Carthage residents react to baby’s death

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February 7, 2010

Anonymous The Joplin Globe Sun Feb 07, 2010, 07:37 PM CST

By Emily Younker

eyounker@joplinglobe.com

CARTHAGE, Mo. — Gilda Vargas said she doesn’t know Yadira Aguilar, the mother of an 8-month-old boy who disappeared Thursday and was found dead two days later.

But Vargas, who has an 8-month-old daughter, said Sunday that her heart goes out to Aguilar.

“I feel so sad,” said Vargas, co-pastor at Iglesia Cristiana Hispano-Americana in Carthage. “I think she is going to suffer for plenty of time.”

The baby boy’s father, Eddie Salazar, phoned police late Thursday night and reported that the boy had been kidnapped. Police said Salazar told them that one or two masked men entered the home while he was asleep, knocked him unconscious, and took the baby, also named Eddie.

Salazar was arrested Friday on a charge of filing a false police report after reportedly implicating someone who was later found to be innocent in the child’s disappearance. Salazar remained in custody Sunday on $100,000 bond, and police have said he is the only suspect in the case.

The body of a boy thought to be baby Eddie was found Saturday afternoon in Spring River near a bridge on County Road 85, east of Carthage. The location is about a 10-minute drive from Salazar’s home at 227 E. Mound St. Carthage police Chief Greg Dagnan has said information obtained during the investigation led authorities to give priority to that area during their search for the baby.

An autopsy is scheduled for this morning in Columbia. Authorities say the autopsy will provide them with positive identification of the body and information that could come into play in any additional charges against Salazar. Carthage police said they had no new developments in the case to disclose as of Sunday night.

The Rev. Steven Wilson of Grace Episcopal Church, which has about 100 Hispanic members, said Sunday that he thought Carthage residents were still in shock.

“I don’t think the community has had enough time to digest the situation,” he said. “(We) ask ourselves how this can happen in a town we think is very Norman Rockwell.”

Wilson said he sees an immediate need in the community for prayer, but beyond that he has no plan yet for how to help people deal with the boy’s death.

“I think at this point, we don’t know what the need is,” he said. “In terms of what to do, sometimes it is best to wait and see what the needs are.”

Wilson said people need to remember that “evil and tragedy are not the exclusive” elements of any particular social or ethnic group.

“We need to be quick to offer prayers and slow to offer opinions,” he said.

That people might stereotype the Hispanic community based on the case worries Francisco Bonilla, senior pastor at Iglesia Cristiana Hispano-Americana.

He said he doesn’t want Hispanics to be labeled as violent or criminal as a result of the case. Salazar has a history that includes convictions for robbery, property damage and stalking.

“I am deeply sad for what happened,” Bonilla said. “We do our best to help the community, but the need is too great.”

Bonilla said he does not know the Salazar family. He said he is part of an evangelistic movement led by local pastors and ministry leaders called Four-State Awakening.

“We are praying for an awakening from God,” he said. “People are far away from God. This (the Salazar case) just shows there is a great need.”

Moises Marquez, pastor of Hispanic ministries at the First Nazarene Church of Carthage, said the community is still searching for answers about what happened to baby Eddie and why it happened.

“We are sad, very sad,” said Marquez, who said he doesn’t know the Salazar family. “We pray for them, cry for them. The whole Hispanic community is very sad.”

Other family

Police say baby Eddie’s mother is not a suspect in the case, and that his older brother, a toddler, is “safe and with family members.”

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Eddie Salazar case

Father arraigned in trial division in baby’s death
March 30, 2010
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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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Carthage residents react to baby’s death

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