JULIANI CARDENAS - 4 yo - Patterson/Stanislaus CA

Mother confirms boy pulled from Calif. canal was her missing son

PATTERSON, Calif.
The mother of a 4-year-old boy kidnapped two weeks ago by her former
boyfriend confirmed on her Facebook page that the child's body was
discovered Tuesday morning in a Central California canal. The
body of Juliani Cardenas was found in the Delta-Mendota Canal near
Santa Nella, about 30 miles south of where he lived with his mother and
grandmother in Patterson. Though law enforcement officials
said no positive identification had been made and wouldn't until DNA
testing is done, a posting at 11:10 a.m. PST on Tabitha Cardenas'
Facebook page said:
"I have the worst news in the world to tell you all ... My
son's body has been found in the canal no DNA has confirmed it but it's
his clothes and shoes have and it's a 4 year old boy. So I want
everyone to pray that Jose's body is found so we can all know that he's
burning in HELL and I don't have to worry about him taking my unborn
baby girl." Tabitha Cardenas is about 8 1/2 months' pregnant.
She has said the father is Jose Esteben Rodriguez, her 27-year-old
former boyfriend who is suspected of kidnapping Juliani on Jan. 18. Two minutes after the first Cardenas' first Facebook message, she wrote this: "I'm not talking to the press or anyone else I just had to let you
all know before the news does. ... I love you all very much and my son
does too. He's my lil angel now and believe me I'm crying as I am
writing this to you all." The search for Juliani has focused
on the canal, from which the Toyota Corolla belonging to Rodriguez was
pulled Friday. No bodies were in the car. Stanislaus County Sheriff's Deputy Royjindar Singh said there would be a news conference later Tuesday. Singh did not know who found the body, exactly when it was found or
any other circumstances. It was discovered near the Santa Nella
national veterans' cemetery at midmorning. Juliani's family was informed, Singh said. Father Bernard Quinn of Sacred Heart Catholic Parish in Patterson,
who baptized the child, was inside the house Tuesday morning after
Tabitha Cardenas and her mother, Amparo Cardenas, learned of the
discovery. Juliani was grabbed from Amparo Cardenas' arms in front of
their home. Quinn said the women were holding up amazingly well. "They feel supported and strengthened by the community," he said. Late Tuesday morning, an ambulance was parked in front of the home where Juliani lived. The Merced County Sheriff's Department issued this statement: "A small child was pulled from the Delta-Mendota Canal (whose)
physical and clothing description match that of the missing Amber Alert
child from Stanislaus County. No positive identification has been made
and will not be made until DNA testing is done." Cym Berlynn,
who identified herself as a family friend, said a vigil planned for
Tuesday would go on at North Park in Patterson. A prayer service was
planned as part of the observance. Tabitha Cardenas has
maintained since the kidnapping that Rodriguez would not hurt her son to
get back at her, rejecting the idea that he would have driven the car
into the canal. She also urged authorities to conduct a wider search for
him. She believed he could be in hiding with her child.
There had been no electronic signal from Rodriguez other than a
Patterson convenience store security camera spotting him Jan. 18 before
the abduction. Rodriguez had not used a credit card, ATM card or his
cell phone since the kidnapping. Since ending the search of
canal water by divers Saturday, authorities have relied on a California
Highway Patrol airplane and sheriff's patrols along the canal bank to
spot any bodies in the water. The patrols have been searching along the
canal bank since Monday. Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam
Christianson said last week that in cold weather it might take as long
as two weeks for a body to float to the surface. Singh asked tipsters
who spot a body in the canal to call 911 to ensure the nearest police
agency is alerted. To continue to send dive teams into the
water to search for the bodies in the 117-mile canal that runs south
from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to Mendota would be an inefficient
use of resources and manpower, Christianson said. Rodriguez
is not the boy's biological father. Tabitha Cardenas had a tumultuous
relationship with Rodriguez for about three years before it ended a few
months ago. She is pregnant with Rodriguez's child. Rodriguez
was convicted of manslaughter in 1999 and also has been charged with
unlawful sexual intercourse and drunken driving, law enforcement
officials said. After their breakup, he stalked Cardenas, according to her mother, Amparo Cardenas. About 4 p.m. on Jan. 18, while Tabitha Cardenas was at college,
sheriff's officials said, Rodriguez drove to the home where Juliani
lived with his mother and grandmother. Rodriguez drove up in the Toyota Corolla, pulled Juliani from his grandmother's arms and drove away, officials said. About 5 p.m., a farm worker on his way home spotted a car matching
the description of the suspect's vehicle, with a boy and a man inside,
on the canal bank just north of a series of pipes that funnels the
canal's water underneath Del Puerto Creek. The witness said
he saw the car drive into the canal, but he panicked and didn't inform
sheriff's officials until the following day. Christianson has
said the search still would have been a recovery mission had the farm
worker informed authorities immediately because a rescue could not have
occurred in time to save anyone.

Read more: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2011/02/01/1845794/mother-confirms-boy-pulled-from.html#ixzz1CkFoxvLI

kiwimom wrote:Mother confirms boy pulled from Calif. canal was her missing son

PATTERSON, Calif.
The mother of a 4-year-old boy kidnapped two weeks ago by her former
boyfriend confirmed on her Facebook page that the child's body was
discovered Tuesday morning in a Central California canal. The
body of Juliani Cardenas was found in the Delta-Mendota Canal near
Santa Nella, about 30 miles south of where he lived with his mother and
grandmother in Patterson. Though law enforcement officials
said no positive identification had been made and wouldn't until DNA
testing is done, a posting at 11:10 a.m. PST on Tabitha Cardenas'
Facebook page said:
"I have the worst news in the world to tell you all ... My
son's body has been found in the canal no DNA has confirmed it but it's
his clothes and shoes have and it's a 4 year old boy. So I want
everyone to pray that Jose's body is found so we can all know that he's
burning in HELL and I don't have to worry about him taking my unborn
baby girl." Tabitha Cardenas is about 8 1/2 months' pregnant.
She has said the father is Jose Esteben Rodriguez, her 27-year-old
former boyfriend who is suspected of kidnapping Juliani on Jan. 18. Two minutes after the first Cardenas' first Facebook message, she wrote this: "I'm not talking to the press or anyone else I just had to let you
all know before the news does. ... I love you all very much and my son
does too. He's my lil angel now and believe me I'm crying as I am
writing this to you all." The search for Juliani has focused
on the canal, from which the Toyota Corolla belonging to Rodriguez was
pulled Friday. No bodies were in the car. Stanislaus County Sheriff's Deputy Royjindar Singh said there would be a news conference later Tuesday. Singh did not know who found the body, exactly when it was found or
any other circumstances. It was discovered near the Santa Nella
national veterans' cemetery at midmorning. Juliani's family was informed, Singh said. Father Bernard Quinn of Sacred Heart Catholic Parish in Patterson,
who baptized the child, was inside the house Tuesday morning after
Tabitha Cardenas and her mother, Amparo Cardenas, learned of the
discovery. Juliani was grabbed from Amparo Cardenas' arms in front of
their home. Quinn said the women were holding up amazingly well. "They feel supported and strengthened by the community," he said. Late Tuesday morning, an ambulance was parked in front of the home where Juliani lived. The Merced County Sheriff's Department issued this statement: "A small child was pulled from the Delta-Mendota Canal (whose)
physical and clothing description match that of the missing Amber Alert
child from Stanislaus County. No positive identification has been made
and will not be made until DNA testing is done." Cym Berlynn,
who identified herself as a family friend, said a vigil planned for
Tuesday would go on at North Park in Patterson. A prayer service was
planned as part of the observance. Tabitha Cardenas has
maintained since the kidnapping that Rodriguez would not hurt her son to
get back at her, rejecting the idea that he would have driven the car
into the canal. She also urged authorities to conduct a wider search for
him. She believed he could be in hiding with her child.
There had been no electronic signal from Rodriguez other than a
Patterson convenience store security camera spotting him Jan. 18 before
the abduction. Rodriguez had not used a credit card, ATM card or his
cell phone since the kidnapping. Since ending the search of
canal water by divers Saturday, authorities have relied on a California
Highway Patrol airplane and sheriff's patrols along the canal bank to
spot any bodies in the water. The patrols have been searching along the
canal bank since Monday. Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam
Christianson said last week that in cold weather it might take as long
as two weeks for a body to float to the surface. Singh asked tipsters
who spot a body in the canal to call 911 to ensure the nearest police
agency is alerted. To continue to send dive teams into the
water to search for the bodies in the 117-mile canal that runs south
from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to Mendota would be an inefficient
use of resources and manpower, Christianson said. Rodriguez
is not the boy's biological father. Tabitha Cardenas had a tumultuous
relationship with Rodriguez for about three years before it ended a few
months ago. She is pregnant with Rodriguez's child. Rodriguez
was convicted of manslaughter in 1999 and also has been charged with
unlawful sexual intercourse and drunken driving, law enforcement
officials said. After their breakup, he stalked Cardenas, according to her mother, Amparo Cardenas. About 4 p.m. on Jan. 18, while Tabitha Cardenas was at college,
sheriff's officials said, Rodriguez drove to the home where Juliani
lived with his mother and grandmother. Rodriguez drove up in the Toyota Corolla, pulled Juliani from his grandmother's arms and drove away, officials said. About 5 p.m., a farm worker on his way home spotted a car matching
the description of the suspect's vehicle, with a boy and a man inside,
on the canal bank just north of a series of pipes that funnels the
canal's water underneath Del Puerto Creek. The witness said
he saw the car drive into the canal, but he panicked and didn't inform
sheriff's officials until the following day. Christianson has
said the search still would have been a recovery mission had the farm
worker informed authorities immediately because a rescue could not have
occurred in time to save anyone.

Read more: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2011/02/01/1845794/mother-confirms-boy-pulled-from.html#ixzz1CkFoxvLI

Maybe the farmer had a personal reason for not wanting to alert the cops and thereby bring attention to himself.

Authorities said Tuesday they found the body of a 4-year-old boy in a
Central California canal, capping the search for the child who was
kidnapped from his home two weeks ago.A water department worker
spotted Juliani Cardenas' body floating in the Delta-Mendota Canal and
called 911 around 7:30 a.m., said Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam
Christianson. The body was found about 30 miles downstream from where a
vehicle belonging to the man suspected of kidnapping Juliani was
recovered last week."From the very beginning, we wanted to find
little Juliani alive. That was our goal," Christianson said. But as the
days progressed, "we just knew that wouldn't happen."Investigators
have not located the suspect, who is the ex-boyfriend of Juliani's
mother, but they believe his body also will be found in the canal,
Christianson said.The man, 27-year-old Jose Rodriguez, is accused
of taking Juliani from the boy's home in Patterson on Jan. 18. A
homicide warrant has been issued for Rodriguez, Christianson said.Search
teams began combing the canal after a farmworker told authorities he
saw a car matching the description of Rodriguez's silver Toyota Corolla
going into the water shortly after the abduction.Rodriguez's
Corolla was pulled from the bottom of the canal Friday, with no signs of
the boy or suspect inside. There was no evidence Rodriguez fled the
scene after the car went into the water, Christianson said.Rodriguez,
who has an extensive criminal record that includes an involuntary
manslaughter conviction, is accused of snatching Juliani from the arms
of the boy's grandmother outside the family home. Authorities have not
discussed a motive, but Juliani's mother, Tabitha Cardenas, has said she
recently ended her three-year relationship with Rodriguez.In
Juliani's tight-knit neighborhood, where yellow and purple ribbons were
pinned on trees, residents gathered after learning about the tragic
discovery. Many of the parked vehicles still had "missing" fliers
attached to their windows.Police tape blocked access to the
cul-de-sac where Juliani's family lives. Family members did not come
outside to speak with reporters.Patterson City Councilwoman
Deborah Novelli, who visited the family Tuesday afternoon, said they
were angry at Rodriguez and unable to understand why this happened."They are trying to understand: Where was his head? What was he thinking?" Novelli said, her eyes red from tears.Darlene
Vanderbilt, a neighbor who was home the day Juliani was kidnapped,
recalled coming out of her house after she heard screams and seeing
Rodriguez's car whipping down the street. She said the memory keeps
replaying in her head."It just hurts. It brings it all back,"
said Vanderbilt, standing in her driveway a few doors down from
Juliani's home. "We couldn't do anything more than what we did: call the
police and get them looking for him."Another neighbor, Suzie Ambers, described Juliani as a beautiful, sweet child who loved life."We were all praying and hoping it would turn out different," Ambers said. "But in our hearts, we knew."Ambers
said their focus now must shift to Tabitha Cardenas, who is eight
months pregnant with Rodriguez's child. An ambulance was parked outside
the family home Tuesday, in case the expectant mother needed to be taken
to the hospital."We are with Tabitha," Ambers said. "The whole block is supporting her."

Autopsy Results Show Juliani Cardenas Drowned

MODESTO (KRON) -- Autopsy results show the young boy presumed to be four-year old Juliani Cardenas died of drowning.

The Stanislaus County Sheriff's department released those results late Tuesday. DNA tests that will confirm the body's identity won't be available for a couple of weeks, authorities say.

However, investigators say the remains, found in the Delta-Mendota Canal Tuesday, match Juliani's physical description and were clad in the same "Spiderman" shoes and pajamas the missing child was wearing when he was kidnapped from his grandmother's arms on January 18th.

Juliani's mother's ex-boyfriend Jose Rodriguez is wanted on murder and kidnapping charges but police believe he is also dead in the canal. Authorities found Rodriguez's car in the canal last week.

The Cardenas family is reportedly still planning the child's funeral.

Stay tuned to KRON 4 and KRON4.com for the latest on the search for Rodriguez and the investigation into Juliani's death.

http://www.kron4.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=156

DNA Results: Body Found In Canal Is Juliani Cardenas



PATTERSON, Calif. -- DNA results show that a body found in the Delta-Mendota Canal is that of Juliani Cardenas, according to the California Department of Justice.


Authorities said Cardenas was allegedly kidnapped by his mother's ex-boyfriend, Jose Esteban Rodriguez, in Patterson on Jan. 18.


The child's body was found Tuesday along a stretch of canal near Santa Nella, about 31 miles downstream from where a Toyota that Rodriquez was seen driving went into the water.


"Cheek swab samples from Juliani's mother Tabitha Cardenas were matched against samples taken during the autopsy of Juliani. Tabitha Cardenas was notified by detectives of the positive results," the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department said in a news release.



read more>

http://www.kcra.com/news/26752460/detail.html

The Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department has released the court
documents related to the kidnapping of 4-year-old Juliani Cardenas that
prompted an Amber Alert across California.

The documents detail
the day Cardenas was ripped from his grandmother's arms, and how the
suspect, Jose Rodriguez, had been showing up at the house repeatedly.

The documents also show the attempts to track Rodriguez's cell phone.

To read the court documents in their entirety, click here

http://www.fox40.com/news/headlines/ktxl-court-documents-detail-cardenas-kidnapping-20110208,0,1719841.story

Body found in canal believed to be kidnap suspect


PATTERSON, Calif. -- A body matching the description of the man suspected of kidnapping a 4-year-old boy was found Saturday in a Central California canal, authorities said.
The body was discovered around 8:30 a.m. in the Delta-Mendota Canal, near Patterson, by a water authority employee, the Stanislaus County sheriff's department said.
The body of the kidnapping victim, Juliani Cardenas, was found in the same canal on Feb. 1 further downstream, Sheriff Adam Christianson said.
According to Christianson, investigators were not able to recover fingerprints because the body had been in the water for too long.
But based on the physical description and clothing found on the body, Christianson said he believes it is that of Jose Rodriguez, 27.
"There are no other reports of missing persons, and there is no other evidence or information that leads us to believe that it is anyone other than Jose Rodriguez," Christianson said.
A positive identification, however, remained pending. An autopsy is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday.
Christianson said dental records could confirm the man's identification, but investigators will likely need DNA samples. A DNA analysis would take two to three weeks, he said.

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/02/12/3397841/ceremony-for-4-year-old-calif.html#ixzz1DmxWkJXc

Kidnapper of Juliani Cardenas Found Floating in Canal
February 12, 2011 11:05 PM EST

The alleged kidnapper of Juliani Cardenas was found dead in
the same canal where his four-year-old victim was found dead. The body,
believed to be that of Jose Esteban Rodriguez's, 27, was found in the
Delta-Mendota Canal Saturday morning. His car had been found in the
canal about a little over one week ago.Jose Rodriguez has a long
criminal background that includes a 1999 involuntary manslaughter
conviction, unlawful sexual intercourse and assault and battery.
Rodriguez was last seen alive January 18 when he took
the four-year-old from the arms of his grandmother.Last
February 1, the lifeless body Juliani Cardenas was pulled from the same
canal about 30 miles down stream from where Rodriguez was found today.
Tabitha Cardenas, the child’s mother, is pregnant with a child belonging
to Rodriguez’s at this time. She had ended their relationship prior to
the kidnapping.At the time the child was found,
police mentioned that they believed Rodriguez's body would turn up in
the same canal, because there was no sign he had exited the canal where
his car was found underwater. Police gave no other information why they
believed he would be found dead, however, one could speculate this was
murder by suicide.Thankfully, a man who is willing to commit such
a crime against a child is off the streets. However, this story seems
to leave a lot to be answered. Did he kidnap the child and kill both
himself and Juliani Cardenas as a way to punish the child's mother for
some unmentioned offense?Alternatively, was he depressed and
accidentally lost control of his car while intending to get attention
from the child's mother? No matter what his motive was, both he and the
child are dead, and the people he left behind will never be the same.

http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474979049417

Newborn Brightens Days for Mom Grieving Son's Murder

March 8, 2011


A little sunlight has finally shone on the family of Juliani Cardenas, the 4-year-old discovered dead last month in California. His mom has given birth to a healthy baby girl.

If you followed the Juliani Cardenas story, here's betting you breathed a little sigh of relief for Tabitha Cardenas.

It's hard to put into words how it made me feel, but I read the story of little Jolyssa Rhianna Cardenas' birth with a huge grin on my face today. Obviously, the cases of murdered children never have happy endings. How can they? But that doesn't mean there can't ever be happy stories for the families of those kids. If there's ever a kind of person who deserves happy stories, it's a mom who lost a child. A baby seems just right too. Because there's something about babies ... they are, by their very nature, joyful. They come to this world with no baggage. They are not mean, hateful, or spiteful. They are -- yes, I'm going to go into cliched territory -- hope.

And after an ordeal like Cardenas', boy does she deserve some hope.

In case you weren't following the case: allegedly it was Jolyssa's father who ripped the 4-year-old from the arms of his grandmother in January, put him in his car, and sped away. The family never saw the little boy alive again.

He was discovered in a canal in mid-February.

I wondered at the time how Tabitha would fare with her pregnancy. That the stress didn't put her into premature labor alone was incredible. But I confess I wondered too, would she put too much pressure on this kid because of the loss of her other one?

I shudder when people who find out I have one child ask me if it's wise to stop at one, who ask "what if something happens to her?"

One child cannot replace another, and fortunately Tabitha isn't laying that burden on her daughter. Jolyssa isn't like some consolation prize for her mom. She's just a gift, a wonderful, happy gift. For a family who has been through tragedy no family should ever experience, it's nice to hear they have a healthy little girl. In fact, both Mom and baby are doing well. Tabitha decided against naming her daughter in her son's honor, but when the little girl gets bigger, she'll tell her about a little boy who loved his little sister.

Laughter filled the Cardenas home this week as 11-month old Jolyssa scrambled around the room, crawling through a colorful plastic play set and under the living room table.

The toddler arose with a look of determination, making her “Chihuahua face” — her bottom lip covering part of her top lip and some of her teeth — to the delight of her mom, Tabitha, and grandmother, Amparo.

Jolyssa’s constant grin is a reminder of another child who once occupied that house — 4-year-old Juliani Cardenas — the half-brother she never knew, who was kidnapped and killed a year ago today, Jan. 18, by Jose Esteban Rodriguez, who was Tabitha’s ex-boyfriend and Jolyssa’s father.

Juliani’s presence continues to fill the home a year later, not only in the myriad pictures scattered across the living room, in the smudge of his handprint on one of the mirrors and on the tribute license plate of the new Toyota Camry in the Cardenas family garage, but in visions and memories shared by his mother, Tabitha, and grandmother, Amparo.

“In every single child, I see Juliani,” Amparo Cardenas said from her home this week, adding that she is constantly haunted by thoughts of him whether at the Vintage Faire Mall in Modesto, at home or about town.

Amparo’s last memory of her grandson was seeing him whisked away by Rodriguez after he ripped him from her arms and drove away with him in his silver Toyota Corolla. Minutes later, a farm worker reported seeing a vehicle that matched the Corolla’s description roll into the Delta-Mendota Canal near Zacharias Road, where both Rodriguez and Juliani met their demise.

Neither Tabitha nor Amparo Cardenas have been able to bring themselves to visit that part of the canal to this day, though they both say they have had visions in which they saw the car plunge into the waterway.

“When people go to war and have flashbacks, it’s kind of the same thing,” Tabitha said.

The canal became the scene of a two-week search that gripped not only the people of Patterson but well-wishers from across the world, many of whom expressed their condolences and support through letters, Facebook posts and care packages.

The Cardenas family and others kept hope that Juliani was alive as they participated in prayer vigils and search efforts in Patterson and nearby communities. Meanwhile, investigators kept busy extracting various cars from the Delta-Mendota before finding Rodriguez’s Corolla four days before Juliani’s body surfaced near Santa Nella.

The City of Patterson and the 300 block of Barros Street where the Cardenases live became the site of a media circus throughout the ordeal. In addition to newspaper and television reporters, the Cardenases regularly hosted friends, family, church members, city leaders and local clergy at their home, often providing them with food that had been donated by community members.

“People would see me always smile, but I was sad,” Amparo recalled. “I was like the walking dead.”

She said the media attention gave her an appreciation for what celebrities must endure every day.

“I feel sorry for movie stars — I finally got a taste,” she said.

At the same time, she and Tabitha said they appreciated the warmth of well-wishers both here and abroad.

“I still haven’t had to buy a diaper for (Jolyssa),” said Tabitha, who was eight and a half months pregnant with her daughter at the time of Juliani’s murder.

Other reminders of people’s support also fill the house.

A giant poster vinyl poster designed by Modesto-based embroidery and screenprint business Image Imprint portrays Juliani’s face floating in the clouds above a halo and building blocks, while the words “Little Angel” written in cursive adorn his brow. The same image appeared on T-shirts that the company designed and sold at Cardenas’ memorial service last year as a fundraiser for the family.

Amparo proudly displayed a small booklet filled with messages of support for the family and prayers from prison inmates at Sierra Conservation Center in Jamestown. The folder contains a cartoon-like angel on the front who is holding a book containing the words “Book of Life, Juliani.”

Amparo said the gift has made her think differently about prison inmates, and has also helped her forgive her son’s killer.

“I have no choice,” she said. “If I want to be next to my grandson in heaven, I have to do that.”

Amparo will be a grandmother to yet another child this summer, as Tabitha is due to have a baby with her current boyfriend on July 7. She plans to find out the gender of the baby on Saturday, Jan. 20, a day before the Cardenas family gathers with friends, family and neighbors in front of their Barros Street residence. They plan to mark the occasion with a candle lighting ceremony and a balloon release in Juliani’s honor.

Looking ahead, Tabitha said she looks forward to a new job she recently landed with Gallo Winery, even as she continues to seek her dream of obtaining her certified nursing assistant license. She also gained an Associate of Arts degree in behavioral and social science this year. She briefly considered going into social work after her son’s death but said the required internships seemed overwhelming.

In other ways, life has remained much the same as it was a year ago. While Tabitha moved into an apartment of her own for several months, she is back living with her mother these days. Amparo continues to work as a waitress at Damasco Fine Food and Spirits, where she said occasionally local police and members of the local Lions Club stop by to say hello.

Meanwhile, the attention of the mass media has turned elsewhere, and Tabitha and Amparo live a much quieter existence than they did a year ago. However, the wound left by their missing “Pookini” remains fresh, and Amparo says his loss will live on in their hearts for the rest of their lives.

“It’s never going to go away.”


Read more: Patterson Irrigator - Local boy s murder continues to haunt family one year later

This family knows that a child cannot be replaced. They will miss her and mourn for her for as long as that have breath.

Casey thinks she can replace Caylee with twins.