PATRICK ALFORD - 7 yo (2010) - Brooklyn NY

'Nightmare' year for Jennifer Rodriguez as her young son is still missing

Jennifer Rodriguez turns 24 today, and she has only one wish: She wants her 8-year-old back safe and sound.

A year ago yesterday, her son, Patrick Alford, disappeared in Brooklyn. The little boy had been temporarily living with a foster parent and vanished while taking out the garbage in a Starrett City building.

"This year has been a nightmare," said Rodriguez, who lives on Staten Island. "I'm terrified for my son. If I had one wish, it would be to be 15 again and have my son in my belly again."

The young mother yesterday held a simple vigil outside a beauty salon on Castleton Ave. on Staten Island, where Patrick used to play with his friends.

"I pray to God that my son is safe. And whoever has him has to return him as soon as possible," she said after placing a picture of him in the storefront and releasing balloons in his honor.

read more>
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/01/23/2011-01-23_nightmare_year_for_missing_boys_mom.html#ixzz1Bsd2PpOP

A federal judge today ordered New York City and its child welfare
agency to identify case workers involved in monitoring a 7-year-old boy
who disappeared last year from a foster home and has never been found.The
boy's mother, Jennifer Rodriguez, had filed suit against the city and
its child welfare agency last fall, saying they failed to properly care
for the boy and ignored complaints about his substandard foster care.Judge
John Gleeson in Brooklyn federal court threw out the suit against the
city and its Administration for Children's Services agency, but ruled
that Rodriguez now can bring a new lawsuit against individual workers
from ACS and St. Vincent's Children's Services, whom she blames for not
supervising her boy's foster care.

The boy, Patrick Alford, Jr., disappeared on Jan. 22, 2010, after he
slipped away while taking out the trash with his foster mom at her East
New York home around 9 p.m.The 4-foot-8, 65-pound boy was last
seen on that winter night wearing a red T-shirt, blue jeans, black
sneakers -- and no jacket. He has never been found.Rodriguez, who
in October had filed her suit in Brooklyn federal court, claimed that
Alford was placed, along with his young sister, with a foster parent,
Librada Moran, "who did not speak English and the child did not speak
Spanish."The boy became extremely upset with his circumstances,
and started "trying to run away from the 'day' he came into foster
care," the suit alleged.It also said that witnesses claimed that the boy had threatened "to commit suicide.""It's
clear that the child did not want to be there," Osuna said at a press
conference last fall. "The child was extremely distraught - he wanted to
get back to his mother, like a normal child."Given the boy's
unhappiness, the city and ACS should have taken additional measures to
safeguard his well being, the suit charged. The child welfare agency
also should have investigated claims that the foster home was poorly run
and the boy neglected, the suit said.Before Alford disappeared,
Rodriguez made a Jan. 7 visit to see her son and daughter, Jailene, at a
meeting supervised by ACS. Rodriguez claimed in the suit that her
children appeared messy, her daughter had scratches on her face, and her
son was so agitated that he began crying, begged to come home, and "was
trying to break a window."Rodriguez claimed that her civil rights were violated and is asked for unspecified damages in the suit.The
judge ruled today that the city and ACS could not be held liable, but a
new suit could be brought against individual agency employees who
allegedly failed to follow procedures or were arguably derelict in their
duties.Judge Gleeson also dismissed Rodriguez's claim against the Starrett City development where the boy was living in foster care.The
judge's ruling is the latest development in a complex case that began
when Rodriguez lost custody of her children after being charged with
neglecting them.Back in January 2010, a ACS caseworker suspected
that Rodriguez might be involved with her son's disappearance because
Rodriguez's aunt, Blanca Toledo, passed her a note during a supervised
visit with Patrick and his little sister, Jaleen, claiming Rodriguez was
planning to abduct the children."Mommy trying to take them," the Post-it note said. "Caution."Then
a Family Court judge ordered that Rodriguez should be locked up on
contempt charges for refusing to divulge the boy's whereabouts, even
though the mother insisted that she didn't know where he was.Rodriguez has denied that she has anything to do with the boy's disappearance.
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/judge_orders_city_acs_still_missing_qnYKnYc0Q2zvGZRmB4kW7O#ixzz1HH9JYoLM

Missing Boy: NYC police believe missing boy may be in Cleveland-area
Mar 23, 2011 3:58 AM
Click image to enlarge

CLEVELAND, OH (WOIO) - New York City police believe a missing boy may be in the Cleveland-area.
8-year-old Patrick Alfrod, Jr. disappeared on
January 22nd from 130 Vandalia Avenue in Brooklyn, New York under
unknown circumstances. Patrick may have been the victim of an abduction.
A tip was received through The National
Center for Missing & Exploited Children of a possible sighting in
Cuyahoga County, Cleveland.
If you have seen Patrick, or have any
information, please contact the National Center for Missing &
Exploited Children @ 800.843.5678 (1-800-The-Lost).
http://www.woio.com/Global/story.asp?S=14297856

A federal judge has nixed a powerhouse law firm's bid to work with city cops hunting for missing 8-year-old Patrick Alford, who vanished from a city-monitored foster home.
Lawyers from Skadden, Arps were seeking access to the police investigative file for review by their respected private eye Joseph Spinelli, a former FBI agent and state inspector general.
The
firm was appointed to represent Alford's interests after his troubled
mother sued the city Administration for Children's Services and the Brooklyn foster parent for failing to protect the boy. The NYPD adamantly opposed giving Spinelli a look at the file, arguing it might compromise the identity of informants and witnesses.
"Our only interest in requesting the investigative file is to seek the safe return of our client," Skadden lawyer Jonathan Lerner said in court papers.
"It
is hard to believe the city would stubbornly deny this missing child
the advantage of having a highly professional private investigation firm
join the effort to locate him if he were from a more privileged and
influential background," Lerner added.
Brooklyn Magistrate Steven Gold said earlier this week that he would be over-stepping his authority if he ordered the NYPD to open the missing person file.
"I'm
not going to substitute my judgment for the police commissioner and the
detectives who work under him to determine how to go forward," Gold
said.
Alford disappeared after his foster mother sent him to take out the trash in her Starrett City building on Jan. 22, 2010.
Cops initially focused on Alford's mother, Jennifer Rodriguez, of Staten Island,
but she has passed two lie detector tests, according to her lawyer.
Rodriguez had called ACS for help while she sought drug abuse
counseling.
Cops have knocked on 15,000 apartment doors, followed up on tips in New York City
and out of state, interviewed dozens of bus drivers, reviewed phone
records and surveillance tapes and searched on land, sea and by air.
"We
are concerned that the intrusion of a private investigator could be a
detriment to the well being of a child who may have been kidnapped and
whose life may be in danger," city lawyer Suzanne Halbardier said in court papers.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/08/04/2011-08-04_missing_boy_patrick_alford_judge_wont_approve_law_firms_bid_to_work_with_cops_on.html#ixzz1U3h8LaFw

September 27th, 2011

Attorneys representing the interests of a 7-year-old boy who
disappeared from a New York foster home last year want the NYPD to hand
over its case files so they can continue the search for the missing
child.
But the city’s lawyers argue that the NYPD’s files contain
sensitive information - including the identify of witnesses - and could
reveal closely-held investigative techniques.
The issue grows out
of a civil suit filed by the boy’s mother, Jennifer Rodriguez, claiming
that the city and its child welfare agency - the Administration for
Children’s Services - failed to properly care for Patrick Alford and
ignored complaints about his substandard foster care.

The boy was last seen on Jan. 22, 2010, after he slipped away while
taking out the trash with his foster mom at her East New York home around 9 p.m.
The 4-foot-8, 65-pound boy was last seen on that winter night wearing a red T-shirt, blue jeans, black sneakers — and no jacket.
He has never been found.
The court-appointed attorneys representing Alford’s interests want a
Brooklyn federal judge to force the city to hand over the files.
“This is a failed investigation. It’s been more than 20 months. It’s time for
a fresh look,” said Robert Fumerton, an attorney at the white shoe firm
of Skadden, Arps that has volunteered to act on the boy’s behalf.
“We think the city’s sole aim here is to prevent anyone seeing the work
that was done and second-guessing this failed investigation,” Fumerton said.
He stressed that the NYPD probe “did not involve undercover
operations” and was “not a national security” case — both scenarios that
might call for greater secrecy.
“This is a routine missing child investigation,” Fumerton said.
The
attorneys want to enlist the help of private investigators to undertake
a new search for the child, and say the NYPD's files are essential for
such an undertaking.
City attorneys countered that such files
belonged only in law enforcement hands and should not be handed over.
The judge has not yet ruled on the issue.
The boy’s mother filed
suit last fall, claiming that Alford was placed, along with his young
sister, with a foster parent who did not speak English — and the boy did not speak Spanish.
The suit says Alford — who allegedly suffered from emotional problems — was unhappy in foster care and tried once to
run away and later threatened “to commit suicide.”
Given the boy’s unhappiness, the city and ACS should have taken additional measures to
safeguard his well being, the suit charged. The child welfare agency
also should have investigated claims that the foster home was poorly run and the boy neglected, the suit said.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/lawyers_for_missing_year_old_want_8Hb99cPReueAfzTS1JYhEL#ixzz1ZlExNArC

December 8, 2011 3:46 PM

Skadden Wins NYPD's Cooperation in Search for Missing Boy

After months of legal wrangling, the New York Police Department has agreed to cooperate with www.skadden.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
attorneys working pro bono to help find a boy who was a 7-year-old ward
of the city's foster care system when he went missing almost two years ago .

As first reported by the New York Post,
the NYPD will begin turning over files this week related to its
investigation into what happened to Patrick Alford, who vanished on
January 22, 2010, while taking out the trash at the Brooklyn apartment
building that was his home at the time.

The sharing of files comes after the Skadden lawyers agreed to sign a
protective order in which they pledged to keep the files' contents
confidential and to provide police with any new information they uncover
that could help determine the missing boy's whereabouts, according to
court documents. The order was signed on November 28, Alford's ninth birthday.

Jonathan Lerner, of counsel in Skadden's New York office, joined the
search for Alford in June when U.S. district court judge John Gleeson
asked him to act as the boy's independent counsel in connection with a
lawsuit filed by in Brooklyn federal court by Alford's biological mother
against the City of New York, its child welfare agency, private child care agency St. Vincent's Services, and the boy's foster mother.

In the complaint, Alford's mother alleged that violations of her
son's constitutional rights committed by the defendants caused his
disappearance. Alford's biological father subsequently filed a similar
suit, and Gleeson ultimately found that neither parent was fit to
represent the boy's legal interests.

Upon taking the case, Lerner hired private investigator Joseph Spinelli,
a former FBI agent and onetime state inspector general, to assist in
the search. The Skadden team—which includes associates Robert Fumerton,
Thomas Haley, and Patrick Rideout—also asked the NYPD for the chance to
review its files as part of the hunt for fresh leads.

When the police department balked, Lerner asked the court to intervene,
arguing in a July court filing that "it would be futile to commence our
own attempt to locate [Alford] without learning what actions had been
undertaken." Those actions appear to be quite extensive: According to a
New York Daily News report, the police have so far interviewed more than 14,000 people
and scrutinized 81 surveillance videos as part of their effort to find
Alford. Lerner said in an e-mail this week that he is not authorized to
speak about the police file aspect of the case.

In deciding whether or not to intervene, chief U.S. magistrate judge
Steven Gold required the Skadden team to file an amended complaint on
the boy's behalf. That complaint
(PDF), filed on August 5, lists 13 claims against several
defendants—including the child welfare agency and St. Vincent's
Services—for allegedly behaving in ways that caused Alford to disappear.

According to the complaint filed by Lerner, the chain of unfortunate
events began when city child welfare workers seized Alford from his
aunt's home in late December 2009 after his mother, Jennifer Rodriguez,
contacted the agency to say that she had used illegal drugs. Alford was
removed from the aunt's care despite it being a "safe and suitable
environment" and without a determination about whether his father,
Patrick Alford, Sr., was a suitable caregiver, according to the complaint.

The boy was then placed in a home in Brooklyn, under the care of a
foster mother who spoke primarily Spanish and was not able to meet his
special educational and mental health needs, the complaint states. Over
the next few weeks, according to the complaint, Alford became
increasingly distressed, had violent outbursts, repeatedly asked to
return to his family on Staten Island, and tried several times to flee
the foster home. Meanwhile, according to the complaint, despite the
city's child welfare agency having determined that Alford's aunt and
father were suitable caregivers, no efforts were made to place him with them.

The bottom line, the complaint alleges, is that "While the ACS
Defendants acted with undue haste to remove [Alford] from his aunt's
custody, where no danger (immediate or otherwise) existed, Defendants
failed to remove him from a situation in foster case that epitomized a
dire and desperate emergency that they created."

A status conference in the case is scheduled for January 27. Alford's
parents and representatives of the city's child services agency and St.
Vincent's Services are scheduled to be deposed in March.
http://amlawdaily.typepad.com/amlawdaily/2011/12/nypd-cooperates-in-skaddens-search-for-missing-boy.html

A dad suspected of drug dealing and whose son has been missing for nearly two years was shot Monday in a home invasion gone awry, police sources said.

Patrick Alford Sr., 29, was shot once in the right side of his head and in the right leg after a pack of five men tried to storm his Blake Ave. apartment, police sources said.

Alford’s son, Patrick Alford Jr., went missing at the age of 7 on Jan. 22, 2010, after he disappeared from a Starrett City foster home in Brooklyn. He has still not been found.

Two of Alford’s other children, a 6-year-old girl and a 4-year-old boy, ran and ducked for cover when shots started flying around 4:15 p.m. Monday, the source said.

One of the robbers squeezed off five shots while Alford grabbed for his .380-caliber weapon and fired three times, sources said.

Nearly 30 baggies of weed were found inside Alford’s apartment, a source said, leading police to believe the thieves were there for the pot.

Alford — who has 20 prior arrests, many involving drugs — was taken to Brookdale University Hospital and was listed in critical condition Tuesday night, according to police.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/patrick-alford-sr-dad-missing-boy-patrick-alford-jr-shot-dead-home-rob-article-1.1007744#ixzz1jof8B5R7

Hello? McFly!!! Hello???

WTH are children doing still living in this drug house? It's not "rocket science" to determine that the asshat father's recreational activities led to his son's disappearance. Now 2 more are almost killed. What's it gonna take?

20 prior arrest???? I agree Tom...what the heck are kids doing living with this drug dealer? There is no telling what happened to little Patrick but I hope CPS takes these kids and puts them in safe and loving homes. Poor kids.

It's so bloody frustrating isn't it? There is a huge loop hole in the system where criminals are apparently released from jail and no department is involved in whether the creeps are going to be living with children and whether that will be a safe and nurturing environment for them.

DCF or whatever it is called in NY should be called to account for those children living with that man. Our system is broken nationwide. People need to at the very least, lose their jobs over this travesty.

Someone, someday will stumble upon some bones of a precious little boy.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly today appealed to the public to
help cops find a young Staten Island boy who vanished from a Brooklyn
foster home two years ago. Kelly said a $12,000 reward is being
offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone
responsible for the disappearance of Patrick Alford.
Patrick,
then 7, was last seen on Friday, Jan. 22, 2010, at 9 p.m. in the
vicinity of 130 Vandalia Ave., in East New York's Spring Creek
Development.
At the time he went missing, Patrick was 4-feet
8-inches tall and weighed 65 pounds, said police. He was wearing a red
T-shirt, blue jeans and black sneakers. Patrick had a scar on his left
eyebrow, cops said.
The boy had been placed in a foster home
after his biological mother, Jennifer Rodriguez of New Brighton, lost
custody of him and her two daughters on Dec. 26, 2009, following her
arrest on theft charges. Patrick was placed with foster mother Librada
Moran.
Ms. Moran told police Patrick was with her when she took
out the trash, then disappeared when she turned to answer her cell
phone.
Ms. Rodriguez was jailed a week later by a Family Court
judge who believed she was involved in Patrick's disappearance. She was
released after several days when the city Administration for Children's
Services determined that was not the case.
Ms. Rodriguez has sued the city in Brooklyn federal court, accusing it of negligence.
The boy's father, Patrick Alford Sr. has filed a similar federal lawsuit. Both actions are pending.
Kelly issued his appeal during an NYPD SHIELD counterterrorism conference.
He asked anyone with information about Patrick's whereabouts to call
the NYPD CrimeStoppers tip line at 800-577-TIPS (8477). Refer to
CrimeStoppers poster number BK-1726.
Tipsters also can log onto www.nypdcrimestoppers.com, or send information via text message by texting 274637 (CRIMES) and entering TIP577. All calls will be kept confidential.
http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/04/police_commisisioner_asks_for.html