Remains of toddler found buried behind L.I. home

The remains of a 17-month-old boy were found in a shallow grave behind this home in Farmingdale, L.I., on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2012. / Sophia Hall/WCBS

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. A child welfare investigation has led to a startling discovery of a toddler's corpse on Long Island.

State police said Saturday that they had unearthed the boy's remains from the backyard of a home in Farmingdale, after being told by the boy's mother that he died two years ago, under circumstances that remain unclear.

Authorities said the family never reported the child's death.

No charges have been filed, but authorities said they are confident that an arrest is pending, reports CBS Station WCBS.

The cause of death of 17-month-old Justin Kowalczik is unknown. Investigators are waiting for an autopsy, and would not say if foul play is suspected.

Investigators believe that the child died sometime around the period when the family moved to Long Island, in July 2010. They said that the family has since been pretending to have three children.

Authorities were investigating the family of Robert Rodriguez after their six-year-old was injured. The family told investigators there are three children in their family, but that one was visiting relatives in upstate Middletown. When investigators discovered that it was not true, they began to worry about the safety of the other children.

An Amber Alert was called for the nine-year-old who happened to not show up at school on Friday. It turned out that the nine-year-old was just fine, but in the course of their investigation the backyard of the Rodriguez home was dug up. That's when the remains of Justin were found in a shallow grave.

[bunchomorons]

I agree, "startling" is a silly headline, since anyone with a brainstem would fully expect a body to be the end result of a child missing for years, unreported by the parents while they pretend nothing has happened. And yes, the police wouldn't say whether foul play was suspected, probably because they could not believe any reporter could ask such a stupid effing question. I'm sure it was an accident, and since there's no use crying over spilled milk, might as well bury the kid in the backyard and carry on an elaborate lie for as many years as you can before someone notices. Could happen to anyone, who wouldn't have the same reaction?

[rwsmith29456]

Just the folks next door.

[ksmit2]

This is become an increasing problem over the years with children missing, families not reporting crimes against children. Several years ago in Denver a family was investigated when it was discovered that they were supposed to have a girl in grade school. Parents told authorities that she "ran away from home" when she was five. Didn't report it. Turns out she was murdered and the Dad forced some of the siblings to participate so they wouldn't ever tell. They need much more monitoring and enforcement for these cases.

[erasmus111]

Just another day in the good old USA!

[djseavy]

Lerianis4 makes a very valid point. Compounding the problem, welfare agencies will literally ignore obvious abusive situations, claiming there isn't enough evidence, then go after a law-abiding parent who simply wants to raise their child not to be a mass-murder, druggie, have 5 kids by the time they're 20, etc. In short, they go after the wrong crowd. I raised two boys that are well-rounded citizens, and they grew up with expectations, and consequences for bad behavior. I wouldn't change it if I had it to do all over. Investigators seem to go after people who are trying to do the right things by their children, and leave the rest to destroy their kids' lives.

[bunchomorons]

Really. It sounds like you're saying that you were abusive of your kids and you think the means justifies the ends (since you abused your kids for their own good and the good of society). As an objective bystander I think there are very, very few cases where CPS "goes after" a parent who's just trying to raise their child correctly. They rarely even go after a parent who's regularly sending their kid to the hospital with broken bones and wounds, or whose kid hasn't been seen by anyone for 3 years, so I doubt they spend a lot of time going after people who are just such good parents that no one else understands.

[Lerianis4]

Personally, I would be reticent to tell when one of my children died unexpectedly out of the fear that some prosecutor with an ax to grind or political aspirations would try to use our case to advance his/her career.

I've already seen that with my aunt, who was tried for child abuse for stopping her step-grandchildren from hurting themselves and accidentally hurting them while doing so.

[sayl2012]

That whole story doesn't make sense!

[valopinion]

oh please!