HANNAH JACKSON - 2 yo - Newark DE

NEWARK, Del. (WABC) -- Police have identified a 2 year old girl found abandoned in Delaware, and shifted the investigation to New Jersey.
They're not saying who she is, at least not publicly. The girl's ok, but who left her and why are still mysteries.
Newark, Delaware police said the investigation and all surrounding circumstances is now centered in Middlesex County, New Jersey. The Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office is now heading the investigation
The child was abandoned in a gas station bathroom last Sunday.
Richard Sedlak from western Pennsylvania is a power company lineman who was passing through on the way to a job in Maryland. He stopped, intending to use the bathroom at a Shell gas station at 804 South College Avenue, near the University of Delaware. He got a key from the attendant and headed to the door, but heard crying from inside.
"He waited a few minutes, thinking there was a parent and child inside," said Lt. Brian Henry of the Newark Police. "But when the crying continued and nothing else happened he opened the door and found the child inside, alone."
After the child's picture was aired on television, including Eyewitness News, police received tips and were able to identify the girl.
The gas station where she was abandoned has an electronic surveillance system, but it wasn't working, investigators said.
Police say the little girl would not give them her name. She just kept asking for her mother.
The girl remains in foster care in Delaware.

After four days of uncertainty, police believe they know her name.
The approximately 2-year-old girl who was found crying Sunday,
locked in the restroom of a Newark gas station, was tentatively
identified Wednesday, police said.Though
they offered few details -- including what they believe to be the
girl's name -- the breakthrough came after photos and a videotape of
the toddler were circulated throughout the East Coast, bringing dozens
of offers to help and even adopt her.It also motivated a call to Newark
police early Friday by someone who recognized her, Lt. Brian Henry said.Newark
police said late Wednesday night that the focus of the investigation
has centered on Middlesex County, N.J., and is being led by the
prosecutors office there.The girl's limited vocabulary initially stymied Newark
police and social workers with the state Division of Family Services."Children
that age have a very limited lexicon," said Family Services spokesman
Joseph Smack. "They know their mother's name is 'mommy' and know they
live 'at home.' "The
girl was placed with a foster family, Smack said. At a hearing
Wednesday in New Castle County Family Court, it will be decided how she
should be cared for next."I
hope the identification leads to finding out where her mother and
father are, and to why she was dropped off the way that she was," said
Stephanie Matthews of Newark, who contacted The News Journal to express
her worry about the girl's welfare.The
videotape released Tuesday shows the toddler having fun playing with
toys in her new surroundings. In another photo, also released
Wednesday, she smiles while holding up a white plastic bag."She
is playing and interacting well with the foster mother and other
children," Smack said. "From what I understand, she's been sleeping
through the night. During the first meeting with her social worker, she
was fond of a baby doll. She is friendly, happy and full of affection."The
girl also likes apple sauce and fruits. But her foster family is still
trying to figure out her eating habits -- what she likes and dislikes,
Smack said.
Since the child could not provide information to help police identify
her, detectives did a national search by her description, Henry said.
"We had the FBI run a search based upon what we knew about her,"
Henry said. "And we involved the National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children."Police
also sent a teletype to other law enforcement agencies, eliciting calls
from as far away as New York, Minnesota, Atlanta and New Mexico.As
the calls poured in, detectives prioritized them "in order of
credibility," Henry said. Detectives knocked on doors of local homes
where they had gotten tips about toddlers matching the girl's
description."We were able to say that it was not the girl," Henry said.
Timeline uncertain

Investigators never were able to pinpoint exactly when the girl was left in the
restroom of the 896 Shell station at 804 S. College Ave., or how long
she was locked in and crying.Jaswant Singh, a clerk at the station,
told police he did not know to whom he had given the restroom key, Henry said.In
missing persons cases, police use DNA or dental records as tools for
identification. With children, they sometimes use hand and feet prints
taken at birth. But they have to know where to look to get these tools."This
isn't an everyday occurrence, so obviously somebody discarded this
child for a reason," said Joseph Aviola, a former state police
lieutenant, now an assistant professor of criminal justice at
Wilmington University's graduate program. "At some point, you would
think that the child would have been reported missing. It can be very
frustrating for an investigator to make an identification when you
don't know in what area you're looking."The
last time a child was found abandoned in Delaware was in June 2007 in
the parking lot of Christiana Hospital, where a nurse found a screaming
11-month-old boy with a note tucked into his diaper.It
took state police about a week to determine the boy was Michael
DiGirolamo, the son of a Hightstown, N.J., woman who was later found
murdered. The boy's father, Rosario DiGirolamo, is awaiting trial in
New Jersey on charges that he killed the boy's 25-year-old mother.
"At least with DiGirolamo, he had the wherewithal to put the boy in the
hospital parking lot where he would be seen," Aviola said. "But in a
bathroom ..."
"Hopefully, they will put her in a safe place with someone who will never abandon
her again," said Nikki Napalm of Wilmington, who also contacted The
News Journal about the child. "I can't imagine how anyone could leave a
child anywhere. We also don't know what the circumstances were, even
though it's not right to ever leave a child."At
Wednesday's hearing, a family court judge will determine such things as
whether the child was neglected or abused, or the family was unable to
support her."If
the family did abandon her, then we obviously would want to keep
custody of her," said Nick Krayer, deputy child advocate for New Castle
County from the Office of the Child Advocate. "After that, there will
be a series of hearings to determine whether or not the child should go
home or whether or not the parental rights should be terminated. A lot
of it depends on the facts of the case."If the child happens to be from
another state, officials there would check to see whether the family is fit to take care of her.If
someone is considered a fit guardian, a process to place the child with
that person would begin, Krayer said. This would include an
investigation of the person's home, finances and criminal history."The
sad reality is, any time a child enters foster care it is traumatic,"
he said. "As far as the court process goes, they're not very much
involved in what exactly is going on, especially the younger children.
It takes time."That's
why state officials try to place children in loving foster homes that
can support them as well as they can. They're also placed in therapy to
help them deal with any issues that may result from the abandonment.Just
because police believe they know who the family is, that does not mean
the child should immediately be returned to them, said Karen K.
DeRasmo, executive director of Prevent Child Abuse Delaware. "A
decision really needs to be made that will assure that what's being
done is in her best interest."The
child already has undergone a serious disruption by being left in the
restroom. Leaving her in custody of someone who may not be able to care
for her would cause another disruption that could further damage her
development."Not
that she would not want to be reunited with her primary caregiver, but
is that person really going to be able to provide her with the kind of
consistent support and love and nurturing that she is going to
require?" DeRasmo said.

Middlesex County prosecutor takes over case of two year old abandoned in Newark, Del.


NEWARK, DE -- Police said prosecutors in New Jersey are leading the probe of the circumstances surrounding the abandonment of a little girl found locked in a gas station restroom.
Police said late Wednesday that the investigation is centered in Middlesex County, and the county prosecutor's office is heading the investigation. The child, believed to be about two years old, was discovered here on Sunday by a stranger who heard her crying.
Newark Police announced Wednesday that photos and videos of the girl released to the media led to a tentative identification of the girl. Delaware's Division of Family Services said the girl has been placed with a foster family

Posted on Thu, Feb. 25, 2010


Case of toddler abandoned in Del. leads to N.J.


Inquirer Staff ReportPolice in New Jersey have taken over the investigation related to the toddler who was abandoned at a gas station in Newark, Del.
The latest development comes after police announced the little girl has been indentified and unidentfied police sources were quoted as saying investigators believe the girl's mother did not abandon her daughter willingly and could be in harm's way.
The investigation is now being handled by the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office.
The reason the case has ended up there is not clear yet, but a spokesman there says information should be forthcoming soon.
The little girl, who is about 2 years old, has been in the custody of Delaware child welfare officials since she was found Sunday afternoon in the bathroom of a Shell station in Newark not far from I-95

A 25-year-old Edison, N.J., man has been charged with kidnapping and
endangering his 20-month-old daughter, who was abandoned at a Newark
gas station Sunday, according to the Middlesex County, N.J., Prosecutor
Office
Dwayne Jackson was charged today in Middlesex County, N.J., and is being held there on $750,000 bail. Newark
police have a warrant for Jackson's arrest, charging him with
first-degree reckless endangering for locking the girl in the bathroom
of the Shell service station at 804 S. College Ave. The
child was identified as Jackson’s daughter after her photograph was
published in The News Journal and elsewhere, according to Jim O'Neill,
spokesman for Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office. The child, who had
been living with her mother in North Brunswick, N.J., remains in
Delaware with her foster family. Officials did not
release the girl’s name. The identity of her mother also was withheld
due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, they said. O’Neill’s
statement did not say if the mother was the victim of an apparent
homicide whose body was found burning Monday in Ramapo, N.Y. Police
there linked the girl to the victim but did not offer details. The
young woman’s charred corpse was found just before 5:38 a.m. by two
newspaper carriers in the parking lot of Manny Weldler Town Park off
West Maple Avenue. Ramapo Detective Lt. Brad Weidel said investigators
don’t have a positive identification on the woman. When asked about the
link to the child found in Delaware, Weidel said information on that
would come from the Middlesex County, N.J., prosecutor's office. Ramapo
is about 66 miles from New Brunswick, N.J., seat of Middlesex County.
Newark, Del., is about 100 miles from New Brunswick.If
the child found in Newark is connected to the woman found in Ramapo,
the case has similarities to the Rosario DiGirolamo case, where a
screaming child was found in the Christiana Hospital parking lot in
June 2007. A note identified the boy as "John Vincent."Authorities
later learned the boy's actual name was was Michael DiGirolamo — the
son of 25-year-old Amy Giordano of Hightstown, N.J. Her dismembered
body was found in a pond in Staten Island, N.Y., in March 2008. Rosario
DiGirolamo was charged in New Jersey with killing Giordano, his
mistress. He is awaiting trial.

MIDDLESEX COUNTY — An abandoned toddler locked in a
gas station restroom off Interstate 95 in Delaware have been linked to
a Edison man who has been charged with kidnapping and endangering the
20-month-old child.
Dwayne Jackson, 25, has also been charged by police in Newark, Del.
with a count of first-degree reckless endangering. Authorities said
Jackson left the girl, identified as his daughter, at a Shell service
station on South College Avenue in Newark, Del. on Sunday.But the mystery surrounding the girl's disappearance has only deepened.The Journal News, based in White Plains, N.Y., reported Thursday
that police in Ramapo, N.Y., linked the missing child to the murder of
a woman whose charred corpse was found in the Rockland County town
Monday morning.Detective Lt. Brad Weidel of the Ramapo
Police Department told the Journal News that the murder investigation
has shifted to Middlesex County.Jim O'Neill, spokesman
for the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office, declined to discuss the
news report or the mother of the child. He said the identity of the
toddler's mother is being withheld "due to the on-going nature of the
investigation.''The child had been living with her mother
in North Brunswick, O'Neill said. She is currently in the custody of
Delaware authorities.The girl was found crying Sunday,
locked in a restroom in gas station off Interstate 95, according to an
article in The News-Journal in Wilmington, Delaware. Ramapo is about 66 miles from New Brunswick, while Newark, Del., is about 100 miles from New Brunswick.
The the young woman's charred corpse was found in Manny Welder Town Park in Ramapo just before 5:38 a.m. Monday.Jackson is being held at Middlesex County Adult Correction Center in North Brunswick in lieu of $750,000 bail.O'Neill
is urging anyone with information on the case to call Detective Michael
McGinn of the North Brunswick Police Department at (732) 545-3200, or
Investigator Paul Miller of the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office at
(732) 745-4466.

Poster's Note: Here's one of the original stories about the little girl's Mother


Police say a body was found at the scene of a fire in a Rockland County park.
The body of a young girl was discovered in the parking lot near the entrance to Manny Wildler Park in Monsey. Town officials revealed the gruesome discovery. "They found the burned remains of a female," town supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence said.
Earlier, the Monsey Fire Department had responded to a small blaze at the snow-covered park. The victim's age, race and identity are still unknown. "We have no reason to believe, none at all, that this was somebody who
was abducted within the park and murdered," Det. Lt. Brad Weidel said. As officers kept visitors from the park, police say they are in the
process of reaching out to this Rockland County community in hopes of
learning more. "One of the things that we would certainly look
at is people, students from the high school that may have been absent
today. We're looking at all of our missing persons. We are working with
the school districts," Weidel said. Searching through snow
banks and the surrounding area for evidence, police did find some
items, but don't know if they are connected to the case. A $5,000 reward is being offered in hopes of finding someone who knows who she is, who killed her and who set her on fire.

MONSEY – Ramapo Police Tuesday released photos of a tattoo of the
name “Patricia” on the lower back of a young woman found murdered at a
park in Monsey.
The victim was either African American or
dark skinned Hispanic, about 18 years old. Her body had been set on
fire, police learned, when officers responded to the Welder Park on
West Maple Avenue early Monday morning.
Police have not been able to identify the victim, although they said she had gallbladder surgery within the last four weeks.
Police
have not revealed a cause of death and are seeking the public’s
assistance in identifying the woman. Anyone with information is asked
to call Ramapo Town Police at 845-357-2400.

I'm glad this little one has been identified but so sad her mother is dead. It's so similar to Masaraha's case. I believe her mother is also probably dead but I am still holding out a glimmer of hope that Masaraha is still alive. It's been a long time though

MIDDLESEX COUNTY — An Edison man has been charged with
the abandonment Sunday of a toddler in a gas station restroom off
Interstate 95 in Delaware, but the mystery surrounding the child only
deepened Thursday.
Authorities in Rockland County, N.Y., investigating the murder of a
woman whose charred body was found in a park there Monday, said she is
the mother of the baby girl.Dwayne Jackson, 25, has been
charged with kidnapping and endangering the welfare of the 20-month-old
girl following his arrest in North Brunswick early Thursday. Jackson
has been identified as the father of the toddler."It appears likely that the female murder victim located in
RocklandCounty is the 24-year-old mother of the abandoned child found
in Newark,Del.," Rockland County District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said
Thursday.The dead woman has been identified as Patricia
Belizaire, 24, according to a law-enforcement source, the Journal News
of Westchester County, N.Y., reported. Her daughter is Hannah Jackson.
Efforts to contact Belizaire's family were unsuccessful Thursday night.Investigators
in Rockland County, New Jersey and Delaware are involved in the probe
into her slaying and the kidnapping of the girl."We're
investigating the incident in New York, but beyond that I can't say
anything further,'' said Jim O'Neill, spokesman for the Middlesex
County Prosecutor's Office.Jackson has also been charged
by police in Newark, Del., with a count of first-degree reckless
endangering. Authorities said Jackson left the girl at a Shell service
station on South College Avenue in Newark, Del. She was found crying in
the locked room.The child had been living with her mother
in North Brunswick, O'Neill said. She is currently in the custody of
Delaware authorities.The young woman's charred corpse was found in Manny Welder Town Park in Ramapo, N.Y., just before 5:38 a.m. Monday. Ramapo is about 66 miles from New Brunswick, while Newark, Del., is
about 100 miles from New Brunswick. People in Jackson's neighborhood described him as a good neighbor."He's very nice, very polite,'' said Tulio Garcia, who lives next to
Jackson and his family on Weldon Road in Edison. ""He calls me Mr. Garcia
and I said, "No, use my first name,' and he said, "No, sir, I don't do
that.' '' Garcia and other neighbors said Jackson has been quick to help people in
the neighborhood shovel snow from their driveways. Jackson and his wife, Lizette Jackson, bought the ranch house at 3
Weldon Road in 2007 for $350,000, according to real estate records. Neighbors said the couple has two young sons and Lizette Jackson has a
daughter whom Garcia said was 12. Dwayne Jackson has no criminal record. Neighbors said he worked a night shift as a security guard at Robert
Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. A hospital spokesman did
not confirm that, but said the hospital is cooperating with the
investigation. Jackson is being held at Middlesex County Adult Correction Center in
North Brunswick in lieu of $750,000 bail. O'Neill is urging anyone with information on the case to call Detective
Michael McGinn of the North Brunswick Police Department at (732) 545-3200,
or Investigator Paul Miller of the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office at
(732) 745-4466.

The father of a girl found Sunday at a Newark gas station is charged
with kidnapping her. And it appears the girl's mother was found slain
the next day.
Both developments broke Thursday as investigators in three states
tried to piece together how 20-month-old Hannah Jackson ended up
abandoned in the restroom of the Shell station at 804 S. College Ave.Prosecutors
in Middlesex County, N.J., charged 25-year-old Dwayne Jackson of
Edison, N.J., with kidnapping and endangering the child, who remains in
Delaware foster care, about 1:45 p.m.About
three hours later, prosecutors in Rockland County, N.Y., said they
believe the remains of a woman found burning in a park were those of
Patricia Belizaire, Hannah's mother."It
appears likely that the female murder victim located in Rockland County
is the 24-year-old mother of the abandoned child found in Newark,
Delaware," Rockland County District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said.
Officials did not say whether the kidnapping and homicide are related.A
preliminary hearing has not been scheduled for Jackson, who is being
held in Middlesex County on $750,000 bail. Newark police also have an
arrest warrant for him on charges of first-degree reckless endangering
for leaving the girl at the gas station. No other charges were filed,
but the investigation is still going on.Hannah lived with her mother in
North Brunswick, N.J.It was not known Thursday how the woman's body
ended up in Ramapo, N.Y.Aside
from the new charges, no criminal records were found for Jackson in
Delaware or New Jersey, where neighbors said he worked as a night-shift
security guard at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New
Brunswick. Citing confidentiality rules, hospital officials would not
confirm whether Jackson worked there."He's
very nice, very polite," said Tulio Garcia, who lives next to Jackson
and his family on Weldon Road in Edison. "He calls me Mr. Garcia and I
said, 'No, use my first name,' and he said, "No sir, I don't do that.' "Garcia
and other neighbors said Jackson has been quick to help people in the
neighborhood, such as shoveling snow from their driveways.
Jackson and his wife, Lizette Jackson, bought the ranch house at 3
Weldon Road in 2007 for $350,000, according to real estate records.
Neighbors said the couple has two young sons and Lizette Jackson has a
12-year-old daughter, according to Garcia.Hannah is Dwayne Jackson's
daughter with another woman, authorities said.The
girl was identified as Jackson's daughter after her photograph was
published in The News Journal and elsewhere, said Jim O'Neill,
spokesman for Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office.Nick
Krayer, deputy child advocate for New Castle County from the state
Office of the Child Advocate, said the child will remain in Delaware
for the foreseeable future."Ultimately, she may go back with a family member to New Jersey," Krayer said.

Hearing set for toddler

A hearing has been scheduled for Wednesday in New Castle County Family
Court to determine Hannah's future. In the meantime, officials said,
she is happy with her foster family and other children.The
woman's remains were found just before 5:38 a.m. Monday by two
newspaper carriers in the parking lot of Manny Weldler Town Park off
West Maple Avenue in Ramapo.The
Medical Examiner's Office there described the young woman as
African-American or dark-skinned Hispanic, approximately 5 feet 2
inches tall and about 120 pounds.The name "Patricia," with the stem of a
flower with a rose on top, was tattooed on her body.Though
prosecutors believe she was the child's mother, Ramapo Detective Lt.
Brad Weidel said investigators don't have a definite identification on
the woman.When asked about the link to the child found in Delaware,
Weidel referred comment to the Middlesex County prosecutors.
Ramapo is about 65 miles from New Brunswick, the seat of Middlesex County.
Newark is about 100 miles from New Brunswick.

http://www.myspace.com/belziaire

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. - A New Jersey man accused of abandoning his
toddler daughter at a gas station in Delaware has now been charged with
killing a woman believed to be her mother. Middlesex County prosecutors filed a murder charge against Dwayne
Jackson, 25, of Edison, Thursday night. Bail was increased from
$750,000 to $2,000,000, and he remained in the county jail yesterday.
Jackson - who was charged with kidnapping and child endangerment in New
Jersey and reckless endangerment in Delaware - is now also charged in
the slaying of a woman whose burning body was found in a park in
Monsey, N.Y. Her name has not been released. Jackson's 20-month-old
daughter was found Sunday at a Shell station in Newark, Del

The father of a 20-month-old girl abandoned in a Newark gas station was
charged late Thursday with killing her mother, New Jersey officials
said.
Dwayne Jackson suffocated Patricia Belizaire Sunday in New Jersey,
then set her body on fire in New York state early Monday, authorities
in Middlesex County, N.J., said.Their daughter was found Sunday alone in a locked Shell station restroom at 804 S. College Ave.The father was charged Thursday afternoon with kidnapping her.And now that Hannah Belizaire Jackson's identity is known, officials in Delaware are reviewing options for the girl's future.They
include considering whether relatives or others who want to care for
her are suitable guardians, said Joseph Smack of Delaware's Division of
Child Services."A
case like this is so overwhelming because the girl is so young and
impressionable and will have so many issues," said Edwina Bell, a
director for the nonprofit Professional Counseling Resources of
Wilmington, who works with relatives of murder victims and children
with incarcerated parents."I
think the best course for the professionals in this case would be to
take a holistic approach and deal with all her needs and recovery
simultaneously."Jackson,
25, of 3 Weldon Road in Edison, N.J., was charged about 10:30 p.m.
Thursday with murdering Belizaire, also 25, of New Brunswick, N.J.Investigators did not reveal a possible motive.Jackson
allegedly killed Belizaire in North Brunswick, then drove her body to a
park in Ramapo, N.Y., where it was set on fire around 5:22 a.m. Monday,
according to the investigation by the North Brunswick Police Department
and the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office, both in New Jersey.Authorities said Belizaire was asphyxiated.Her charred and burning body was found by two newspaper carriers in the front parking lot of Manny Weldler Town Park.Hannah
was found in the gas station about 2:45 p.m. Sunday, Newark police
said. Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office spokesman James O'Neill
would not comment on whether authorities think Belizaire was killed
before or after Hannah was abandoned.

At least he spared his daughters life.

Monday, March 01, 2010

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — A New Jersey man accused of abandoning his young
daughter at a Delaware gas station has pleaded not guilty to murdering
the toddler's mother.

Twenty-five-year-old Dwayne Jackson, of Edison, appeared Monday in state Superior Court in New Brunswick, N.J. He is charged with killing 25-year-old Patricia Belizaire of North Brunswick. Her burning body was found in an upstate New York park Feb.22.
Jackson also faces a child endangerment charge in New Jersey and a reckless endangerment charge in Delaware.
The couple's 20-month-old daughter was found unharmed in the restroom of a gas station in Newark, Del., the day before police found her mother's body.
The child is in the care of Delaware's Division of Family Services.

The 20-month-old toddler abandoned at a gas station in Delaware last
month will remain in foster care, a judge ruled today, though
authorities are hopeful the girl will soon be reunited with her
maternal relatives in New Jersey.
Hanna Jackson has been in foster care since Feb. 21, when she was
discovered abandoned in the men’s room of a Shell station in Newark,
Del.
Her father, Dwayne Jackson, 25, of Edison, is accused of
abandoning her, and of killing her mother the same day.
The victim, Patricia Belizaire, was suffocated in the North
Brunswick apartment where she lived with her daughter. Authorities said
Jackson killed the woman then drove her body to Rockland County, N.Y.,
where he set it on fire.
Today, a Family Court judge in Newark, Del., ruled Hanna should stay
in foster care, said Nick Krayer, who is with the Delaware state Office
of the Child Advocate, and is the toddler’s attorney.
Krayer said Hanna’s maternal relatives from New Jersey have indicated they will file for custody but have not done so yet.

Neighbors on Weldon Road in Edison say Dwayne Jackson is a typical
suburban family man who spent time with his children and was always
willing to help a friend.
Prosecutors say he is a killer who asphyxiated his mistress - the
mother of his daughter - and dumped her burning body in a New York
state park.Patricia Belizaire, the woman Jackson is accused of killing, is remembered as a devout Christian and devoted mother.But friends and neighbors say she made bad relationship decisions and ended up living in fear and moving from home to home. Their
daughter - 20-month-old Hannah Jackson - ended up locked and crying in
the bathroom of a Newark, Del., gas station, according to police and
prosecutors.New Castle County (Del.) Family Court decided
Wednesday that Hannah will stay indefinitely in Delaware, where she has
been living with a foster family since Feb. 21, the day she was found
at the gas station.Hannah was not at the hearing
Wednesday, but some of Belizaire's relatives from New Jersey turned out
to express an interest in caring for the girl, said Nick Krayer of the
state Office of the Child Advocate, who represented the girl in court. "There
are some relatives that have come forward," Krayer said, adding they
will not be allowed to see Hannah until they are investigated by
authorities in Delaware and New Jersey. "We are going to explore them
to determine if they are appropriate and hopefully in the future ... we
can get her to her relatives."As soon as family members are deemed fit to be with Hannah, Family Court will allow visits, he said."She
wouldn't just be dumped from one foster home to the (adoptive)
parents," Krayer said. "She would start by being reintroduced to each
family member and they would gradually build up trust with her because
obviously she's been through a traumatic experience."Family
members had not officially filed for Hannah's custody as of Wednesday,
he said. While some have come forward, others are still learning
details about what happened to Belizaire, who left Florida for New
Jersey shortly after turning 18. They include her father, Ernest
Belizaire, who flew from Florida to New Jersey Wednesday but has not
been able to talk to an official to discuss his daughter's death.
"I need to go to New Brunswick," he said, referring to the Middlesex
County Prosecutor's Office. "I went there, but their office was
closed." Ernest Belizaire, reached by cell phone
Wednesday, also was looking for his granddaughter, asking reporters to
take her to where he is staying.Patricia Belizaire was born in Haiti. Her family moved to southern
Florida, where she grew up, her father said. Her mother died in a car
accident when Belizaire was 3, he said. Ernest Belizaire didn't know
why Patricia moved to New Jersey after turning 18, though her mother
had relatives there."Teenagers sometimes they are crazy for no reason," he said. "She just made the decision." Ralphie Belizaire, a distant cousin of Patricia's, said through
Facebook e-mail that she was interested in family, adding they found
each other on Facebook. "(We) happened to run across each other because
of our last names."She added that her cousin always called if they hadn't spoken in a few days. "She was a sweet person and loved her daughter," Ralphie Belizaire said. Patricia
Belizaire's friend, Mary Dareus Belcher, said through Facebook that she
was in an abusive relationship, though she didn't know details. "The only thing I know is that he was abusive and he wanted her gone," she said in a Facebook message.New Jersey prosecutors, who said Jackson is Hannah's father, will not comment on the abuse allegations."It
would be premature and really, really improper for me to comment on
that," said Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Nicholas Sewitch,
whose office is handling the murder case. Tamara Moss,
who knew the victim, said Belizaire lived in fear and confided in her
about a bad relationship. At one point, Belizaire moved out of her
Oakleaf Village apartment to get away from someone, Moss said. After
she moved, the apartment was broken into and vandalized, she added.Moss
said the incident was reported to North Brunswick police, who referred
comment to Middlesex County prosecutors. Belizaire eventually returned
to the Oakleaf Village apartments, where she lived in a one-bedroom
apartment with Hannah. Middlesex County authorities say she was killed
in the apartment. "She lived a very sad life," Moss said, adding
Belizaire was often sick and sometimes suffered seizures. Yet, she was
a positive person reminding people to pray."
"She had faith and hope," Moss said. "It still hurts -- what happened to her."Belizaire
once worked at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New
Brunswick, where Jackson was a security guard. Though she no longer was
an employee there, she continued to work in the medical field, Moss
said.
"I considered her as my angel," she said. Jackson
is accused of killing Belizaire the morning of Sunday, Feb. 21, at her
Oakleaf Village apartment. He took Hannah that same day to Delaware,
where he left her at the College Avenue Shell station, police said.Sewitch,
the New Jersey prosecutor, did not know if the child witnessed the
killing. After abandoning the girl, Jackson returned to North
Brunswick, where he picked up Belizaire's body, authorities say."Then,
under cover of darkness in the early morning hours of the 22nd, (he)
took the body to Ramapo, N.Y., where he set the body on fire in a
park," Sewitch said. "We do have an idea of a motive," Sewitch said.
"We are investigating further, so at this time it would be premature to
comment on that."The accusations against Jackson have left neighbors in disbelief. "This
is something that really surprised us," said Gloria Garcia, who along
with her husband Tulio, lived next door to Jackson for about a decade.
Jackson lived on Weldon Road in Edison with his wife, Lizette, her
12-year-old daughter, and the couple's two young boys.Although
snow still covered the front lawn of Jackson's home, a clean sidewalk
led to the white one-story ranch house. A wrought-iron mailbox stood
between the home's entrance and a wooden bench and seat. The home's
curtains were closed, preventing anyone from looking into the house. The
couple originally lived in a back section of the ranch-style home while
Jackson's in-laws lived in the front portion. But when the in-laws
left, the Jacksons moved to the front of the house and rented the back.
In one of his first conversations with the Garcias, Jackson told them
he had been in the Marines.Jackson joined the Corps three
months after 9/11, and left active duty in December 2005, Marine Maj.
Shawn Haney said. He achieved the rank of lance corporal and worked as
a personnel clerk, Haney said. His last assignment was at Camp Lejeune,
N.C
His house is now vacant, neighbors said. They suspect Lizette Jackson moved to her parents' house in Pennsylvania. The
last time Gloria Garcia saw Jackson's wife was Ash Wednesday as she
walked to St. Matthew the Apostle Church a few blocks away.

Among their memories of Jackson are the times he spent playing with
his young sons, the neighbors said. He set up a fireworks display in
his backyard during the last Fourth of July and asked the Garcias if
the children could watch from their yard to keep from getting hurt.
Before leaving for work that night, he gave the children sparklers,
Gloria Garcia said.About the only thing the Garcias found
odd about Jackson was that during the recent snowstorms, he would walk
out of his house with no shirt and no shoes to get the mail or throw
out the trash.
"Aren't you cold?" Tulio Garcia asked him, to which
Jackson replied, "No. I'm just preparing myself for the Polar Bear
Plunge." Gloria Garcia, who said her legs shook when she
learned of the charges against Jackson, still wonders if she and police
are talking about the same person. But she admits hearing about Hannah
Jackson being missing and wondered what sort of parent would abandon
her."I am positive something big happened to him," she
said. "You know when you are mad you never know what you are doing. Who
thinks their neighbor would do something like that?"

An Edison man was indicted today on charges he murdered the mother of his child in February, drove her body to a park in New York state, where he set it on fire, and drove their young daughter to Delaware, where he abandoned her at a gas station.Dwayne Jackson, 25, was formally charged with murder, kidnapping, endangering the welfare of a child and hindering his own apprehension.A New Brunswick woman, Ritu Loi, 26, was also charged by the Middlesex County grand jury with kidnapping, endangering the welfare of a child and hindering Jackson’s apprehension.The grand jurors charged that Loi accompanied Jackson to Newark, Del., where he abandoned 2-year-old Hannah in the men’s room of a Shell station and then to a park in Rockland County, N.Y., where he deposited Patricia Belizaire’s body and set it on fire.Loi is not charged with having participated in the Belizaire’s killing or setting her on fire.Authorities said Jackson, a married father of two young sons, suffocated Belizaire, 25, in the early morning hours of Feb. 21 in the North Brunswick apartment where she lived with Hannah. After he allegedly killed Belizaire, he drove the toddler to Delaware later in the morning and left her there. The child was discovered about 30 minutes later by a customer who heard her crying, authorities said.Jackson returned to North Brunswick and waited until late that night to move Belizaire’s body out, then drove her more than 70 miles north to a public park in Ramapo, N.Y., and set the body on fire, authorities said.Jackson was arrested three days later when someone saw a photo of Hannah released by Delaware police and he was identified as her father. He was linked hours after his arrest to the burned body found in the New York park.Authorities have not said what the relationship is between Loi and Jackson, who was a security guard for Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick.

A New Brunswick woman pleaded guilty today to helping an Edison man abandon his 20-month-old daughter in a gas station restroom after he allegedly murdered his wife.Ritu Loi, 26, pleaded guilty to a count of endangering the welfare of a child, Hannah Belizaire Jackson, and hindering the apprehension of Dwayne Jackson, 25.Loi’s plea came during a hearing before Superior Court Judge Bradley Ferencz after negotiations with Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Sheree Pitchford.Under the terms of the plea bargain, Loi faces five years of probation when she is sentenced and must testify truthfully at Jackson’s trial.No trial date has been set yet for Jackson, who is charged with murder, kidnapping, endangering the welfare of a child and hindering his own apprehension.Authorities said Jackson suffocated Patricia Belizaire, 25, the morning of Feb. 21 in the North Brunswick apartment where she lived with Hannah.After he allegedly killed Belizaire, Jackson and Loi drove his daughter to Delaware and left her at the gas station where the child was discovered 30 minutes later by a customer who heard her crying. The two returned to North Brunswick and Jackson waited until late that night to move Belizaire’s body, authorities said. He drove more than 70 miles to a park in Ramapo, N.Y. and set it on fire, authorities said. He was arrested three days later when someone saw a photo of Hannah released by Delaware police and he was identified as her father.Loi, who is free on her own recognizance, is to be sentenced Jan. 31, 2011.