Autopsy results delayed in Carthage baby’s death

Discussion

February 8, 2010

Anonymous The Joplin Globe Mon Feb 08, 2010, 10:55 PM CST

By Jeff Lehr

jlehr@joplinglobe.com

CARTHAGE, Mo. — It may take up to two weeks before the cause of death is determined on a baby whose body was retrieved Saturday from Spring River.

The Boone County medical examiner performed an autopsy Monday on 8-month-old Eddie A. Salazar, of Carthage. But the pathologist is not prepared as yet to release preliminary findings, which generally include cause of death.

Carthage police Chief Greg Dagnan said the medical examiner’s office informed investigators after the autopsy that they want to do further testing before releasing any preliminary findings.

“That’s not that uncommon,” Dagnan said.

He said that does not mean that investigators who were present at the autopsy saw no obvious signs of a cause of death. He said the medical examiner simply wants to conduct additional tests to be certain before releasing any findings.

How that might affect the investigation remained uncertain Monday.

Police have identified the father of the child, also named Eddie A. Salazar, 29, as the “only” suspect in the infant’s death. The father is being held at the Jasper County Jail in Carthage on a misdemeanor charge of making a false report to police. His bond has been set at $100,000.

Dean Dankelson, the Jasper County prosecutor, said Monday morning that additional charges could be filed against the father as early as the afternoon or, more likely, sometime today. But that was before the medical examiner’s decision to delay releasing preliminary results.

Dagnan said later in the day that additional charges will be up to Dankelson. Police have not said what evidence there is that the father may be responsible for the child’s death.

Background

Salazar placed a 911 call at 11:04 p.m. Thursday and reported that the child had been abducted by two masked men who forced their way into his home at 227 E. Mound St. in Carthage and overpowered him. He claimed to have been knocked unconscious in the struggle. He said that when he regained consciousness, the intruders were gone, and so was his son. He told police that one of the men was armed with a knife.

Dagnan said the father’s story remained “vague” on Friday and “sometimes changed” under questioning. For example, the number of intruders vacillated between one and two during Salazar’s recounting of events to investigators, the police chief said.

“His naming an individual that we could prove was not involved was the first proof we had that what he was saying was not true,” Dagnan said.

He said that proof came about 5:30 p.m. Friday. Salazar had identified one of the purported intruders by name and photograph. Detectives contacted the man and determined that the allegation could not possibly have been true.

Admission

Confronted with the refutation of his claim, Salazar admitted that he had made up the entire story about intruders, according to a probable-cause affidavit filed by police. Dagnan said that admission came Friday night. But it was not until midafternoon Saturday that investigators found the child’s body in Spring River, about a half-mile downstream from a bridge on County Road 85, east of Carthage.

A news release over the weekend reported that a tip led investigators to the site where the body was discovered up against a tree in the water along the river’s edge.

Dagnan on Monday declined to say if the information about the location came from the father. All he would say was that it came from “somebody talked to by investigators.”

The child’s body was retrieved attired in the clothes he was reported to have been wearing when he reportedly was abducted — a blue, one-piece suit and white socks, according to the police chief. He said there was no other clothing on the child. He declined to say whether the body had been placed inside a bag or some other means of conveyance.

Criminal record

Court records show that the father has two felony convictions for which he served time in the Missouri Department of Corrections.

He served seven months in prison in 2002 for felony property damage before being released on parole in December of that year. He had shot out the windows of a shop and a sport utility vehicle in Carthage.

Salazar was sent back to prison in February 2004, when his parole was revoked for committing an armed robbery of the Star Pump and Pantry in Avilla. He was convicted of the robbery and was sentenced to 10 years, with the two sentences to run concurrently. He was released on parole again in June 2008 and was still on parole at the time of his son’s death.

Half brother

According to police, the older, preschool sibling of baby Eddie Salazar, who was present in the home the night of the baby’s disappearance, is a half brother. Yadira Aguilar is the biological mother of both children. Only the deceased baby was Eddie Salazar’s biological son.

The mother was at work when the baby went missing and is not considered a suspect in the case, police say.

Text Only

Carthage, Jasper County

Carthage attorney, reformer of revenue department, dies
James R. Spradling, a Carthage attorney who was noted for his reform of the Missouri Department of Revenue in the 1970s, died at 5:50 a.m. Monday at McCune-Brooks Regional Hospital.

August 9, 2010 1 Photo
Bondswoman charged with false imprisonment
A bail bondswoman from Carthage is facing a charge of false imprisonment for allegedly attempting to put a man in jail without a judge’s order, then taking him home and handcuffing him to the banister of a staircase until a friend of the man paid her his bond money.

January 4, 2012
Man’s last statement to be given to defendant
A judge ruled Monday that the Jasper County prosecutor must provide attorneys for Darren J. Winans with a videotaped statement co-defendant Matthew D. Laurin made about the Sheldon murders shortly before killing himself.

August 23, 2010
Carthage proposes 1.6-cent rise in city property tax
A drop in the assessed value of Carthage real estate will translate to an increase of about 1.6 cents in the city’s proposed property tax rate.

August 9, 2010
Open house to celebrate projects at courthouse
Projects completed last year at the Jasper County Courthouse will be celebrated in ceremonies Thursday in the courthouse lobby.
County officials will join representatives of local chambers of commerce and others for a ribbon-cutting and open house to mark the opening of a Route 66 display in the lobby and a new “peace star” atop the building.

May 9, 2010
State budget cuts reduce county funds
County officials are bracing for more state budget cuts to translate into a loss of county revenues.
In an effort to balance Missouri’s budget, the state earlier this year cut the amount it reimburses county assessors for work to determine property values. The budget approved by lawmakers for fiscal 2011 calls for cutting the amount the state reimburses counties to house prisoners bound for state lockup.

May 9, 2010 1 Photo
Jo Ellis: County home to rare yellowwood tree
In late spring, drifts as white as snow fill the gutters and curbs on the east side of the Jasper County Courthouse. It isn’t snow, of course; it’s the fallen petals of the yellowwood tree that grows squarely in front of the door to the Jasper County Extension office.

May 9, 2010
Jasper County Commission gets building project update
Plans to close out one building project and start another were reviewed by the Jasper County Commission last week.
Darieus Adams, Western District associate commissioner, met Thursday with officials of the firm who designed a $292,400 project to upgrade the lighting and make other changes to make four county-owned buildings more energy efficient.

May 8, 2010
Two men running for associate judge in 39th Circuit take case to court
Two men running for associate judge in Missouri’s 39th Circuit began battling it out in a Jasper County courtroom this week.
Jasper County Circuit Judge Gayle Crane heard arguments Wednesday concerning the disclosure of documents sought by Robert “Bobby” George, Aurora, the current Lawrence County prosecutor.

May 7, 2010
Unveiling ceremony celebrates CHS tiger
Kandy Frazier, Carthage High School principal, summed it up once the new addition to the CHS campus was unveiled Thursday.
The bronze tiger sculpture created by Carthage artist and sculptor Bob Tommey, she said, is the kind of work that would be found at a big university.

May 6, 2010 1 Photo
More Carthage, Jasper County Headlines

Water company cites reconnections

Carthage, Jasper County

Search Results

Discussion

Autopsy results delayed in Carthage baby’s death

Joplin City Manager Mark Rohr wants the city to distribute weather radios to all Joplin homes that don’t have one. That’s 11,000 radios. Do you think that’s a good use of $300,440?

Joplin City Manager Mark Rohr wants the city to distribute weather radios to all Joplin homes that don’t have one. That’s 11,000 radios. Do you think that’s a good use of $300,440?

Site Map

Contact Us