The disappearance of 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky from an area of Brooklyn described by its congressional representative as “no-crime” has come to a tragic end, with the location of the boy’s dismembered body in an area dumpster.
Leiby Kletzky disappeared Monday afternoon while walking home from day camp. NYPD made a break in the case when they were able to zoom in on low quality surveillance video depicting the last moments of the boy’s life. Kletzky briefly appears lost before asking suspect Levi Aron for directions. The boy then accompanies Aron to the dentist briefly, where police were able to obtain Aron’s records and home address.
Just before 3AM on Wednesday, police caught up with Aron at his home, where they discovered additional, horrifying evidence:
When police arrived at Aron’s apartment his door was ajar. After they asked where the boy was Aron nodded towards the kitchen where the refrigerator handle had blood on it, and inside they found a cutting board, knives covered in blood, and body parts, according to Kelly… Detectives found other body parts believed to be those of Leiby wrapped in a black plastic garbage bag inside a red suitcase that had been tossed into a trash bin in another Brooklyn neighborhood, police spokesman Paul J. Browne said.
In details that echo the high-profile abduction of Etan Patz in the early 80’s, Kletzky’s parents relented and allowed the boy to walk home after he repeatedly begged for permission, reviewing the route with him Friday and writing a note to camp workers stating the child was allowed to make the brief seven-block trip unaccompanied. Borough Park, the area from which the child was abducted, is generally considered safe, close knit and community oriented.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly says the crime appears to be “totally random.” Aron’s previous record consisted of a citation for urinating in public.
