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It has been twenty years since three young friends disappeared from a small yard on a quiet Camden street (Camden, NJ) on June 22nd, 2005. On the second day after their disappearance, the neighborhood was canvassed, police swept through the city, a helicopter circled over the Delaware River, and parents begged for answers. It appeared as though the boys had simply disappeared without a clue.
What actually occurred was much closer than anyone would have ever dreamed.
Justin Pagan, age 5, Anibal Cruz, age 11, and Daniel Augusto, age 6, were last seen eating Italian Ice on the Cruz family’s property around 5:00 pm when the adult members of the family went indoors to begin preparing dinner. The children then went into the backyard. Shortly thereafter, the children were gone.
Neighbors immediately began a frantic search for the boys. Within a few hours, police, fire department personnel, and hundreds of volunteers were searching the waterfront, alleyways, and abandoned buildings throughout Camden. Over one hundred first responders assisted in the search. The bloodhounds found a scent believed to lead towards the river; it was feared the children had fallen or slipped into the water and had been pulled under.
Over the next 48 hours, the search continued to expand throughout the neighborhood. Families were praying and the City of Camden was holding its breath.
On the evening of June 24th, the unimaginable happened. While searching the Cruz property for what must have felt like the thousandth time, Daniel’s father opened the trunk of a 1998 Toyota Camry parked in the extreme corner of the yard. There were the bodies of the three boys.
The car belonged to a family member. The trunk had been there the entire time.
A tragedy that should never have occurred.
An investigation determined that the children had climbed into the trunk to play and had accidentally suffocated. The Medical Examiner ruled the cause of death as “accidental.”
However, the community’s questions about how such a tragic event could occur were not answered. The vehicle had been searched by police prior to this discovery; however, the trunk had not been opened. One of the police officers responding stated she had started to investigate the vehicle but was diverted to assist another call and did not return to complete the inspection. The supervisors were incorrectly informed that the vehicle had been completely cleared.
Daniel’s shoes were located in the backseat of the vehicle. This detail would have provided a clue to the boys’ location if the trunk had been inspected. A critical mistake was made during the search efforts.
Families were demanding answers. How was it possible for so many highly-trained individuals to miss the exact spot where the boys were last seen?
“It should not have happened,” Paul Bandis, the attorney for the Cruz Family, stated at the time. A panel review of the incident ultimately concluded that the boys should have been located on the first day of the search.
The City of Camden did not take responsibility for the errors that led to the loss of life, but ultimately settled with the families in 2010.
Memories of the three young lives
While the public outcry was strong, the reality was that three families lost everything.
• Justin Pagan, 5, was a huge fan of the Los Angeles Lakers.
• Daniel Augusto, 6, loved plants and animals. Cats were his favorite.
• Anibal Cruz, 11, struggled developmentally and was most comfortable connecting with younger children.
This year, the annual Puerto Rican Day Parade in the neighborhood did not feel like a celebration. The people attending the parade gathered at a makeshift memorial filled with candles and stuffed animals. They also collected donations for the families. Festivities gave way to grief.
A turning point for safety and search procedures
Four years prior to the tragedy, the Federal Government established regulations requiring all new passenger vehicles to be equipped with emergency trunk release devices. The Camry the boys climbed into did not meet these regulations.
Following the deaths of the boys, police agencies across the Country relied upon enhanced missing-children response protocols, which included:
• Mandatory inspections of vehicles, including trunks
• Initial focus on the area where the child was last seen
• Reduced reliance on distraught family statements
• Timely issuance of Community Alerts
To date, this case continues to be referenced in missing-children response training programs.
Twenty years later, the City remembers.
As we approach the 20th anniversary of the loss of Anibal, Daniel, and Justin, Camden will continue to remember the three boys who were just a short distance away, hidden from view.
Their story serves as both a painful and necessary reminder: Children must be found where they were last known to have been playing, not merely where adults fear they may have gone.
All the families wanted from the system that failed them was for the families to ask for only one thing:
Never let this happen again.