does not support or promote any kind of violence, self-harm, or abusive behavior. ", At some point, "Luzaida pulled up and ran out of somebody's car and freaked out and started screaming," he said. She looks like you. Mr. Moore said he learned that the girl was not his child in 1999, when he requested a paternity test. he said he asked. Correa's daughter, Angelica, 17, said she had been away from home that weekend visiting her father and had not been there for the birth, but a family friend went over to help Correa. In 1998 she was sentenced to five years' probation for setting a fire in a Hamilton, N.J., medical office where she had worked as a billing clerk. Before the results of the DNA tests were in, officials placed the child in New Jersey state custody. The investigators used the hair sample last week to match the girl's DNA with Ms. Cuevas's, proving that the girl was her child. As it turns out, she didn't need an investigator. daylight savings 2009 Vera worked as a car mechanic and as a stock boy for about two years at a Dollar Tree. When police returned to Correa's home to confront her about the DNA results, she had fled, leaving behind three other children. Police say she stole and cashed company checks and was trying to destroy evidence. After Correa took the girl, she raised her as her own daughter under the name of Aaliyah, while Delimar's disappearance was attributed to the intense fire in the room. Pence won't commit to supporting Trump if he's the nominee Cuevas and Pennsylvania Rep. Angel Cruz, who first took her story to authorities last month, declined several requests for interviews on the discrepancies. Why is carbon dioxide so good at absorbing infrared light? Cuevas saw the girl's smile and said she had the same dimple Delimar had as a baby. The medical examiner and fire officials concluded that the child's remains had been consumed by the fire. Delimar was her daughter, and she had died at just 10 days old. But the crib was empty. In court, Carolyn Correa (search) publicly accused birth father Pedro Vera of helping her commit the crime, a charge he denied after the hearing. Zucker is unclear about which legal strategy he will use for Correa, although he's considering an insanity defense. Foul play was never seriously considered. Correa, 42, even paid an independent lab to conduct another DNA test before she was arrested, her attorney Jeffrey Zucker said. Under the custody arrangement, Cuevas and Vera, who are no longer a couple, will share legal custody but the girl, who will keep using the name Aliyah, will live with her mother. All external sites will open in a new browser. My question is, Andre asked after Carolyns arrest, where is the child she and I had together? But Cuevas never fully believed her daughter died in the fire. Delimar Vera was born at 5:45 p.m. Dec 5, 1997 at Temple University Hospital. In January, she attended a birthday party for the child of an acquaintance and was struck by the resemblance of a 6-year-old girl to herself and her other children. Judge Pamela Dembe (search) said she had concluded that while Correa suffered from some depression, she was more manipulative than delusional. a neighbor yelled to him. "It seemed like a 5-foot wall of flames came at me," he said. Neighbors tried to stop Cuevas, but she burst into the house looking for her baby. " Farson said. ". northwestern university Vera admits seeing the girl at a baby shower for his niece four years ago. He also said that Aaliyah's appearance throughout infancy had not changed. A state legislator helped put Cuevas in touch with police, who launched an investigation and had DNA tests performed that confirmed the girl is her daughter. The woman, Carolyn Correa, turned herself in at a Philadelphia police station just one day after the authorities publicized the case and issued an alert for her arrest. She will be in jail for between nine and 30 years. Jeremy Farson, who lived two doors away at the time, said that Cuevas wasn't home when flames first erupted. and Sayings carlton banks In 2001, Correa had a baby with her current husband, Bryan Busardo. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. Everything else, from the girl's disappearance to discovery, is a murky cloud of he-said/she-said contradictions. Luzaida spent years doubting that her infant daughter Delimar really died in an apartment fire. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. . DNA tests confirmed her hunch, and Correa was charged this week. The police turned her away, telling her that they did not do such tests at the station. Luzaida. It's unclear what jobs, if any, Cuevas has had. Correa, a mother of three, told Puchales that she, along with Pedro Vera, then took her baby to a friend's house and returned around midnight to pick her up. Delimar is all grown up now, and from her Instagram page, she lives a happy life surrounded by friends and loved ones. All rights reserved. She said she was "as shocked as everyone else" when she heard that Aaliyah was Delimar, and wonders how and why Correa did it. host = host.toLowerCase(); Police investigators stopped talking about the case last week. She looks like you. The girl, who had a heart defect, died a few hours after birth, Zucker said. Luz Cuevas, her mother, could not find Delimar when she ran into the room. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. The officers sifted through the debris but found mostly dry wool particles, which they were told resemble human ashes, but only those burned at 1,000 degrees for an hour or longer, McDevitt said. "I would be very, very surprised if things go as happily and smoothly" as they did during the reunion, University of Pennsylvania assistant psychology professor Sara Jaffee said. Staggering snowfall in California mountains leaves residents trapped for days, Garland testifies before Senate panel amid ongoing special counsel probes, Colon cancer rates rising in younger age group, study finds, Firefighter dies battling blaze in downtown Buffalo, mayor says, 20,000 people may have been exposed to measles at Asbury University revival, Prosecution wraps its case at Alex Murdaugh murder trial, Top McCarthy aide, House Oversight chair each met with Ashli Babbitt's mother, What to know about Shigella bacteria as drug-resistant strain spreads, Ex-Georgia star Jalen Carter was racing in deadly crash, arrest warrants allege, Flying bug found at Walmart turns out to be rare Jurassic-era insect, Pence won't commit to supporting Trump if he's the nominee, 1894 shipwreck found in Lake Huron, confirming "powerful, tragic story". Correa, 42, is accused of stealing Delimar as a baby, setting a fire to cover up the abduction, and raising her as her own child. But the crib was empty. Vera arrived as Correa and Aaliyah were leaving. She always told me she had a feeling she was still alive," Santiago said. "It seemed like a 5-foot wall of flames came at me," he said. In an interview, Cuevas said this party occurred in January, two months ago, not a year earlier. "You robbed a small girl of a very great deal," Dembe said. But after the fire was put out, authorities stated that baby Delimar, died in that fire even though they could not find her remains. Amid the turmoil, family friend and state Rep. Angel Cruz said Delimar and her mother were doing well. Delimar Vera was born at 5:45 p.m. Dec 5, 1997 at Temple University Hospital. Carolyn Correa - the kidnapping a Delimar Vega - 4fd89c01cc2e During their first meeting, Delimar, who is now 6, was hiding under a table when her parents walked into the room, according to Anthony Cianfrani, another attorney for Cuevas. "I could never make contact because there was always a machine or something," he said. "Pedro gave me the baby," Correa, 43, of Willingboro, N.J., told the judge. If someone's a victim, why ask if they should have caught it sooner?". Legal Statement. Why?" And, mostly importantly, who had taken her? With no evidence of arson, Heeney said he had no reason to believe the fire was suspicious. He said he believes the baby she had in December 1997 was either stillborn or she had a miscarriage. ifortuna She had seen the child every day since, and she did not change in appearance, Angelica said. Before the results. or redistributed. Vera was not home at the time. watch dallas cowboys online "He told me he thought he knew who did it," Nieves said. "He suspected some lady sort of close to the family took the child. It would emerge throughout the trial that Carolyn had been dating a man named Andre Moore, and told him she had fallen pregnant. But when Cuevas finally found her daughter, she was determined to go through any length to win her back. "You robbed a small girl of a very great deal," Dembe said. Entering a plea of nolo contendere, she was accused and found guilty of kidnapping, arson, and attempted murder, and was sentenced to nine to thirty years in prison in 2005. "An unusual and tragic situation like this shakes the very core of a child's sense of stability and predictability of the world around them," said Dr. David Fassler, a University of Vermont professor of psychiatry and a child psychiatrist. "I hear everyone saying that both had suspicions all along about who took their baby, and my question is: Why didn't they do anything?" The Mercer County prosecutor's office in New Jersey said on Tuesday that Ms. Correa was convicted of arson in June 1998 in an unrelated case. I think something must have happened to make her do this," she said. Andre Moore, who said he was dating Ms. Correa at that time, said she appeared to be pregnant and later told him that the infant was his daughter. taladega When she knew who she was and where she was? "From that moment, that's when I got the feeling.". I thought for six years Aaliyah was my baby. Before the party, Ms. Cuevas had last seen her daughter the evening of Dec. 15, 1997, when a fire broke out on the second floor of her Philadelphia home, while her daughter was sleeping.