ALEX MERCADO - 4 yo - Mendota CA

Mendota Police are asking for the public's help tonight to find a missing four year old.

Alex Christopher Mercado was last seen at four this afternoon walking away from a sibling near Tuft and Sorenson.
He was last seen wearing a red shirt with a black logo, tan pants, and no shoes.
Alex has one black upper tooth, from nerve damage.
Witnesses may have seen the missing boy near Pierce Rojas Park earlier today.
If you have any information, you are asked to call Mendota Police at (559) 659-3051.

4 year old Alex Christopher Mercado from Mendota, California was
found inside a clothes dryer and a 14 year old boy that lives in the
home is being held and will be charged in the killing of the child.
Alex’s parents reported him missing Friday afternoon which set off a
wide search with 50 volunteers helping. Around 3 am Saturday morning
the sheriff’s office started searching in the fields and waterways and
canals in the area. About 6 hours later they began searching again in
the neighborhood which is when they found his little body.
Neighbors claim the home where the child was found belongs to a
woman believed to be in her 30’s and her teenage son. It is said that
this woman used to baby-sit Alex and his siblings.
A cause of death has not been announced yet. Sheriff Margaret Mims
said the child was placed inside the dryer after he had been killed but
no other details were given about how he died.

The body of a 4-year-old boy who went
missing Friday was discovered in the dryer of a home next door to his
family's northwest Mendota home, Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims
said Saturday night.A 14-year-old boy who lives in the home has
been arrested and will be charged in the killing of Alex Christopher
Mercado, she said. The 4-year-old's body was put in the dryer after he was killed, Mims said.Sheriff's
spokesman Chris Curtice said that after Alex's parents reported him
missing Friday afternoon, Mendota police and about 50 volunteers
searched the area.About 3 a.m. Saturday, the sheriff's office search
and rescue team began checking fields, waterways and canals.
The body Alex Christopher Mercado, a 4-year-old boy
who went missing Friday, was discovered in the dryer of a home next
door to his family’s northwest Mendota home.
Another search of the neighborhood began six hours later, and a deputy found
the body early Saturday afternoon, Curtice said.Neighbors said Alex's disappearance and the discovery of his body saddened and frightened them.Elena Casillas, 17, who lives across the street from Alex's home, said the
neighborhood started praying for him when they heard he was missing. "Once I heard about what happened, I broke out in tears," she said.Her mother, Margaret Rocha, 37, said Alex was a familiar sight in the neighborhood. "We would see him playing outside all the time,'' she said. "He was a cute little boy."Neighbor Jasmin Gomez, 25, who lives near the apartment complex, said the events had her worried. "You don't know what's around you," she said.Mims said she knew there was considerable concern among Mendota residents about killers being on the loose. But now, with the teen's arrest, residents can be assured that "the community is not in danger," she said.Neighbors
said the home where Alex's body was found belongs to a woman, believed
to be in her 30s, and her teenage son. They said the woman used to
baby-sit for Alex and his siblings.Alex was last seen near his
home near Pierce Rojas Park at Tuft and Sorenson avenues wearing a red
shirt with a black logo and tan pants, but no shoes.

Residents
of Mendota are struggling to come to terms with the weekend killing of
a 4-year-old boy and the arrest of a teenage neighbor implicated in his
death.Residents of the town of 10,000 had been aware of Alex
Christopher Mercado's disappearance since Friday afternoon because of
fliers posted across town, media accounts and word of mouth.Dozens of residents searched for Alex until officials announced that he had been found dead in a neighbor's dryer Saturday.
His death sent shock waves across town, Mendota leaders said Sunday."Everybody
was looking for the little boy," said Joseph Riofrio, a member of the
Mendota City Council and a business owner. "It's really shocking and
unsettling. This is something that happens in big cities, in other
places. Now it's happened here." Alex is the first homicide victim
since Mendota opened its Police Department two months ago. But under an
agreement with Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims, the sheriff's
office is in charge of the investigation because the nine-officer
department doesn't have the resources to handle homicide cases, Police
Chief Jerry Galvin said. He said he couldn't comment Sunday on the
investigation.Mims announced Saturday night that a 14-year-old
boy who lives next to Alex has been arrested in connection with the
killing, adding that Alex was put in the dryer after he was killed.A spokesman said Mims' office expects to make public more details about the investigation today.A
crowd was gathered around Alex's home when Galvin broke the news to his
father, Riofrio said. The father dropped to his knees in anguish and
his mother screamed.

4:10 p.m.: The 4-year-old Mendota boy who disappeared
Friday was drowned and placed in a neighbor's dryer before a search for
the child had even begun, the Fresno County Sheriff's Office said
today. Sheriff Margaret Mims said Alex Christopher Mercado was
playing outside his Tuft Street home Friday when a 14-year-old neighbor
boy brought him into the neighbor's home and killed him. The teenager
placed the child in the dryer, which was screened by a door, Mims said.
The teenager, whose name has not been released, has been arrested in
connection with the child's death. Mims declined to say why the child was killed. She said
investigators have suspicions about motives, and those suspicions will
be spelled out when charges are filed. Mims said investigators will
present their case to the Fresno County District Attorney's Office on
Tuesday. She declined to release the results of an autopsy. Mercado's disappearance sparked an extensive search for the
boy Friday. His body was discovered Saturday in the neighbor's dryer. The Sheriff's Office is handling the homicide investigation because the Mendota Police Department lacks the resources.

11:51 a.m.: An autopsy was completed today on 4-year-old Alex Mercado of Mendota, whose body was found in a neighbor's dryer Saturday.Fresno
County Coroner David Hadden said Sheriff Margaret Mims will disclose
the cause of death this afternoon. Mims scheduled a 3:30 p.m. news
conference to talk about the the case. A 14-year-old boy who lives next to Alex's home has been arrested in connection with the slaying.A fund in memory of Alex has been set up at West America Bank in Kerman.Contributions
can be made through any West America bank. Checks should be made to the
Alex Mercado Memorial Fund, account No. 0261977268.

The 4-year-old Mendota boy who disappeared
Friday was drowned and placed in a neighbor's dryer before a search for
the child had even begun, Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims said
Monday.Mims said Alex Christopher Mercado was playing outside
his Tuft Street home in northwest Mendota on Friday when a 14-year-old
neighbor boy brought him into the neighbor's home next door and killed
him.Mims would not specify how or where Alex was allegedly drowned in the house.After
the killing, the teenager placed the child in the dryer, which was in a
closet, Mims said. The teenager, whose name has not been made public,
has been arrested in connection with the child's death.Mims
declined to say why the child was killed. She said investigators have
suspicions about motives, and those suspicions will be spelled out when
charges are filed. Mims said investigators will present their case to
the Fresno County District Attorney's Office today.
She declined to release the results of an autopsy completed Monday.She
said the teenager is not being identified because of his age. However,
she would not rule out the possibility that the teen, who is being held
at the Juvenile Justice Campus, would be charged as an adult.
The teen's mother apparently was not involved and isn't facing charges, Mims said.Matt
Flood, a spokesman for the Mercado family, said Monday evening that the
family is handling the news of how their son died as well as can be
expected. Flood, who attends a Mormon church with the family in Kerman,
said they've shown a lot of strength."I am surprised at their
strength and their ability and willingness to move forward," he said.
"If it were me, I wouldn't be able to handle this as well."Helen
Sanchez, who lives near the Mercado family, went to give her
condolences Monday morning. She saw Alex's mother sitting on the
ground, starting at the suspect's house."This has been really hard for her
and for people in the neighborhood," Sanchez said. "It's a terrible thing that has happened."Norma
Tamayo, who lives across the street from the suspect, said her
10-year-old daughter is so frightened that she wants to move."You just don't know about
the people who live around you," Tamayo said.Miguel Amador, who attended school
with the suspect last year, said the teenager made him uncomfortable."I used to sit next to him
in class and he was the kind of kid that would
creep me out," said Amador, 13. "He was always looking at you, just
staring at you."Joseph Riofrio, a Mendota City Council member,
said the boy made him uncomfortable, as well, when he would come to
Riofrio's video store with his mother. He said the teenager had unusual
habits, such as wearing a parka in the middle of summer.Alex's
disappearance sparked an extensive search Friday night. The next day,
officials from the FBI and the Sheriff's Office asked to search the
teen's home and discovered Alex's body in the dryer, Mims said.The
Sheriff's Office is handling the homicide investigation, under an
agreement with the Mendota Police Department, which lacks the resources
to handle large cases.

A 14-year-old California boy told police he drowned his 4-year-old
neighbor on Friday because the child had threatened to tell his mother
the older boy had molested him, according to an affidavit made public
Wednesday. Raul Renato Castro has been charged in Fresno County
as an adult, with special circumstances including murder during a child
molestation, sodomy, kidnapping and murder of a witness to prevent
testimony, according to the district attorney's office. He faces separate felony charges of kidnapping, sodomy and child molestation. The
affidavit, filed by the Fresno County Sheriff's Department, says Castro
told investigators he lured the victim, Alex Christopher Mercato, into
his apartment "by telling the victim he had something to show him." Police have said no one else was in the Mendota, California, house at the time. Castro
then talked the boy into entering the bathroom, according to the
document. Castro said he then sodomized the toddler, after which "the
victim tripped over the carpet, fell, and hit the back of his head on
the bathtub," the affidavit says. "Castro said the victim
started crying and told Castro he was going to tell his mother. Castro
said he panicked and decided to kill the victim by drowning him in the
bathtub. "Castro turned on the water to the bathtub and filled
it up just enough to put the victim's face underwater and drowned him.
Castro said he held the victim underwater 2-4 minutes. Castro got into
the bathtub with the victim, held him down until the victim died." "Castro then carried the victim over his left shoulder and put him [in]... the clothes dryer to conceal him." The
incident occurred Friday afternoon, after Mercato's parents discovered
that their child, who had been playing outside their house, was
missing, Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims told reporters Monday. The
parents called police, who searched the neighborhood and nearby parks
in Mendota, 33 miles west of Fresno, she said. Soon, the FBI was called
in. On Saturday, authorities resumed the search and found the body stuffed inside the dryer in the apartment next door. An autopsy determined the victim had drowned.
Under
California law, a 14-year-old is not eligible for the death penalty or
a sentence of life without the possibility of parole. If found guilty,
Castro could receive no more than 32 years to life plus 15 years.

Funeral services have been set for the Mendota boy who was found dead in a neighbor's home over the weekend.
Services for Alex Mercado will be held this Sunday evening at five at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Mendota. A second service will take place at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Kerman on Monday morning at 10:00 a.m. A police-escorted procession after that service will go to Fresno
Memorial Gardens in West Fresno where Mercado will be laid to rest

Hundreds of family members, friends and neighbors gathered Sunday evening to bid 4-year-old Alex Christopher Mercado goodbye.The
visitation and rosary at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Mendota was
one of two services for the boy, who was slain Oct. 30. A 14-year-old
neighbor, Raul Renato Castro, has been charged with the killing.More
than 400 mourners packed the pews and aisles to pay their respects to
Alex's family and grieve for the child. Scores more were gathered
outside, unable to find space inside the church.The Rev. Gaspar Bautista told the
mourners that unexplainable tragedies like Alex's death happen, but God is always with them. The
21/2-hour service included music, the reciting of the rosary and a
chance for townspeople -- still in disbelief about the horrific death
in their western Fresno County community -- to file past Alex's small,
white open casket.



More than 400 mourners packed the pews and aisles at Our Lady of
Guadalupe Church in Mendota to pay their respects to Alex Christopher
Mercado's family and grieve for the slain 4-year-old boy.

"No one would expect anything like this to happen, especially to a
little boy -- so innocent, so much more life to live," said Mendota
resident Melissa Garcia.Though
she did not know Alex or his family, Garcia, 24, said his death "hit
close to home" because she has a 4-year-old son and her best friend's
son attended preschool with Alex.Mayor Robert Silva echoed the
sentiment of others who attended Sunday's service, saying their prayers
were with both the families of the dead boy and the teenager accused of
killing him."It's a double tragedy," Silva said.Rossely
Gomez, 20, of Mendota, said she came to the funeral to show support for
Luis Mercado, the boy's father, with whom she had worked. Gomez
said she had been hesitant to visit the family and extend her
condolences because "there are no words we can give to make them feel
better."Sunday's service was at the Mendota Catholic church
because Luis Mercado is a member of the parish, said Matt Flood, family
spokesman.Alex's funeral is today at the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints in Kerman, where Mercado's wife, Mindy Betancourt,
and the couple's children attend, he said.Alex was one of the couple's six children, Flood said. Betancourt also is about seven months pregnant, he said.Alex
was reported missing by his father about 4:30 p.m. Oct. 30, prompting a
massive search for the boy by law-enforcement officers and townspeople.The boy's body was found in a neighbor's clothes dryer about 1:30 p.m. the next day.Raul
Castro, who lives with his mother in the apartment where Alex was
found, has confessed to drowning Alex in a bath tub and hiding his body
in the dryer, authorities said.