it had died in the fire. I think its pretty fuckin stupid that the fire fighters and/or police didn't look into it more initially.

Fesuni Chopsui · Post by **Fesuni Chopsui** » March 3, 2004, 12:56 pm

Omg like hi Acies!

Arborealus · Post by **Arborealus** » March 3, 2004, 1:32 pm

Psyloche wrote:I heard this on the radio this morning as well and I couldn't believe that the mother actually recognized or thought that was her child. I think it was kind of shitty that when the incident first happened and the woman told the fire fighters about the window being open, they credited it to her "nerves acting up" or something. I mean come on, she ran in the room, didn't find her baby in the crib and the window was open in the winter time. I know fires can get really fuckin hot but do babies, granted 10 day old ones, just up and vanish like a fart in the wind? You'd think there'd have been something left in the craddle if it had died in the fire. I think its pretty fuckin stupid that the fire fighters and/or police didn't look into it more initially.

No teeth yet, bones not substantially calcified yeah gory as it sounds i would think a very young baby like that might be entirely consumed...still you have to wonder how no one noticed that a woman who hadn't been pregnant suddenly ended up with a 10 day old baby...how did she get a birth certificate etc...

Psyloche · Post by **Psyloche** » March 3, 2004, 3:30 pm

I do understand that at that young age their teeth aren't developed and bones aren't fully calcified but I still think there would be something. As to the woman who took the child, what I picked up from the radio is that this happened in a poorer area of Philadelphia. The radio show I was listening to was discussing how minorities in lesser income areas tend to get shuffled aside by police. Can we just beat the lady with a mallet? Fucking kidnappers.

Deward · Post by **Deward** » March 3, 2004, 6:03 pm

It isn't difficult to get a birth certificate. Just tell the authorities that the baby was born at home naturally and they will issue one.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » March 5, 2004, 3:06 pm

Mother Reunited With Kidnapped Daughter

TRENTON, N.J. (AP)--With hugs and kisses, a mother reunited with her daughter, who was raised by another woman after she was allegedly kidnapped as a newborn six years ago, officials said.

Luz Cuevas met the girl she had named Delimar Vera at an undisclosed location in New Jersey on Thursday, the same day a judge approved a plan to grant custody to Cuevas and the girl's biological father.

Philadelphia-area Rep. Angel Cruz, who represents the neighborhood where Cuevas lives and accompanied her to the reunion, said the mother was ``thrilled.''

``She said, 'She called me mommy and she accepts me,''' Cruz said Friday on ABC-TV's ``Good Morning America.''

``She got a hug and kiss, her daughter sat in her lap. The moment she expected six years ago, she got it last night,'' Cruz said.

Authorities say the girl was taken from her crib in December 1997 by Carolyn Correa, 42, who then set fire to the home to cover up the kidnapping. Cuevas had long believed that her daughter was alive, even though authorities said she had died in the fire.

Cruz said that a language barrier between authorities and Cuevas, who speaks Spanish, may have led to confusion about whether a body had been found in the fire.

Officials say Correa raised the girl as her own daughter until January, when the two ended up at the same birthday party as Cuevas, who had a hunch that the girl--introduced to her as Aliyah Hernandez--was really her daughter. DNA tests confirmed her hunch, and Correa was charged this week. She is being held in Philadelphia on $1 million bail.

Under the custody arrangement, Cuevas and the girl's biological father, Pedro Vera, will share legal custody but the girl, who will keep using the name Aliyah, will live with her mother. Cuevas' lawyer, Andrew Micklin, said the transfer of custody will be a gradual process.

The girl does not speak Spanish and her mother speaks very little English.

``The meeting went well,'' New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services spokesman Andy Williams told the Courier-Post of Cherry Hill for Friday's editions. ``We'll keep moving toward reunification.''

Jaxomer · Post by **Jaxomer** » March 9, 2004, 3:22 pm

Happy ending update.

Midnyte_Ragebringer · Post by **Midnyte_Ragebringer** » March 9, 2004, 3:29 pm

Awesome.

Sirensa · Post by **Sirensa** » March 9, 2004, 3:40 pm

I hope that mother learns some English asap - as if this situation isn't already traumatic for the daughter. Having her biological mother speak very little english is only going to make it more difficult.