The dismembered body of a missing 9-year-old Hasidic boy have been found at two locations in Brooklyn and police early today arrested a Kensington man in connection with the slaying, sources tell The Post.
Body parts stuffed in a suitcase were found in a Dumpster at 20th Street and Fourth Avenue early this morning and more remains were found 2 miles away, and police believe the body is Leibby Kletzky, who disappeared Monday while on his way to meet his parents.
Police stormed a Kensington home just before 4 a.m. and arrested a 35-year-old man who told cops where to find the body, sources said. Investigators tracked down the suspect by tracing his credit-card purchases and through video surveillance footage.
Body parts stuffed in a suitcase and found hidden in the Dumpster, and more were found at the suspect's home at Avenue C and and East Second Avenue.
State Assemblyman Dov Hikind said called it "a very brutal murder" in an interview this morning.
A gold car that may be the one Kltezky was last seen entering was found at the suspect's home, and investigators were seen going over the vehicle inch by inch.
The "angleic" 9-year-old vanished Monday after getting lost while walking alone for the first time from his Borough Park day camp and then following a man down a busy street in the tight-knit Hasidic community, sparking a desperate search that included the FBI.
He was last seen on surveillance video around 45th Street and Dahill Road walking behind a bearded man in a white shirt and dark pants.
"The boy is standing alone at some point. The male crosses the street in his direction, and the boy follows him on Dahill Road," said NYPD spokesman Paul Browne, adding that it's unclear whether the pair exchanged words.
The man -- who Browne described as "a person of interest" -- is seen driving off in a gold, possibly Japanese-make car, although "we don't know for certain whether the boy had gotten into the vehicle or not," he said.
Leibby's distraught dad, Nachman -- who had already identified his son wandering in another, earlier street video taken a few blocks away -- was expected to be asked by cops to study the later footage to see if he could identify the man.
When the dad, a passenger-van driver with five daughters, reviewed the earlier footage, "He had tears in his eyes," said Moishe Lefkovitz, the manager of the locksmith shop at 44th Street and 15th Avenue where the surveillance footage was taken.
"He kept shaking his head, saying, 'Where are you going? Where are you going? What are you doing?' "
Authorities say the boy was videoed walking alone from the Boyan Day Camp at a school on 44th Street near 12th Avenue at 4:50 p.m. Monday after returning from a class trip to Manhattan Beach Park.
Leibby -- who usually takes the bus -- was allowed to leave camp on foot so he could meet his mom and dad just seven blocks away, where they had a doctor's appointment.
The couple even took special pains to repeatedly go over the boy's walking route with him, a pal said.
The child had instructions to walk up 44th Street to 13th Avenue and then turn right on 13th Avenue and walk straight across to 50th Street, said a family friend, Rabbi Bernard Freilich.
"It sounded like he wasn't an expert on the streets," Freilich said.
Surveillance shows the boy walking out the front door on 44th Street toward 13th Avenue, as instructed, but instead of turning right toward the meeting spot, he kept going.
Video footage from the locksmith shop shows him on that corner at around 5:20 p.m. The last known footage of him with the man was recorded between 5:30 and 5:45 p.m.
His parents waited until 7 p.m. before contacting the Shomrim, the local civil-patrol group. Shomrim contacted the NYPD at 8 p.m.
Officers and search dogs, aided by the scent of Leibby's personal belongings -- including of his black leather shoes -- flooded the school looking for clues. An estimated 3,000 volunteers -- including busloads from Hasidic communities in Lakewood, NJ, and Monsey, NY -- joined the search.
This is horrific. The poor little boy. Can you please post the details of where the funeral will be and when - I would like to attend
ReplyDeleteI'm tellin you....MONEY IS INVOLVED....SOMEWHERE SOMEHOW!!! Guarantee it!!!
ReplyDeleteThe sad part is that the parents probably said not to talk to strangers and only to trust a Yid.
ReplyDeleteMy prayers are with the family. This was a since-less and cowardly thing to do. I cant imagine having to go through something like this.. I pray that over time they can find peace... From: Jamaine Williams Jersey City, NJ
ReplyDeleteThis story is heartbreaking, is beyond horror that such evil people could exist and hurt a little boy in such a sadistic way. On another note I live in Kew gardens and I see a lot of under age childrne goign alone to school back and forth. I am from Europe and my parents did not let me walk alone in the street until I was 17 years of age. How cna a little boy be left alone to come back from school? parents must wacth little childrne at all times the world unfotunatly is not safe and children are an easy target.
ReplyDeleteI just want to cry. I am horrified and sad that something like this could happen to anyone, let alone a child.
ReplyDeleteMy heart and prayers go out to this dear little boy's family. I am so sorry for their loss.
Blessings and love from Texas