OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The body of a 7-year-old Brazilian boy missing for nearly two years and believed to have been killed with his missionary parents in Nebraska has been pulled from the Missouri River, officials said Tuesday.
A dive team pulled Christopher Szczepanik's remains from the Iowa side of the river on Thursday, Omaha Police Chief Alex Hayes and Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine announced. DNA tests confirmed the identity Monday, Omaha station KETV reported (http://bit.ly/njn8qC ).
The boy and his parents, Vanderlei Szczepanik and Jacqueline Szczepanik, were reported missing in January 2010 in Omaha, where they were staying while Vanderlei Szczepanik, a carpenter, worked on renovating a former school. Friends and relatives in Brazil became worried when their daily contact ended on Dec. 17, 2009.
Three men from Brazil who authorities say worked for the Szczepaniks and ran up thousands of dollars in charges on the family's credit cards were later charged with murder, although the family's bodies hadn't been found. Christopher Szczepanik's body is the first to be recovered.
Officials said their break in the case came when one of the men, Valdeir Goncalves-Santos, made a deal with prosecutors to testify against the other two. In exchange, Goncalves-Santos pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
Investigators say Goncalves-Santo told them that the men beat Vanderlei Szczepanik to death with a baseball ball and hanged the boy and his mother, then threw the bodies in the river.
Another of the men, Jose Oliveira-Coutinho, was ordered last week to stand trial on three counts of first-degree murder. A warrant has been issued for the third man charged in the case, Elias Lourenco-Batista, who is believed to be in Brazil.
The Szczepaniks' daughter, Tatiane Costa Klein, said during an Omaha visit in summer 2010 that Oliveira-Coutinho had worked with her father for five years and that he was almost part of the family.
Attorneys for Oliveira-Coutinho and Goncalves-Santos did not immediately return messages left Tuesday by The Associated Press seeking comment. Online court records do not list an attorney for Lourenco-Batista.
(This may be a good reason for an Islamic type hanging.)
A dive team pulled Christopher Szczepanik's remains from the Iowa side of the river on Thursday, Omaha Police Chief Alex Hayes and Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine announced. DNA tests confirmed the identity Monday, Omaha station KETV reported (http://bit.ly/njn8qC ).
The boy and his parents, Vanderlei Szczepanik and Jacqueline Szczepanik, were reported missing in January 2010 in Omaha, where they were staying while Vanderlei Szczepanik, a carpenter, worked on renovating a former school. Friends and relatives in Brazil became worried when their daily contact ended on Dec. 17, 2009.
Three men from Brazil who authorities say worked for the Szczepaniks and ran up thousands of dollars in charges on the family's credit cards were later charged with murder, although the family's bodies hadn't been found. Christopher Szczepanik's body is the first to be recovered.
Officials said their break in the case came when one of the men, Valdeir Goncalves-Santos, made a deal with prosecutors to testify against the other two. In exchange, Goncalves-Santos pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
Investigators say Goncalves-Santo told them that the men beat Vanderlei Szczepanik to death with a baseball ball and hanged the boy and his mother, then threw the bodies in the river.
Another of the men, Jose Oliveira-Coutinho, was ordered last week to stand trial on three counts of first-degree murder. A warrant has been issued for the third man charged in the case, Elias Lourenco-Batista, who is believed to be in Brazil.
The Szczepaniks' daughter, Tatiane Costa Klein, said during an Omaha visit in summer 2010 that Oliveira-Coutinho had worked with her father for five years and that he was almost part of the family.
Attorneys for Oliveira-Coutinho and Goncalves-Santos did not immediately return messages left Tuesday by The Associated Press seeking comment. Online court records do not list an attorney for Lourenco-Batista.
(This may be a good reason for an Islamic type hanging.)
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