<img src="http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/images/zope/extra.gif" border=0> Baby boy’s body found in river<font color="#ff0000"> w/ father's court & criminal history</font>

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February 7, 2010

Carthage father ‘primary and only’ suspect in case

Anonymous The Joplin Globe Sun Feb 07, 2010, 10:22 AM CST

By Emily Younker

eyounker@joplinglobe.com

CARTHAGE, Mo. — Eddie Salazar, father of an 8-month-old Carthage boy of the same name who was first reported missing Thursday night, is the “primary and only” suspect in the boy’s disappearance and apparent death, Carthage police Chief Greg Dagnan said during a news conference Saturday night.

A young child’s body, thought to be that of baby Eddie, was found Saturday afternoon in the Spring River near County Road 85 east of Carthage. Dagnan said search-and-rescue teams had already begun searching the river, but a tip prompted them to give that area greater priority.

As of Saturday night, Salazar, 29, was being held at the Carthage Police Department on $100,000 bond on charges of filing a false police report, Dagnan said.

Dagnan said that charge stems from a name that Salazar gave him as one of the suspects in the events leading up to what was originally reported as a kidnapping. Salazar initially alleged that one or two masked men jumped him late Thursday night at his home, knocked him out and abducted the child.

The person whom Salazar implicated — whose name Dagnan declined to give — was cleared after law enforcement located him or her on Friday night. The person was “pretty easily cleared of any wrongdoing,” Dagnan said, declining to give further details.

Dagnan also said Salazar is cooperating with the investigation, but he declined Saturday to give details about what Salazar might have told police.

But it appears Salazar “was in the (Spring River) area in a vehicle that night,” Dagnan said. The bridge over Spring River along County Road 85 was about a 10- to 15-minute drive from the family’s home at 227 E. Mound St., where Salazar claimed the kidnapping took place.

Autopsy planned

The child’s body will be sent to the Boone County Medical Examiner’s Office in Columbia for an autopsy, which is scheduled for Monday morning. Additional charges for Salazar could come after preliminary autopsy results are released, which could be sometime this week, Dagnan said.

Dagnan also said Saturday night that he was unsure whether there were any visible injuries on the infant’s body. He also declined to comment on whether he thought the child might have already been dead when he was put in the river.

“There’s a sadness among us,” Dagnan said. “I think we all had the hope that this would not end this way.”

According to Missouri court records, Salazar was sent to prison in December 2003 for robbery and property damage convictions. He has also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of stalking and driving with a revoked license, court records show.

The child’s mother, Yadira Aguilar, is not considered a suspect and continues to be cooperative with the investigation, according to police.

The other child who was in the house at the time of the incident, a male toddler, is “safe and with family members,” Dagnan said.

Dagnan said police examined Salazar’s home Friday and collected evidence from several locations. He declined to say specifically what evidence police gathered.

The finding of the body caps a frantic two-day search for baby Eddie.

Salazar had told police he was awakened late Thursday by a home invasion and was knocked unconscious during a struggle with one or two masked men. The child’s mother was at work at the time, police said.

All-out effort

An Amber Alert for 8-month-old Eddie Salazar prompted as many as 100 officers from at least 15 police, fire and sheriff’s departments to search for him throughout the area. Dagnan also estimated that police have interviewed between 30 and 50 people.