Mother finds 'dead' daughter 6 years later!

[mrpayroll]

http://www.shortnews.com/start.cfm?i...sort=1&start=1

03/05/2004 07:34 PM ID: 37574

Presumed-Dead Girl Reunited With Parents After 6 Years

The 6 year old girl who was presumed dead after a fire was set to cover up her kidnapping, (sn reported) has been reunited with her parents. Luz Cuevas and Pedro Vera were reunited with their daughter at a government office in New Jersey.

A judge approved that that the parents be given custody of the girl, named Delimar Vera at birth, but will continue using the name Aliyah. The parents are no longer together but will have joint custody, with the girl living with her mother.

Angel Cruz, who accompanied the mother said: "She (mother) said, 'She called me mommy and she accepts me.' She got a hug and kiss, her daughter sat in her lap. The moment she expected six years ago, she got it last night."


I hope it will be as easy as that last paragraph states! Hopefully the young girl will understand everything that has gone on and will accept her real mother and father.

Chris

[DarkestPhoenix]

I don't know...reading these articles has me spinning. I speak spanish, but I can't understand anything once these people start speaking english. It's like watching f'n univision, it makes no sense.

[mrpayroll]

http://www.nbc5.com/news/2904194/det...94&dppid=65172

Kidnapped Philadelphia Girl Has 'Celebrity' Past
Family Hires Attorney To Consider Movie Offers

POSTED: 7:02 am CST March 8, 2004
UPDATED: 8:13 am CST March 8, 2004



PHILADELPHIA -- In just a few days, Delimar Vera may be moving in with her birth mother.

According to authorities, the girl was kidnapped six years ago in the confusion of a fire and raised by the alleged kidnapper, Carolyn Correa. She was just 10 days old. Her birth mother, Luz Aida Cuevas, recently attended a birthday party where she saw the girl and knew immediately that she was her daughter. DNA later confirmed Cuevas' suspicion. Correa is in jail on $1 million bail.

Now, it looks like Delimar's story may be turned into a TV movie. What did I tell you!

Over the six years Delimar spent away from her mother, the girl was known as Aaliyah and had a talent manager. She has posed in print ads and has appeared on a Nickelodeon show, in an episode of Blues Clues and in an ad for Time magazine.

The Cuevas family has received about a dozen movie offers so far, and they have hired entertainment lawyer Alexander Murphy Jr. of West Chester, Pa.

Mother And Child Reunion

Cuevas waited six years to be reunited with her daughter and as of Friday afternoon she had spent time with her on two separate occasions.

When Cuevas walked into the room during their first meeting, she didn't see her daughter and was worried the girl didn't want to see her. Then Delimar popped up from under the table and yelled, "Surprise!"

"The meeting went well," New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services spokesman Andy Williams told the Courier-Post of Cherry Hill for Friday's editions. "We'll keep moving toward reunification."

State Rep. Angel Cruz, who represents the largely Hispanic neighborhood where Cuevas lives, accompanied her to the reunion and said she was "thrilled" to finally see her daughter face-to-face. Cuevas told him that Delimar called her Mommy and told her that she accepts her.

Delimar is in a New Jersey foster home, but she should be living permanently with Cuevas by Monday evening according to a plan approved by a judge. Cuevas will have full custody and the girl's birth father, Pedra Vera, will be allowed supervised visitation.

After speaking with counselors, Cuevas said she would initially call the girl by the name she has used over the last six years, Aaliyah. But she will gradually change over to the girl's birth name -- Delimar.

Cuevas told reporters that she intends on moving so she can raise her daughter in privacy. She is concerned over the language barrier because she speaks little English and Delimar does not speak Spanish. She said that she would teach her daughter her language and will also take her to Puerto Rico.

Fire Department Investigating 1997 Blaze

Police said they believe that in 1997, Correa set fire to Cuevas' home and in the confusion took the girl. The fire department could not find any trace of the girl in the charred wreckage and it was determined that the girl had died in the fire and that she had burned up completely.

The finger-pointing has already begun in the case. The fire department has already launched its investigation into the handling of the fire, and the Philadelphia City Council will hold public hearings to find out exactly what happened that night six years ago.

Cuevas says she thinks a language barrier may have contributed to the confusion leading to authorities declaring her daughter dead. She said she thinks firefighters did not understand her when she said her child was still alive and not in her crib.

"I say, 'The baby is not in the room,'" Cuevas said.

NBC 10 News in Philadelphia learned that part of the fire department's investigation is focused on former Fire Marshal Vince Heaney, who failed to rule that the fire was an arson.

NBC 10 also learned that Heaney was told that investigators are also looking into tax cases over the years, because he has handled some controversial cases where he may not have ruled those particular fires as arsons. Wow!


I'm watching this movie!

Chris

[mrpayroll]

Thanx to Unklescott at The Fort for posting this picture.

Chris

[Groucho]

Is that a two-headed freak or what?

[mrpayroll]

Originally posted by Groucho
Is that a two-headed freak or what?

Come on!

Click on this link to see the video of the two-headed freak as Groucho calls them!

http://www.local6.com/news/2907999/d...103092004&ts=H

Chris

[mrpayroll]

http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/...al/8139710.htm

Posted on Tue, Mar. 09, 2004

Luzaida Cuevas and her daughter Delimar Vera wave from inside their Frankford home after being reunited yesterday.

MOM & DELIMAR HAPPY AGAIN

GIRL KIDNAPPED SIX YEARS AGO IS REUNITED WITH HER REAL MOTHER

By SIMONE WEICHSELBAUM & NICOLE WEISENSEE EGAN

weisenn@phillynews.com


DELIMAR VERA is no stranger to the camera, but last night during her first few hours at home with her mother, the little girl at the center of international attention, said she was sick of being in the spotlight.

"Don't come no more," Delimar told reporters in a shy voice while clutching her aunt tightly. "Please don't."

Delimar, 6, was permanently reunited with her mother, Luzaida Cuevas, yesterday at 5 p.m. after a judge in Burlington County ruled that full parental custody could finally be awarded to Delimar's natural mother, said Andrew Micklin, Cuevas' family lawyer.

Cuevas, dressed in a navy pinstripe suit, quietly and quickly escorted her long-lost daughter into her home on McKinley Street near Castor Avenue, in the city's Frankford section.

Mother and daughter arrived shortly after 6 p.m. and tried to evade the press gathered outside. But a couple of photographers noticed Cuevas trying to sneak into the house, in the back through the basement.

Delimar, wearing a dark-blue jacket with a fur-lined hood, was silent, keeping her face down and away from cameras.

But when a reporter asked Cuevas how she felt, she replied, "Happy," and quickly ushered her daughter into the house.

Later last night, Delimar appeared at the front door wearing a pink Barbie shirt - her favorite character - and politely asked strangers to leave her alone.

For most of her life, Delimar, 6, has been known as Aaliyah Hernandez and thought her mother was Carolyn Correa. Cuevas, 31, gave birth to Delimar on Dec. 5, 1997. Police say Correa stole the newborn from her crib 10 days later, set a fire to hide the abduction and then raised the girl as her own in Willingboro, N.J.

Cuevas' modest rowhouse was packed with about 35 family members celebrating Delimar's homecoming, said Cuevas' brother, Evaristo DeJesus.

An aunt came with a bag full of Barbie dolls, another relative brought a large pink-and-white cake. DeJesus said the partying has just begun.

"She is happy," DeJesus said. "She looks like nothing ever happened. She even called me uncle."

Although Delimar is lawfully under her mother's care, New Jersey's youth and family services will continue to monitor her new life, Micklin said. In 60-days Burlington County will review Delimar's adjustments to her Philadelphia home, he added.

"Luz has every right to have her child with her," Micklin said, answering claims that New Jersey suburbs seemed better off for the girl than living in Frankford home. "This child will have a very nice life."


click on the link for the rest of the rehashed story

Chris

[mrpayroll]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04069/283772.stm

A happy reunion, but big adjustments ahead for 6-year-old
Tuesday, March 09, 2004

By JoAnn Loviglio, The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA -- Delimar Vera was the picture of happiness: smiling broadly, waving to cameras and nuzzling her mother, whom the 6-year-old didn't meet until last week.

But the giddy excitement, the hugs, the parties and the toys heaped upon her by her jubilant extended family on Monday night will subside. And the energetic little girl snatched from her crib as a newborn likely faces a long and difficult adjustment as she comes to terms with her new life, psychologists and child psychiatrists said.

"I would be very, very surprised if things go as happily and smoothly as they went last night," University of Pennsylvania assistant psychology professor Sara Jaffee said Tuesday. "There are just so many changes this little girl has to face. ... I would be really surprised if this doesn't take some toll on her."

"I'm at my real home," the child told the throng of reporters and photographers camped on her family's front lawn. Asked how she was feeling, she replied with a playful giggle, "Happy."

Police allege that a New Jersey woman snatched the 10-day-old girl from her crib in 1997, torched the house to cover her crime and raised the infant as her own.

"In cases where kids have been through major disruptions in their life, there can sometimes be a tendency to seal over (the trauma) and not deal with all the emotional issues and repercussions right away," said Dr. David Fassler, a child psychiatrist and a psychology professor at the University of Vermont.

"Particularly if they're receiving a lot of attention, and all the people around them seem happy and excited, it's easy for kids to pick up that mood and tone -- at least temporarily."

Carolyn Correa, 42, of suburban Willingboro, N.J., a cousin by marriage of the girl's father, Pedro Vera, was charged with arson, kidnapping and 13 other counts. She has been held on $1 million bail since her arrest March 2.

Investigations are pending into why Delimar was declared dead when no remains were found, and why the blaze was blamed on a faulty extension cord.

Though New Jersey child welfare officials had predicted a gradual process in moving Delimar from foster care to her mother's home, they maintained Tuesday that the actual timetable was essentially according to plan.

"We wanted to do it as quickly as we could, but only as quickly as was good for the girl," Department of Youth and Family Services spokesman Andy Williams said. The agency would not elaborate on how much, if at all, the reunion date changed from the initial estimate.

DYFS will provide counseling for the next two months before permanent custody is approved, Williams said. Cuevas, 31, has custody and Vera, 39, has visitation rights.

Family tussles are among the largest obstacles of a child's healing from traumatic situations, psychologists said. And Delimar's family is in the midst of several.

Cuevas believes that Vera's family, which is related by marriage to the alleged kidnapper, was somehow involved in the kidnapping. The family denies the allegations, but Cuevas cut off contact between Delimar and the people the youngster knew as her grandmother and brothers.

"For some children, it's helpful to have ongoing contact with people (from a different setting or family), for other kids that can be confusing," Fassler said.

"What we do know is that in these situations, ongoing conflict between adults in the child's family is detrimental to their adjustment" and is one of the highest risk factors for emotional problems, he added.

Delimar's mother also claims that Vera wanted nothing to do with his daughter as a newborn. He desperately wants to be involved in his long-lost child's life but has been "blatantly refused and ignored," said Michael Luber, Vera's attorney.

Vera was not invited to join Monday night's celebration attended by several dozen of Cuevas' family members and was "despondent" by the omission, Luber said.

As Delimar and her mother pleaded for privacy, family friend and state Rep. Angel Cruz said they were doing well and expressed complete optimism.

"This is a happily ever after story," he said. "She's home."


Chris

[mrpayroll]

http://www.courierpostonline.com/new...y/m031104e.htm

Questions remain on abduction

Thursday, March 11, 2004

By CAROL COMEGNO
Courier-Post Staff
PHILADELPHIA

Evelyn Vera has some lingering questions for the mother united this week with the daughter who didn't die in a house fire but was kidnapped as a 10-day-old baby.

Vera said she hosted a January 2003 birthday party at her Northeast Philadelphia home that mother Luz Cuevas attended.

It was there that Cuevas spotted a girl named Aliyah Hernandez whom she noticed looked like her and realized it may be her daughter that city police said died in a fire in 1997.

Last week, police determined the 6-year-old girl was the biological daughter of Cuevas and Vera's brother, Pedro Vera, and arrested a stepcousin for arson and kidnapping.

Since last week, Cuevas has told the media the party was in January this year and that she snipped the hair of Aliyah, whose birth name is Delimar Vera, for possible DNA testing.

However, Vera said on Wednesday that Cuevas did not come to the annual party this year.

"I invited her to both parties for my granddaughter, but she came only to the party I had last year in January 2003. She did not come this year. So if she did have these strong suspicions, why did a whole year go by and she did nothing?," Vera asked in an interview with the Courier-Post on Wednesday. "Why didn't she come to me or ask another mother what to do?"

Evelyn said she also invited her friend Carolyn Correa of Willingboro, who was charged last week with kidnapping Delimar from the Feltonville home of Cuevas and Pedro and arson for allegedly setting the place on fire.

She said Correa brought Aliyah to the parties both years and that they knew each other because Caroyln's stepfather, Raymond Vera, is Evelyn's uncle.

"She (Luz) never told me about her suspicions about Aliyah. I learned about that only just recently from my own daughter, who told me Luz left that party crying because of what she had seen," she said.

While some members of the extended Vera family in New Jersey said they noticed the striking resemblance of Aliyah to her biological parents long ago and told the parents about it, Evelyn said she never had those suspicions.

"I guess it just never crossed my mind. Last week I found out it was Pedro who told Luz to pursue the matter last year after the first party and again this year after he saw Aliyah at this year's birthday party," said Evelyn, 41, who works in the mortgage industry.

She called Cuevas, who also has three sons, a good mother with "real nice kids" but who has no job.

It was early last month - about a week after the Jan. 24 party - that Evelyn said Philadelphia police detectives visited her home and questioned her about Carolyn's whereabouts.

According to Evelyn, she and Carolyn have kept in touch for years and once lived together in Mount Holly.

"So I called Carol and told her the police were here, but I didn't say much to them because they wouldn't tell me why they wanted to know," she said, "and I didn't want to get involved."

She said Pedro never told her about his own suspicions about Aliyah's identity until after police came a second time to her home on March 1 and told her Aliyah was really Delimar Vera. She attributed that to the fact she and Pedro, half-brother and sister, are close only in some ways.

"My head was spinning. I was shocked when the police told me about Carolyn because no one in the family had ever said anything to me about their suspicions and I knew Carol. I knew Carol had some problems in the past - like stealing checks - but I didn't think anything like this," she said.

Evelyn said she does not understand why Cuevas is now shunning her and her brother and why she would say she believes the Vera family may be involved in the kidnapping.

"Why is she mad at us? These are lies I don't think she should be saying," said Evelyn. "I haven't done anything to her. I say the truth," she said.

Cuevas' lawyer, Anthony Cianfrani, did not return phone calls to the Courier-Post.

The renewed police investigation into the fire death began in February after Pennsylvania legislator Angel Cruz contacted them on behalf of Cuevas.

The original investigation concluded the fire was started by a faulty electrical cord and the baby's body disintegrated.

Joe Evangelista, Cruz's chief of staff, said Cruz was contacted about a month ago by a 7th Ward committeeman who told them about Cuevas' dilemma.


Chris

[LurkerDan]

I don't want to say I told ya so, but I told ya so. I knew that there was too much fishiness in this story for it to be as "simple" as it appeared to be.

[mrpayroll]

Just think of how much money the parents are going to get for the rights to this story!

Chris

[LurkerDan]

Originally posted by mrpayroll
Just think of how much money the parents are going to get for the rights to this story!

Chris

I'm not willing to speculate on all that. Because I still thinks there's way too much untold here for me to assume that the parents are completely innocent.

[mrpayroll]

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/news/032...rveracase.html

New Twist in Delimar Vera Case
Biological Father a Co-Conspirator?

March 25, 2004 — The lawyer for the woman charged with kidnapping Delimar Vera says his client probably had an affair with Delimar's father.

There are recent photos taken of Delimar Vera, her mother Luz Cuevas, and biological father Pedro Vera. And judging by the pictures it would seem Delimar's mom and dad are mending fences. The same cannot be said for Pedro Vera and Delimar's alleged abductor Carolyn Correa.

New accusations have surfaced indicating Correa and Pedro Vera had a physical relationship about the time of Delimar's abduction fueling theories that Correa did not act alone. When we asked Pedro Vera's attorney, Michael Luber, if it's true. He said...

Michael Luber/Pedro Vera's Attorney:

"Absolutely not..."
Jeffrey Zucker, Correa's attorney, says 'what did you expect him to say?'
Jeffrey Zucker/Correa's Attorney:

"Well that doesn't surprise me."

The 42 year old Correa, meantime, remains jailed on charges she kidnapped Delimar from her Feltonville home in 1997, then set the home on fire to hide the crime.

Now, you may be wondering why is this is an issue? The answer is very simple. Among the charges Carolyn Correa faces is conspiracy. And up to this point in the investigation, nobody has been named a co-conspirator. And Jeffrey Zucker, Correa's attorney, without mentioning Pedro Vera, says you can't conspire by yourself.


Chris

[johnglass]

Um, mrpayroll? If you can't keep up with your news stories we're going to have to hire someone else.

I NEED UPDATES!!!



Anyone know what's going on with this case? Was the father involved?

[mrpayroll]

There hasn't been much in the last couple of months, but since you demand it, here it is!

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/new...ws/8994407.htm

Posted on Wed, Jun. 23, 2004


Judge weighs reduced charges in Delimar Vera kidnapping

By Jacqueline Soteropoulos

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER


A judge has agreed to consider dismissing arson and four other fire-related charges against the woman accused of the 1997 kidnapping of infant Delimar Vera.

Defense attorneys Saul Steinberg and Jeffrey Zucker argued today that those charges against their client, 42-year-old Carolyn Correa, should be thrown out because fire experts cannot conclusively say the Feltonville blaze was arson.

Assistant District Attorney Leslie Gomez argued that circumstantial evidence surrounding the kidnapping proved the fire was set: The baby vanished during the blaze, and within an hour, Correa was in New Jersey with the baby she claimed she had given birth to at home.

Common Pleas Court Judge Carolyn Engel Temin said she would issue a ruling in two weeks.

Correa, of Willingboro, was arrested March 2 and is jailed on $1 million bail. Delimar, now 6, has been returned to her biological mother. They live in Oxford Circle.


Chris

p.s. nothing about the father yet.

[johnglass]

Originally posted by mrpayroll
There hasn't been much in the last couple of months, but since you demand it, here it is!

We'll let you slide this time, but next time you'll be demoted to proofreading bfrank's posts.

[DVD Polizei]

DVD Talk member finds dead post 3 months later!

[mrpayroll]

Originally posted by DVD Polizei
DVD Talk member finds dead post 3 months later!

At this point, that's more interesting than my last news story!

Chris

[mrpayroll]

http://www.nbc10.com/news/3506630/detail.html

Judge Dismisses Arson Charges Against Carolyn Correa
Woman Still Faces Kidnapping Charge

POSTED: 11:29 am EDT July 8, 2004

A judge in Philadelphia has dismissed the arson charges filed against Carolyn Correa, the woman accused of kidnapping a newborn Philadelphia girl and raising her for six years as her own.

Prosecutors say Correa set fire in 1997 to the house in the city's Feltonville section where the baby, Delimar Vera, lived.

The purpose, officials say, was to cover up the kidnapping and create the impression that the infant had died in the blaze.

Delimar's mother spotted her daughter, alive, six year later at a birthday party and Correa was arrested.

A judge ruled Wednesday that since fire investigators were unable to say definitively that the fire had been set, she could not allow the arson charges against Correa to stand.

Correa remains jailed on kidnapping and related charges.


Chris

[PopcornTreeCt]

Sad. Even though its her birth mother. I'd be pissed if all of a sudden I had to go live with someone I never knew and worse didnt speak english!

[Heat]

Originally posted by PopcornTreeCt
Sad. Even though its her birth mother. I'd be pissed if all of a sudden I had to go live with someone I never knew and worse didnt speak english!

I've got one better than that - I just got back from visiting my sister. While there I saw one of her friends, a single woman (doctor) in her early 40s who just adopted a girl from an orphanage in Russia, 10 years old. Doesn't speak a word of English (OK, maybe a couple, but not many as she just came over a few days ago and never studied English while in Russia), my sister's friend doesn't speak any Russian.

I hope it all works out, my sister's friend really is a nice lady and I assure you that life in a Russian orphanage is no cup of tea.

Why did she adopt a 10 year old? From what I figured out, she is just a busy lady (a doctor, also does a lot with horses) and wanted to jump straight to a school-aged child, plus she wanted to give an older child a break (since hardly anybody adopts children of that age).

[mrpayroll]

http://www.courierpostonline.com/new...y/m092304j.htm

Kidnap suspect to reject plea deal

Thursday, September 23, 2004

By JASON NARK
Courier-Post Staff
PHILADELPHIA

Attorneys for a Willingboro woman accused of kidnapping a relative's infant daughter and raising the girl as her own said they will not accept a plea offer from the district attorney's office.

Carolyn Correa, of the 100 block of Peacock Lane, is charged with the 1997 kidnapping of 10-day-old Delimar Vera when the child was living with her parents in Philadelphia.

"The DA made a preliminary offer but it is not something we are interested in," said attorney Jeffrey Zucker after a closed status conference Wednesday with Common Pleas Court Judge Pamela Dembe.

Zucker would not elaborate on the details of the offer but said he and attorney Saul Steinberg are interviewing people who were at the home of Luzaida Cuevas and Pedro Vera the night a fire tore through the upper floor of their rowhome and their child disappeared.

Arson charges filed against Correa were dropped July after former Common Pleas Court Judge Carolyn Engel Temin ruled the prosecution had no evidence to refute the original investigation, which found faulty wiring as the cause.

Delimar, who authorities thought had died, was reunited with her biological parents in February after a DNA test proved Correa was not her mother. Correa had raised the girl as Aliyah Hernandez while sending her to private school and hiring a talent agent to promote her as an actress.

Zucker, however, said his own investigations seem to suggest that Cuevas and Vera knew the whereabouts of their daughter long before they contacted authorities.

"I think we're in a position to prove that when she (Cuevas) finally came forward, it was only after Delimar started making television appearances," said Zucker.

Assistant District Attorney Leslie Gomez said Correa's attorneys have been aware of the offer for several months, but it was formally handed over Wednesday.

WHAT'S NEXT

A status conference for Carolyn Correa will be held 9 a.m. Nov. 17 before Common Pleas Court Judge Pamela Dembe.


Chris