GUILTY CA - Eliza Delacruz, 3 wks, Long Beach, 4 Jan 2015

[steelman]

The baby's parents and uncle have spoken with police but have not provided sufficient information — a fact Luna called "frustrating," although he said it was too early to know if the family was withholding clues.

"If you're talking about a crime that occurred at 6 p.m. on a Saturday in a highly dense, congested residential area, somebody had to have seen or heard something. They may think it's irrelevant, but if anything seemed out of place ... we need to start somewhere," Luna said. "Any small piece of information could be that part of the puzzle that we need to solve this case."

Detectives do not believe the crime was a random act, and the FBI is assisting in the investigation, Luna said.

http://news.yahoo.com/infant-abducted-california-home-found-dead-090856153.html

BBM

Oooops ! There it is.............

 

[wendybtn]

I had this terrible thought last night. Sounds like the mother and uncle are in really bad shape. The baby is dead. But dad does a 23 hour admission and goes home on crutches? Just a thought. And then the somewhat vague "bushy-haired stranger" description?? What do you guys and gals think??

 

[TTF14]

I had this terrible thought last night. Sounds like the mother and uncle are in really bad shape. The baby is dead. But dad does a 23 hour admission and goes home on crutches? Just a thought. And then the somewhat vague "bushy-haired stranger" description?? What do you guys and gals think??

I think we don't have all of the info., for sure......

What did the family do during that day before the shootings? Whose care was the baby in?

Has anyone heard if mom and uncle have been conscious/able to talk? I know they've said critical but stable, but I have not heard that LE has been able to speak with them.

I really hate to suspect a family member here, but.....

ETA: Disregard my question about mom and uncle speaking to LE. I see that has been answered.

 

[jjenny]

"The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors was expected to announce on Tuesday a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect or suspects, Luna said."

http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/06/justice/california-shooting-baby/index.html

 

[SDHELPS]

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is scheduled today to approve a $25,000 reward for information leading to the capture and conviction of the man who kidnapped and killed a 3-week-old girl...

Long Beach police officials had no immediate update to the case on Tuesday morning.

Reward will be raised to $25K and should be approved this morning. Nothing new from LBPD as of this morning.

http://www.presstelegram.com/genera...o-approve-reward-in-killing-of-eliza-delacruz

 

[SDHELPS]

Does anyone know why the results of the autopsy would be requested to be sealed by LE? I have never heard of this before....especially when the police seem to be imploring the public to help find this man.

If the father was a veterinarian, as someone mentioned in another post, it could be jealously that the family are more financially stable than most, it could be a surrogacy gone wrong (mother changed her mind), it could have been an accident between family members and Eliza was caught in the crossfire - it is hard to know WHAT to think when two of the people involved can't talk and the other won't.

I still can't help but think something is off here and that someone within the three adults is involved. Eliza wasn't even missing 24 hours, although it isn't a super tight timeline there certainly wasn't a lot of thinking time (she went missing at 6pm Saturday and was found six hours away at 1.30pm). IF the gunmen took the baby to 'warn' the family, why dump her so far away? Every minute he had Eliza with him, whether she was still alive or not, was a huge risk for him. He shot 3 people and stole a baby, you don't have to be Einstein to know LE would be all over it.

I would be interested in knowing when Eliza was seen by someone outside of the family. I just can't shake that nagging doubt in my belly.

BBM

Not that it changes what you are saying Writerofwrongs but I did want to point out that Eliza was found 2 hours away (120 miles) from Long Beach to Imperial Beach. Still traveling the L.A./OC/SD freeways was absolutely taking a risk. FWIW

 

[wendybtn]

Does anyone know why the results of the autopsy would be requested to be sealed by LE? I have never heard of this before....especially when the police seem to be imploring the public to help find this man.

LE only will know they have the correct killer if he/she can state how the baby died. Helps to sort out the real confession from all the false ones they may get.

 

[LaborDayRN]

I wonder if the coroner was able to estimate a time of death for little Eliza.

 

[cocomod]

I wonder if there was a question of paternity for little Eliza - and the other "possible" father is involved. Such a sad, sad case! How could ANYONE kill a precious little soul? I will never, never understand!

:rose: R.I.P. Little sweet one :rose:

 

[Writerofwrongs]

BBM

Not that it changes what you are saying Writerofwrongs but I did want to point out that Eliza was found 2 hours away (120 miles) from Long Beach to Imperial Beach. Still traveling the L.A./OC/SD freeways was absolutely taking a risk. FWIW

SDHELPS Thanks for the correction, I appreciate it. The six hours was mentioned early in the thread when we didn't know much (not that we do now) I should of known 120 miles does not six hours to cover!

IF the shooter had intended to kill the baby, I can't see him keeping hold of her for any length of time. I am glad to see there is a substantial reward being offered for information - money (and the promise of protection) may well motivate anyone who has been too scared to come forward to get in touch with LE. I hope the homeless man who found Eliza has been treated well, he wasn't fearful of calling LE to ensure this tiny baby was able to go home - if he hadn't, she may never have been found at all. My initial feeling that someone in the home is involved/knows somet

hing just won't go away. I hope both the mother and uncle survive and LE are able to speak to them before anyone else does - that way, if they did know something they may not know how much LE know. (if that makes sense!)

 

[Leilei]

BBM

Not that it changes what you are saying Writerofwrongs but I did want to point out that Eliza was found 2 hours away (120 miles) from Long Beach to Imperial Beach. Still traveling the L.A./OC/SD freeways was absolutely taking a risk. FWIW

I know it's been said before, but IB is such a strange place to go to with this baby. It's not exactly right off the freeway, you have to drive a bit, from what I remember from growing up there. The killer knows the area, or knows someone in the area. My opinion, though. Just heartbreaking...

 

[SDHELPS]

I know it's been said before, but IB is such a strange place to go to with this baby. It's not exactly right off the freeway, you have to drive a bit, from what I remember from growing up there. The killer knows the area, or knows someone in the area. My opinion, though. Just heartbreaking...

ITA it is a random place! There are so many other places in that 120 mile drive where little Eliza could never be found. IMO he either has connections in IB or the fact that she died set him to figure out a plan B. Maybe he was planning to cross the border with her and without an Amber Alert he thought it would be possible?

From what I know IB has a decent size homeless population, perhaps STEAD can confirm. If he was aware of the homeless population I would think choosing a dumpster in a strip mall would increase the possibility of her being found (thank God she was). I sure do with they had CCTV in the back of the strip mall.

All just rambling here but IB is just not fitting into the picture. MOO

 

[SDHELPS]

$25,000 reward was approved! Hopefully this will make somebody talk.

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2015/jan/05/reward-offered-infant-dead-dumpster-imperial-beach/

 

[Curious Me]

It's a good question. Why Imperial Beach?

Man Who Found Baby Eliza in Imperial Beach Speaks Out (video included)
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/loc...-Baby-Eliza-in-Imperial-Beach--287650511.html

"I'm still freaked out by what happened. I could not let that be the child’s last resting place,” Sherman said.

"Sherman found the newborn Sunday inside a bag of trash discarded in the dumpster behind Giant Pizza King at Palm Avenue and Rainbow Drive."

 

[Curious Me]

I don't know if there are any clues in looking at route information. There are map links included in this article.

From the Long Beach area:
"Delacruz was kidnapped from the family’s home on the 100 block of West 51st Street (map) after three of her family members were shot..."

http://fox5sandiego.com/2015/01/05/police-ask-for-help-in-finding-killer-of-infant/

To the Imperial Beach area:
"...in a trash bin at a commercial strip mall in the 600 block of Palm Drive in Imperial Beach (map) was Eliza Delacruz."

 

[LaborDayRN]

It's a good question. Why Imperial Beach?

Man Who Found Baby Eliza in Imperial Beach Speaks Out (video included)
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/loc...-Baby-Eliza-in-Imperial-Beach--287650511.html

"I'm still freaked out by what happened. I could not let that be the child’s last resting place,” Sherman said.

"Sherman found the newborn Sunday inside a bag of trash discarded in the dumpster behind Giant Pizza King at Palm Avenue and Rainbow Drive."

Bless him.

 

[Indy Anna]

During the meeting Tuesday morning, Knabe gave new details on the circumstances surrounding the family just before the Saturday afternoon shooting: “The father of 3-week-old Eliza Delacruz had just arrived home from work,” Knabe said. “He sat down on the edge of his bed and watched his girlfriend feed their newborn baby. Without warning, a male suspect entered the room and started shooting.”

<snipped>

http://www.presstelegram.com/genera...called-horrifying-as-25000-reward-is-approved

 

[Indy Anna]

If the shooter just started shooting indiscriminately when he entered the room, I wonder if Eliza could have been hit/grazed by a bullet? Or, considering her mother was holding her, what happened to Eliza when her mother was shot? Maybe she had fallen and suffered an injury which the gunman wasn't aware of until he had taken her to another location. Again, an accidental death wouldn't excuse this fiend who kidnapped Eliza. What brute wouldn't realize that a fall, even onto the bed, or a stray bullet could injure a tiny infant.

Poor Eliza! It's just horrible thinking about what she may have suffered in the final moments of her short life.

 

[jjenny]

Death of the victim occurring during a felony (kidnapping, attempted murder of the parents, etc) wouldn't be considered accidental even if it was not intentional. But there were no visible wounds on the body so it would appear bullet wound is out of consideration.

 

[TTF14]

Death of the victim occurring during a felony (kidnapping, attempted murder of the parents, etc) wouldn't be considered accidental even if it was not intentional. But there were no visible wounds on the body so it would appear bullet wound is out of consideration.

Sorry, did I miss a link where it said no visible wounds?