EDDIE "Nanito" SALAZAR - 8 months (2010) - Carthage MO

Authorities in Missouri have issued an Amber Alert following the report of a child being taken forcibly in Carthage.

Two unknown masked men broke into the residence, located at 227 East Mound
St., while the child's father was sleeping on the couch, according to
amberalert.com. The two suspects assaulted the father during a struggle
which rendered the father unconscious.

The house reportedly was ransacked and the child, 8-month-old Eddie Salazar, was taken.

The boy is described as 3-feet tall, weighing 20 pounds, with black hair
and brown eyes. He has a birthmark on his right bicep in the shape of a
lung. He was last seen wearing a blue short sleeve body suit and white socks.

Citizens are advised to contact Carthage police with information about the case at 417-237-7200.

CARTHAGE, Mo. - Carthage police say an eight-month-old child is
missing after two men broke into a north Carthage home, assaulted the
father of the child, ransacked the home and took the child.
The incident happened before 2 a.m. on Friday. Carthage Police
issued an Amber Alert for eight-month-old Eddie Alegandro Salazar,
described as about three feet tall, weighing about 20 pounds, with
black hair and brown eyes and wearing a blue short-sleeved body suit,
and white socks. Police say the boy has a birthmark the shape of a lung
on his right arm.
Carthage Police Chief Greg Dagnan said officers spent the night
verifying that this was a real kidnapping and gathering information.
“We try to verify this kind of thing before we send out an Amber
Alert,” Dagnan said. “We know the effectiveness of these alerts is lost
if we send out lots of alerts that aren’t real so we try vigorously to
verify everything we can before sending one out.”
Dagnan said police are not sure why the two masked men broke into
the home on the north side of Carthage or whether their intentions were
to take the child all along.
“We know there was forcible entry and people were assaulted in the
home,” Dagnan said. “Whether the intent was to take the child in the
first place, that was the end result.”
Police said the men knocked the father unconscious before ransacking the home and taking the child.
“We’ve spent all night talking to family members and trying to find
any connection to anyone who might have wanted to take the child,”
Dagnan said. “But to tell you names of suspects, I can’t do that right
now.”

More than 100 officers from a variety of law enforcement agencies
were in Carthage working leads in the abduction of eight-month-old
Eddie Salazar Jr., but officers didn’t have a good description of the
suspects as of late Friday.
In a news conference held Friday at Carthage’s Memorial Hall,
Carthage Police Chief Greg Dagnan said investigators do not believe the
kidnapping was the result of a custody dispute or parental dispute.
“What we know is unknown subjects came into this home and took this
child last night,” Dagnan told approximately a dozen members of the
media. “The best description we have is one or two males wearing dark
clothing and stocking caps and ski masks.”
Dagnan said officers have no information regarding what kind of
vehicle the kidnappers might have been driving. He said a check of the
family’s background, friends and relatives had turned up no obvious
suspects or threats.
Dagnan said there was a second child in the home at the time of the
assault, but that child was not harmed and not taken in the incident.
Dagnan said the father was assaulted and knocked unconscious but he was not hurt badly enough to require hospitalization.
Dagnan said the mother of the children was not home at the time of
the assault. He declined to say where the mother was, citing the
family’s privacy, but he said the circumstances surrounding her
absence, “seemed like a normal family situation and didn’t seem to be
outside the norm.”
He said a third party was caring for the family and meeting their
physical and mental needs while police search for their child. The
family has not been allowed back in its home at 227 E. Mound St.
because officers still consider it a crime scene.
Carthage Police issued a statewide Amber Alert calling on the public and law officers to be on the lookout for the child.
Dagnan said officers from the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the
Jasper County Sheriff’s Department and police departments in Webb City,
Carl Junction, Joplin, Galena, Kan., and others had assisted with the
investigation.
He said firefighters from Carthage, Galena, Kan.; rescuers from
Newton County, 34 students from the Missouri Southern Police Academy
and even Carthage Street Department personnel had assisted in the
search.
He said officers had searched a 20-block area around the home and had searched the Spring River and Kellogg Lake Park.
Dagnan said investigators took some extraordinary steps to preserve
evidence and search for the child, including asking the railroad that
operates the tracks about two blocks south of the house to halt train
traffic to allow officers to search along the tracks safely, and asking
Carthage trash collection contractor, Allied Waste, to stop trash
collections on Friday to let officers search trash containers in the
area.
Dagnan asked that anyone with information about the child call the Carthage Police Department at 417-237-7200.

-- Carthage police on Friday were investigating a report of two
masked men breaking into a home, assaulting a man and abducting the
man's 8-month-old boy.

Authorities issued an Amber Alert on
Thursday night for Eddie Salazar, who was described as about 20 pounds,
with dark hair and brown eyes and a lung-shaped birthmark on his right
arm.

Two men wearing ski masks reportedly broke into the
family's home late Thursday while the father was sleeping, Carthage
police said. The man was beaten unconscious, and the house was
ransacked before the boy was taken.

Police chief Greg Dagnan said officers spent the night verifying the kidnapping.

"We
know the effectiveness of these alerts is lost if we send out lots of
alerts that aren't real," Dagnan said. "So we try vigorously to verify
everything we can before sending one out."

Dagnan said it was clear there had been a forced entry and the father had been knocked unconscious.



"We've
spent all night talking to family members and trying to find any
connection to anyone who might have wanted to take the child," Dagnan
said. "But to tell you names of suspects, I can't do that right now."

Officers
from the Missouri State Highway Patrol and area police departments were
fanning out across the area searching for the baby.

"This is still an active search, we're still looking for this child in this neighborhood," Watson said.

Neighbors said the family had moved to the area last summer.

(Carthage, MO) -- A massive search is underway for an eight-month-old
baby abducted from his home late Thursday night in southwest Missouri.

Police say Eddie Salazar, Junior was taken from his home on east Mound Street in Carthage.

An Amber Alert has been issued for the infant. He's Hispanic with black hair, brown eyes and weighs 20 pounds.

He
has a birthmark on his right bicep in the shape of lung. He was last
seen wearing a blue short sleeve body suit and white socks.

At this point, police say they are working a random abduction. They say abductions like these are very rare.

"The
best info we have is that this was not a custody issue, not a parental
kidnapping of any sort. The best information that we have is that this
was an unknown subject," says Greg Dagnan, Carthage Police Chief

Late
Thursday night, police say one, maybe two, men wearing ski masks,
dressed all in black broke into the home in Carthage. Police say the
baby's father was sleeping on the couch. The intruders assaulted him
and left him unconscious. That's when police say the boy was taken
from the home.

Pam Boswell lives right next door to the Salazar's and says while she didn't hear anything Thursday night, she's just shaken.

"It's
very frightening, scary. I just feel for the family and I just hope
they're all safe now and I hope the baby will come home," says Boswell.


"We have had constant contact with the family since this
incident occurred. It's been seldom that we were not in contact trying
to determine who would want to do this," says Chief Dagnan.

At
least seven local law enforcement agencies; fire, water patrol and the
FBI are searching for the boy. A number of them walked the streets
going door to door, but police say they are searching in the county and
have alerts out across the state.

"We are working very hard doing everything we can to find this child," says Chief Dagnan.

And hopefully bring him safely back home.

As
of 6:00 p.m. on Friday evening, there was still a lot of activity at
the home. At one point, a dog was brought in to look around the house.

Police
say they don't have the description of a vehicle that could have left
this scene. Police say they are following on some leads at this time,
but would not elaborate at this time. If you have any information,
please contact the Carthage Police Department at (417) 237-7200.

Statistics show the first three hours after a child's abduction are most crucial to recovery efforts.

The
U.S. Department of Justice says that's why wireless alerts are so
important. You can get updates on your smart phone or regular cell
phone.

CARTHAGE, Mo. — Eddie Salazar, 29, the father of a missing eight-month old Carthage boy of
the same name, was arrested Friday night on charges of filing a false
police report, Carthage Police Chief Greg Dagnan said today.
Authorities said a name that Salazar gave
them as one of the suspects in the events leading up to what was
originally reported as a kidnapping has been cleared. Dagnan declined
to release that name.
Salazar alleged one or two masked men jumped him late Thursday night
at his home, knocked him out and abducted the child.
Salazar is being held in the Carthage city jail on a $100,000 bond.
The mother of the missing child, Yadira
Aguilar, is not considered a suspect and continues to be cooperative,
according to police.
Dagnan said the search for the child is continuing.
“I feel very strong pressure and a sense of
urgency,” he said, noting that cold weather and snow are expected to
arrive tomorrow.
“If the child is out in the elements, it is gravely concerning.”

Missing Carthage Boy Found Dead


Eddie Salazar's Father Accused Of Filing False Report


CARTHAGE, Mo. --

A boy who had been the subject of an Amber alert in west-central Missouri on Friday has been found dead.

Missouri State Water Patrol officers found the body of Eddie Salazar Jr. in Spring River at about 3 p.m. on Saturday.

Police arrested Eddie Salazar Sr. on Friday evening in connection with the
disappearance of his son. Carthage Police Chief Greg Dagnan said
Salazar has been charged with filing a false report for telling
authorities two masked men broke into his house, assaulted him and
abducted the 8-month-old baby.

CARTHAGE, Mo. -- The Missouri Water Patrol found the body of a baby,
pinned against a partially submerged tree in the Spring River, around 3
p.m. Saturday. Investigators say it likely was 8-month-old Eddie
Salazar Jr., the boy from Carthage whose disappearance prompted an
Amber Alert late Thursday.
"The tip we got where the baby would likely be, the baby was
actually about .6 miles downstream from that location," Carthage Police
Chief Greg Dagnan said Saturday.
That location was a bridge on Jasper County Road 85.
The missing baby's father, Eddie Salazar Sr., is held as the prime suspect
in his son's disappearance and probable death.
Friends say Eddie Salazar Jr. had just started to crawl and
loved playing with the family dog. Despite the hope that little Eddie,
or Nanito as his family called him, would come back safely to his home
in Carthage, the search ended sadly.
"It tears your hear out. You don't get used to that part," said Jasper County Sheriff Archie Dunn.
"There's a reason why someone deceived us," Dagnan said.
Salazar was arrested about 5:30 Friday evening on a misdemeanor
charge of filing a false police report. He's being held in lieu of a
$100,000 bond.


No additional charges are likely until the investigation
is concluded and an autopsy is complete.
Investigators say Salazar changed his story from masked men
stealing his baby to giving them the name of a suspect.
"After an extremely thorough investigation of this person,
I am confident that he is not involved," Dagnan said.
Investigators say Salazar admitted he was not truthful.
"At this point, it does appear that (Salazar Sr.) was in the area, in a vehicle, that night," he said.
Friends say Salazar was always loving towards his son, and had a
job with a tree service. They say, despite his criminal past, he was
trying to change his life.
"It is extremely concerning that someone would be untruthful about such a serious event," said Dagnan.
A coroner has yet to identify the body as Eddie Salazar Jr. The
police chief says he's positive it is him. A pathologist will examine
the body on Monday in Columbia.
Eight agencies, including the FBI, searched for the entire day Thursday for clues.
"We knew there was not going to be a happy outcome to this
story," Dunn said. "We were sure of that, so we are relieved that some
people in the family can get some closure and we can wrap this case
up."
PREVIOUS CRIMINAL HISTORY
According to court records, Salazar has a previous record in Missouri.
Salazar pleaded guilty to felony property damage in March 2000;
he was handed a two-year suspended prison sentence.
He pleaded guilty to stalking in October 2001; he served four days in jail.
He pleaded guilty for a robbery in January 2002 and received a
10-year prison sentence. Family friends say he served five years and
was released in 2008. He pleaded guilty to driving with a suspended license
in September 2003 and served 15 days in jail.
He has an unresolved driving while intoxicated case filed against him in Jasper County last Oct. 5.

CARTHAGE, Mo. — Residents expressed shock and sadness
Sunday morning over the apparent death of 8-month-old Eddie Salazar,
who disappeared Thursday night.Gilda Vargas, co-pastor at Iglesia
Cristiana Hispano Americana, said she doesn’t know the Salazar family,
but her heart goes out to the child’s mother.“I feel so sad,” said
Vargas, who has an 8-month-old daughter. “I think she is going to
suffer for plenty of time, and I think only God can feel that
loneliness.”Eddie Salazar Sr., the child’s father, was arrested Friday
on charges of filing a false police report. He remained in police
custody Sunday on $100,000 bond.The body of a boy thought to be baby
Eddie was found Saturday afternoon in Spring River. An autopsy is
scheduled for Monday morning in Columbia.The Rev. Steven Wilson of
Episcopal Grace Church said he thinks Carthage residents are still in
shock.“I don’t think the community has had enough time to digest the
situation,” he said.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 Eddie’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.”

This
story is still developing, but here's how it's unfolded as we know it--
Thursday night, and into Friday morning, authorities believe
8-month-old Eddie Salazar, Jr. disappeared. Authorities issued an
amber alert. The baby's father told authorities two people broke into
the house, beat him until he was unconscious, and took the baby.
Neighbors say they didn't hear anything out of the ordinary.
By Friday morning, there was a massive manhunt in Carthage. More
than 100 investigators and volunteers were on scene, including the
Missouri Water Patrol and the American Red Cross. Though police
believed they would find the eight-month-old alive, they called off the
ground search by that night. What we didn't know at the time was the
father, Eddie Salazar, Sr., had become a suspect, after police easily
cleared a previous suspect from wrong doing.
By Saturday afternoon, police found baby Eddie, washed up in the
Spring River. Authorities said the baby washed up against a tree limb in
the river. His father, Eddie Salazar, Sr. was charged with filing a
false police report and more charges are likely. Meanwhile, the autopsy
is scheduled for Monday morning.
Salazar has had a troubled past. He's been in jail before for robbery and stalking, among other things.

The Jasper County Coroner says
the autopsy on 8 month old Eddie Salazar Junior is complete, but
at this time findings will not be released. There are still a few
toxicology reports to be done before the preliminary results will be
released. We are told that will be sometime late this week.

This case has also proved to be a financial and emotional strain for those involved.
For more than 24 hours rescue crews combed the streets of Carthage and the banks of the Spring River.
Hundreds of officers were involved in the search for 8-month-old Eddie Salazar Junior.
Carthage Police Chief Greg Dagnan says the effort stretched resources to the max.

"We devoted at least 400 overtime hours to this event," said Chief Dagnan.

He says that's roughly 25 dollars per hour per person, just for his department alone.
But with dozens of agencies involved, it was a disheartening outcome for everyone.

"It was frustrating when we began to realize that this is not at all
what happened, and we had been deceived into giving the public false
information," said Dagnan.
Initially 29-year-old Eddie Salazar Senior told police two masked
men broke into his home, knocked him unconscious, and took the infant.
But later Salazar told police he lied after naming an alleged suspect who proved innocent.
From the very start, many in the community pointed the finger at
Salazar, but police said they had to treat him as a victim until proven
otherwise.

"When you see some inconsistencies and some strange things, you really
don't know if that's part of the traumatic event. You really don't
know if that's because you're not being told the whole truth," said
Dagnan.
Finally, after more than 48 hours crews found the body of the
8-month-old Saturday in the Spring River, just a few miles from
Carthage.
His father is now the prime suspect in his death.
Chief Dagnan says while the investigation and the search were costly,
it can at least move forward from this point.

"There are agencies out there that end up in a situation like this, and
they are looking for days and weeks for a missing child. So certainly,
very easily, if we had done some things a little differently it could
have went on and on," said Dagnan.
He went on to tell us that at this poing he's focusing attention on
wrapping up loose ends, and following all leads to make sure there is
nothing left to do before sending the case to the prosecutor.
More charges are pending for Salazar based on the outcome of his son's autopsy.
The Ulmer Funeral Home will be handling services for the infant,
but those are still being finalized at this time.

(Carthage, MO) -- A man suspected of killing his infant son was arraigned Thursday on filing a false report.

Not
quite a week ago, we learned about eight month-old Eddie
Salazar, Junior. His father reported two men had broken into their
Carthage home and taken the baby.

The infant was later found dead in the Spring River east of Carthage.

Eddie Salazar, Senior appeared before a Jasper county judge by video arraignment Thursday.

A not guilty plea was entered on his behalf. Salazar's bond is set for $100,000.

The
charge stems from the 911 call he made to police on February 4. That's
when he reported the kidnapping which prompted an Amber Alert.

Prosecutors say autopsy results, which are pending, could result in more serious charges.

It was an emotional close to a trying week for the mother and the family of 8 month old Eddie Salazar Junior.
Hundreds gathered to pay their respects Saturday, amidst the circumstances that claimed the infant's life all too soon.
The afternoon started at Ulmer Funeral Home where hundreds arrived to pay their respects to 8 month old Eddie Salazar Junior.
With flowers in hand, each person entered the funeral home, still embracing the tragedy.
Later, as the procession made its way down the streets of Carthage
it was clear the infant's death hit a soft spot in the hearts of many.
A tiny casket for a tiny body.
Pall bearers walked little Eddie to his burial site where mother Yadira Aguilar's emotions spoke louder than words.

Her tears told the story of loss and grief, as only a mother could.
From a distance you could see just how much this death hurt the Hispanic community.
From young to old, people clung together singing hymns in their native language.

Balloons representing Eddie's life were also released one by one.
And as his small body was lowered to its final resting place, flowers representing love were tossed atop his casket.

Eddie Salazar Junior was survived by his mom Yadira Aguilar, and his brother Christian Aguilar.
Charges on his father Eddie Salazar Senior are expected next week
when preliminary autopsy results are given to the Jasper County
Prosecutor.

CARTHAGE, Mo. — The father of 8-month-old Eddie A. Salazar Jr. was charged Wednesday with
second-degree murder based on an autopsy finding that the baby died of
blunt-force trauma to his head.
A probable-cause affidavit filed in Jasper County Circuit Court in support of the charge against Eddie A. Salazar
Sr., 29, of Carthage, states that “a combination of physical evidence
and statements made by (the father) indicated he was responsible for
the death of his son.”
Dean Dankelson, the Jasper County prosecutor, said an autopsy performed by the Boone County medical
examiner’s office found evidence of bone fractures, including a skull
fracture suffered by the baby the night of his death. Dankelson
declined to say what other bones had been broken or to discuss whether
any of the fractures indicated previous abuse.

Cause of death

The autopsy determined the cause of the
child’s death to be blunt head trauma and the manner of death to be
homicide, the prosecutor said. He said the medical examiner does not
consider the death to be a shaken-baby case.
“There would be other findings in a shaken-baby case that were not present here,” Dankelson said.
He declined to discuss whether the medical
examiner believes the baby’s head was struck with an object or was
swung against an object or hard surface.
The probable-cause affidavit estimates the
time of the baby’s death to be 9:30 p.m. on Feb. 4, while he reportedly
was in the “sole custody” of his father in their home at 227 E. Mound
St. in Carthage. The boy’s mother, Yadira Aguilar, was at work at the
time and is not a suspect in the child’s death, according to
authorities.

False report

The father called 911 at 11:04 p.m. the day
in question and reported that his son had been abducted by two masked
men who he said entered the home and struggled with him. An Amber Alert
was issued, and a massive law enforcement search for the child and his
abductors was launched. But the father’s kidnapping story reportedly
fell apart less than 24 hours later under questioning by investigators.
The boy’s body was found by searchers the
afternoon of Feb. 6 in Spring River east of Carthage. The body was
snagged on a tree’s limbs along the river’s edge. The baby was wearing
nothing but a one-piece suit and socks.
“I believe the child was dead before he ever went into the river,” Dankelson said.
But the prosecutor declined to discuss
autopsy findings in any further detail. Dankelson said he also is
prohibited by court rules from revealing anything the father may have
told investigators after his abduction story fell apart.
Salazar is expected to be
arraigned sometime today on the murder charge. He has been in custody
at the Jasper County Jail on $100,000 bond since being charged with
making a false report to police on Feb. 6.
The prosecutor and Carthage police Chief
Greg Dagnan said no other charges are likely to be filed in the case,
even though the investigation of the death is continuing.

Death review

The death of Eddie A. Salazar Jr. will be
reviewed by the Child Fatality Review Board in Jasper County.
Prosecutor Dean Dankelson, chairman of the board, said a date for the
review has yet to be set. Local boards are charged by state law with
scrutinizing the deaths of any children under 18 and submitting a
report to the Missouri Department of Social Services.

Eight-month-old Eddie Salazar Jr. died from blunt force trauma that
fractured his skull and his father now faces one count of second-degree
murder for causing that trauma.
Eddie Salazar Sr., 29, Carthage, is being held in the Jasper County
Jail on a $100,000 bond for a misdemeanor charge of filing a false
police report since police said he admitted to lying to them about baby
Salazar Jr. being kidnapped by men in ski masks on Feb. 4.
Now he is being held without bond on a second-degree murder charge,
filed by Jasper County Prosecutor Dean Dankelson on Wednesday, after
investigators received the preliminary autopsy report from the Boone
County Medical Examiner’s Office in Columbia.
Carthage Police Det. Jeff Steffen prepared the probable cause
affidavit, which is a document explaining to the prosecutor why they
think an individual should be charged with a certain crime.
In that document, Steffen said Salazar Sr. murdered his child at about
9:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 4, two hours before police said a 9-1-1 call
first alerted them that the child was allegedly missing.


“A combination of physical evidence and statements made by Eddie
Salazar Sr. indicated he was responsible for the death of his son,”
Steffen wrote. “During the above listed date (Feb. 4) and time, Eddie
Salazar Jr. was in the sole custody of Eddie Salazar Sr. The
preliminary autopsy report indicated the cause of death to be homicide.
The results revealed the cause of death to be blunt head trauma.”
Carthage Police Chief Greg Dagnan said the baby’s skull was
fractured by the trauma. He declined to reveal what it was that
investigators believe caused the trauma, but he said they believe they
know what it was.
“The pathologist has some opinions on that and I’d rather not
comment on his opinions until we get the final report,” Dagnan said.
“He does have some pretty clear opinions at least on the type of
surface that he thought that was.”
Police believe they now know what happened at 227 E. Mound St. that
night, even though the only people who were inside the house when it
happened were the accused, the victim and the victim’s three-year-old
brother, Dagnan said.
“I feel like we have as good a picture as you can possibly have of
what happened (that night),” Dagnan said. “We don’t know if the other
child saw this. Interviewing a three-year-old is kind of an exercise in
futility most of the time, so I really don’t know what he saw.
Obviously we have some theories on it but to honestly say I know, we
don’t.”
Dagnan thought it was interesting the pathologists didn’t mention
shaken baby syndrome, where a frustrated adult shakes a baby so hard
the baby’s brain is damaged or severed. Nowhere is it mentioned in the
preliminary report.
“It’s interesting because it’s so common and it was an assumption
among many people that I talked to that it was shaken baby syndrome
because it is so common,” Dagnan said. “We may find out when the final
report comes out that shaken baby syndrome was a part of this but I do
think it was interesting that the preliminary report did not list that
as a cause of death.”
Dagnan said things were beginning to return to normal at the police
station on Wednesday, 13 days after the frantic 38-hour search for
Eddie Salazar Jr. began.
More than 150 officers from numerous police departments, fire
departments, law agencies, Carthage Street Department workers and
volunteers from the Missouri Southern State University Police Academy
combed the north side of Carthage, then the banks of the Spring River
between County Road 85 and Carthage on that Friday and Saturday. The
baby’s tiny body was found by Joplin police officers and Missouri State
Water Patrol investigators wedged against a tree at about 3:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 6, in the river downstream from the County Road 85
bridge.
“Really, today was the first time I felt like we could move on to
other things,” Dagnan said. “Even today the investigation consumed most
of the day, but I saw our investigators able to move on and get back to
some of the other cases that have just been pending while we worked on
this. We can focus on other cases (now that) we haven’t been able to
give much time or attention to.
“There will be some sort of investigation that goes on probably up to the trial.”
Despite the length of time between discovery of the baby’s body and
release of the autopsy results, there were no surprises in the latter’s
verdict, Jasper County Prosecuting Attorney Dean Dankelson said.
“I think the autopsy pretty much came out what we were expected based on what we’ve found from our investigation.”
Dankelson did say no additional charges would likely be filed from his office.
In Missouri, second-degree murder is ordinarily defined as either an
intentional killing not premeditated or planned, or a killing caused by
dangerous conduct and the offender's obvious lack of concern for human
life.
Murder in the second degree is a Class A felony — maximum punishment is imprisonment for life.

What a beautiful child he was

Eddie A. Salazar entered
a plea of innocent Thursday to a charge of second-degree murder in the
Feb. 4 death of his 8-month-old son.
Salazar, 29, appeared for his arraignment
in Jasper County Circuit Court in Joplin via a video link with the
county jail in Carthage, where he is being held without bond.
Public defender Maleia Cheney, who has been
representing Salazar since an initial count of making a false report to
police was filed against him Feb. 6, was appointed by Associate Circuit
Judge Richard Copeland to also act as the defendant’s attorney on the
murder charge.
The defendant’s next hearing date in the murder case will be March 17.
A date for a preliminary hearing has yet to be set.
Salazar is accused of causing the death of
Eddie A. Salazar Jr. while the baby was in his care at their home in
Carthage. A probable-cause affidavit puts the time of death at about
9:30 p.m. on Feb. 4. The boy’s mother, Yadira Aguilar, was at work at
the time, according to authorities.
Salazar placed a 911 call at 11:04 p.m.,
claiming that two masked men entered the home while he was sleeping and
abducted the baby. He told investigators that he awoke and struggled
with the intruders, but was knocked unconscious. An Amber Alert was
issued, and a massive search was launched for the child and his
abductors.
But, investigators say, the father’s story
fell apart in less than 24 hours. The baby’s body was found and
retrieved Feb. 6 from Spring River east of Carthage.
An autopsy conducted by the Boone County
medical examiner’s office determined the cause of the baby’s death to
be blunt-force trauma to the head. The autopsy revealed a skull
fracture and other bone fractures, which investigators have declined to
specify. Investigators have declined to say how the fatal injury to the
child was inflicted.

The misdemeanor charge of filing a false police report, filed
against Eddie Salazar Sr. two days after he reported his 8-month-old
child missing, has been dismissed.
Salazar still faces second degree murder in the death of Eddie
Salazar Jr. on Feb. 4. The baby's body was found in the Spring River by
searchers on Feb. 6.
Jasper County Prosecutor Dean Danksleon said his office would have
had to turn most of the evidence it plans to use against Salazar in its
murder case over to his attorneys at a preliminary hearing on the
misdemeanor charge scheduled for Tuesday if it hadn’t dropped that
charge.
“To avoid providing all the police reports and evidence prior to the
preliminary hearing on the murder charge, we dismissed the misdemeanor
account,” Dankelson said. “The rules don’t require us to give that
information over before the preliminary so we don’t do it.”
A hearing regarding the second degree murder charge, still facing
Salazar, is scheduled for March 17. Salazar is still in custody with no
bond in the Jasper County Jail.

Eddie Salazar Sr., the man charged with second degree murder in the
death of his son, eight-month-old Eddie Salazar Jr., was bound over for
trial on Wednesday after he waived his right to a preliminary hearing.
Salazar is scheduled to make his first appearance in Jasper County
Circuit Court Division 1 at 9 a.m. March 29.


At 11:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 4, Salazar called police and said two
men broke into his home, knocked him unconscious and took the baby.
More than 150 officers and volunteers immediately started searching the
neighborhood in a snow shower for the baby and an AMBER Alert was issued
across the nation.
On Saturday, Feb. 6, officials announced that Salazar admitted to
lying about the kidnapping and the misdemeanor was filed.
The baby was found floating in the Spring River downstream from the
County Road 85 bridge by searchers from the Missouri State Water Patrol
and Joplin Police Department.
An autopsy report, prepared by the Boone County Medical Examiner’s
office in Columbia, showed that Eddie Salazar Jr. died from blunt force
trauma that fractured his skull.
Police Chief Greg Dagnan has declined to say if a weapon might have
been used to hit the child, but he said the pathologists have a pretty
good idea how the baby was killed.
The autopsy report did not mention shaken-baby syndrome, where a
child is shaken so hard the brain is damaged and begins to bleed in the
skull.
In Missouri, second-degree murder is ordinarily defined as either an
intentional killing not premeditated or planned, or a killing caused by
dangerous conduct and the offender's obvious lack of concern for human
life.
Murder in the second degree is a Class A felony — maximum punishment
is imprisonment for life.

Eddie Salazar Sr., 29, Carthage, will be arraigned in Jasper County
Circuit Court in front of Circuit Court Judge Gayle Crane on one count
of second-degree murder in the February death of his son, Eddie Salazar
Jr., 8 months.


The arraignment is set for 9 a.m. Monday.
Salazar Sr. waived his right to a preliminary hearing on March 17 and
was bound over for trial. He is being held without bond in the Jasper
County Detention Center in Carthage.
Salazar called 9-1-1 and told authorities that two men broke into his
home, knocked him unconscious and took the child from the home late on
Feb. 4.
The call sparked an intense two-day search for the missing child,
including an Amber Alert that police sent out to the public.
After about 36 hours, police said they determined Salazar was lying
about the masked intruders.
Searchers found the baby’s body floating in the Spring River east of
Carthage at about 3:30 p.m. Feb. 6. An autopsy determined the baby died
from a skull fracture but they have not revealed how the baby was
killed.

Carthage man charged with killing his eight month old son last
month has pleaded not guilty in Jasper County court on a second-degree
murder charge. Eddie Salazar sparked an Amber alert when he told police
two masked men broke into his home, beat him up, and took his baby.
Investigators later found out Salazar was lying. Eddie Salazar,
Jr.'s, body was found two days later with a fractured skull along the
Spring River.

A man from Carthage, accused of killing his eight month old son, wants a
change of venue for his trial.
Eddie Salazar Senior is charged with murder in the death of Eddie Salazar, Junior.
He's scheduled to be in court this morning for a motion hearing.
His son was found in the Spring River near Joplin in February.
He told police masked men kidnapped the boy. Soon after, the 29-year-old was
charged with filing a false report. He was later charged with murder.
Autopsy results show Eddie Salazar, Junior died from blunt force head trauma.
Salazar has pleaded not guilty.

A hearing to deal with motions in the Eddie Salazar case was delayed from Monday until Nov. 18.

Salazar, who faces one count of second-degree murder in the death of his eight-month-old child, Eddie Salazar Jr., is scheduled to go to trial on the charge on April 4, 2011.

Salazar was slated to appear in court on Monday to discuss pre-trial motions, but Jasper County Prosecutor Dean Dankelson said that hearing was delayed until Nov. 18.

Dankelson said he had no motions at this time, but that could change between now and Nov. 18.

Salazar is being held without bond in the Jasper County Jail in Carthage.

At 11:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 4, Salazar called police and said two men broke into his home, knocked him unconscious and took the baby. More than 150 officers and volunteers immediately started searching the neighborhood in a snow shower for the baby and an AMBER Alert was issued across the nation.

On Saturday, Feb. 6, officials announced that Salazar admitted to lying about the kidnapping and the misdemeanor was filed.

The baby was found floating in the Spring River downstream from the County Road 85 bridge by searchers from the Missouri State Water Patrol and Joplin Police Department.

Salazar murder case set for trial in May

CARTHAGE, Mo. —

The case of a man accused of murdering his baby son in Carthage in February 2010, will go to trial this May.

Jasper County Prosecutor Dean Dankelson said Eddie Salazar Sr., 30, Carthage, will stand trial for one count of second degree murder starting on Friday, May 13. Dankelson said the trial is expected to last four days.

May 13 is the third of three alternative trial dates set last June by Judge Gayle Crane.

Attorneys will choose a jury on Friday, May 13 and the trial will start after jury selection and continue on Monday, May 16 and into the following week.

In January, Salazar’s trial was moved back from February to April.

Dankelson said the defense asked for this latest delay and since the May dates were one of the three alternative dates chosen last year, his office didn’t object.

Salazar Sr. first reported, on Feb. 4, 2010, that his baby had been kidnapped by two masked men who broke into his home at 227 E. Mound St., and beat Salazar Sr., but left his three-year-old son unharmed.

The mother was not home at the time of the incident.

Salazar’s call prompted Carthage police to issue an Amber Alert and launch a massive 38-hour search that included Carthage firefighters and city workers, law officers and firefighters from surrounding communities, volunteers from the Missouri Southern law enforcement academy, and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Trash pickup was suspended in Carthage for a day in case the baby had been dumped, and Carthage firefighters traveled to Galena, Kan., to a trash transfer station to search trash that had been picked up the night before the police had been alerted.

On Feb. 6, Jasper County Sheriff’s deputies shifted the search to the Spring River east of Carthage and the baby’s body was found hung up on a tree that had fallen in the river.

Salazar Sr. has pleaded not guilty to the charge facing him.

A state pathologist determined that the baby’s death was a homicide and it was caused by blunt force trauma to the head.

Officials have not commented on what kind of surface or weapon caused the blunt force trauma.

Salazar is currently being held without bond.

http://www.carthagepress.com/features/x698054282/Salazar-murder-case-set-for-trial-in-May

The trial of a southwest Missouri man charged with murdering his 8-month-old son has again been delayed.
Eddie Salazar Sr., of Carthage, touched off an Amber
Alert in February 2010 when he told police that two masked men broke
into his home, beat him unconscious and abducted the baby. The body of
Eddie Salazar Jr. turned up two days later in a river east of Carthage.
The death was ruled a homicide.
The elder Salazar has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder. His trial was twice postponed earlier this year.
The Carthage Press reports the trial had been set to
begin Monday, but the defense attorney had a health issue in her family
and requested another delay. The judge and Jasper County prosecutor
agreed. A new date will be set next month.
http://carthagepress.com/