Eddie Salazar Jr. laid to rest during graveside services

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Globe//T. Rob Brown . . . Juanita Chirinos, paternal grandmother, cries on the casket of 8-month-old Eddie Salazar Jr. during graveside services Saturday afternoon, Feb. 13, 2010, at Park Cemetery in Carthage. T. Rob Brown
Globe//T. Rob Brown . . . Yadira Aguilar cries as her 8-month-old son, Eddie Salazar Jr., is laid to rest during graveside services Saturday afternoon.
Globe//T. Rob Brown . . . Yadira Aguilar (right) clings to a family member following funeral services for her 8-month-old son, Eddie Salazar Jr., Saturday afternoon.
Globe//T. Rob Brown . . . Attendees of the Eddie Salazar Jr. funeral look up as heart-shaped balloons are released during graveside services Saturday afternoon at Park Cemetery in Carthage.

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February 15, 2010

Anonymous The Joplin Globe Mon Feb 15, 2010, 09:51 AM CST

By Greg Grisolano

ggrisolano@joplinglobe.com

CARTHAGE, Mo. — For the town of Carthage, grief has become the universal language in the wake of the death of 8-month-old Eddie Salazar Jr.

“When you get a case that starts out like this, and everybody is looking for the child, I really think people get attached to the child,” said Carthage police Chief Greg Dagnan. “And then when you discover that the child is dead, it makes a really big impact on the community. For our community it’s an extremely significant event and anywhere you go it’s the topic. It’s a tragedy.”

The boy was the subject of an Amber Alert after his father, Eddie Salazar Sr., told police on Feb. 4 that two men in masks broke into the family’s home at 227 E. Mound St. and abducted the child. Less than 24 hours later, authorities learned that the boy’s father fabricated the kidnapping story.

The baby’s body was discovered by searchers last Saturday afternoon in Spring River, a half-mile downstream from a bridge on County Road 85, east of Carthage. Salazar Sr., 29, has been designated by authorities as the “only” suspect in an investigation of the death, police have said.

Baby Eddie was the biological son of Salazar and Yadira Aguilar.

More than 100 members of the town’s Hispanic community attended the baby’s funeral services at Ullmer Funeral Home in Carthage on Saturday afternoon. Rich voices joined in a Spanish version of the hymn “When We All Get to Heaven,” accompanied by Pastor Elario Andrade on guitar.

Visitors wept as they passed the child’s baby-blue casket, which the family left open during the services. A family member who declined to be interviewed told The Joplin Globe that the decision to leave the casket open was made by the family.

The funeral services were conducted in Spanish, with Andrade and Pastor Wilfred Portillo officiating.

Dozens of family and friends attended the boy’s graveside services at Park Cemetery, where silver heart-shaped balloons were released at the grave. Several family members also took turns pitching shovelfuls of earth into the grave, as a way of paying their respects and honoring their dead.

Salazar Sr. pleaded not guilty to charges of filing a false police report during an arraignment in Jasper County Associate Circuit Court on Thursday. He remains in custody at the Jasper County Jail on a $100,000 bond.

The defendant was appointed Maleia Cheney, a public defender, to represent him, and a hearing is set for March 3 for his next court appearance on the misdemeanor offense.

Authorities continue to decline to comment on whether the father provided any other explanation of what happened to the baby or how his body wound up in the river. Investigators have said the mother was at work at the time and is not a suspect in the baby’s death.

Dagnan said police are still working some leads in the case, but had no new developments to report as of Saturday. No additional charges are expected to be filed against the father until authorities receive an autopsy report later this week.

“The investigation is certainly not over,” he said. “The big thing is we’re still waiting for the autopsy results.”

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Eddie Salazar case

Father arraigned in trial division in baby’s death
March 30, 2010
Carthage baby’s father bound over for trial A Carthage father accused of killing his infant son and a Joplin man charged with manslaughter in a fatal police chase both waived their rights to preliminary hearings Wednesday in Jasper County Circuit Court.
March 17, 2010
Eddie Salazar Sr. pleads not guilty to murder charge Eddie Salazar Sr. entered a plea of not guilty during an arraignment on a charge of second-degree murder. Salazar appeared via video for the arraignment, which was held at 8:30 a.m. in Associate Circuit Judge Richard Copeland’s courtroom in Joplin via a video link to the Jasper County Jail in Carthage, where he remains in custody.
February 25, 2010
Carol Stark & Dave Woods: Photo is part of tragedy It’s a sad, sad story.

An 8-month-old Carthage baby was reported by his father as being abducted on Feb. 4. Two days later, the body of baby Eddie Salazar was discovered in Spring River east of Carthage.
February 21, 2010 2 Links
<img src="http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/images/zope/extra.gif" border=0> Eddie Salazar Sr. charged with 2nd-degree murder in baby’s death w/ Eddie Salazar, Sr. probable-cause affidavit A second-degree murder charge is being filed today against Eddie Salazar Sr., according to Jasper County prosecutor Dean Dankelson.
February 17, 2010 1 Photo 1 Link
Eddie Salazar Jr. laid to rest during graveside services CARTHAGE, Mo. — For the town of Carthage, grief has become the universal language in the wake of the death of 8-month-old Eddie Salazar Jr.
February 15, 2010 4 Photos
<img src="http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/images/zope/extra.gif" border=0>Father remains 'only' suspect w/ arraignment video
February 12, 2010
<img src="http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/images/zope/extra.gif" border=0> Eddie Salazar enters not guilty plea in arraignment today w/ arraignment video
February 11, 2010
<img src="http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/images/zope/extra.gif" border="0">Father to be arraigned on misdemeanor charge w/ Eddie Salazar Facebook memorial The Jasper County prosecutor said Tuesday that he will await preliminary findings of an autopsy before deciding whether a Carthage father is to be charged in the death of his 8-month-old son. Eddie A. Salazar, 29, is accused of making a false report to police that the baby boy was abducted by two masked men who broke into their home Thursday night.
February 9, 2010 1 Link
In our view: We are all heartsick More details are unfolding about the death of 8-month-old Eddie Salazar, now known throughout our community simply as “Baby Eddie.”

The story surrounding the death of the Carthage boy has gripped the hearts of our readers, and shocked the community.
February 9, 2010 1 Photo
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Eddie Salazar Jr. laid to rest during graveside services

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?

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