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hey weirdos I'm Ash and I'm Elena and
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this is
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[Music]
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morbid this is morbid this is morbid
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this is morbid oh it's morbid it's
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morbid
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and guess what we did another Tik Tok
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hey and it was really funny it was a fun
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one we used our girl kale Lowes we did
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and it was awesome you know name and
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likeness or whatever it is yeah and you
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guys have been hilarious about it so
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thanks for for uh supporting our Tik Tok
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Journey with my book shouldn't be
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outside enjoying the sunlight should be
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in C cave the fun an unhinged thing to
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say to a human being hilarious hilarious
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I think even kale would agree that
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that's [ __ ] hilarious but like whoa
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yeah how does your brain just say to
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another person so calm you should be in
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a cave you should be in a cave yeah I
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love it I think it's hilarious and I
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love her reaction cuz she's just like
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what what what the [ __ ] are you talking
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about so good oh but that Tik Tok was
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really fun to film yeah you guys have
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been amazing about it so thanks for
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being so great what's your Tik Tok
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handle you [ __ ] uh what is it I think
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it's Elena to the max my everything is
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Elena to the max you got to let the
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people know every time that's how we're
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going to drive people to your Tik to I
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am and we we'll be doing more and as
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September 17th approaches which is the
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day that the book comes out the butcher
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game The Butcher game.com if you need to
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order something you could pre-order it
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it might come the day before who knows
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that's always fun and like more signed
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copies might be happening maybe right
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who knows you never know the world is an
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oyster and it's yours and it's my oyster
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yeah no of theirs no well it's all of
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ours yeah everybody's oyster we can all
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have a part of shellfish allergy I
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actually don't like shellfish so it's my
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like meatball sub I would say I have to
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tell you something I told you I was
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never going to eat oysters again I ate
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them vibrio I ate them but I'm only
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eating them in places where like I feel
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like the water is Super
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Fresh it's a Vibe vibrio is also a Vibe
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no vibrio is actually not a Vibe it's a
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Vibe it's some kind of VI Vio is a is a
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is a dang dark with fire my friend I
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know well YOLO you know here we are but
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YOLO YOLO as the kids would say I don't
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think they say that any yo y
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accidentally said yo yo y here we are
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know you know I have an interesting case
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today to tell you all about I do it's
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kind of like not really like well that's
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not true I was going to say it's not
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like anything we it's not like anything
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we've ever done totally different but
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it's not um it's sort of it's like in a
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different wheelhouse but it's still our
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wheelhouse I feel all right it's a
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kidnapping I'd like to warn you at the
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top of the show okay so it's a little
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bit intense okay but I'm going to also
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tell you it has a happy ending oh good
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okay and nobody dies there's no murder
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look at that yeah so that's wow that is
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different so here we are different
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wheelhouse all right so should we dive
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in let's dive in it's been a long time
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since I did that and it just came to me
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know I did all right so we're going to
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be talking about The Disappearance of
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Delmar Vera Delmar Vera was born
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December 5th 1996 seven so like we're
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about the same age look at that to I
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think it's pronounced loose I looked it
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up quas and Pedro Vera a young couple
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they were living in Fonville North
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Philadelphia loose was beyond
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excital are you what here we go and
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we're excital excital lose was beyond
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excited about the arrival of her baby
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daughter but she always maintained her
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then husband Pedro hadn't been super
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stoked about the prospect of having
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children he was like yeah woohooo like
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according to her not super excited it's
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not great in fact according to her when
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the baby was born Pedro actually refused
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to sign the birth certificate which she
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pointed to as evidence that he quote did
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not want the child I think that's pretty
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glaring evidence I would say yeah I'm
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like I don't love that that's really sad
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I know but a little more than a week
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later on December 15th loose was home
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with Pedro their new baby delar which I
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think is such a pretty name yeah and
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their two sons who at that time were
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four and five and around 7:00 p.m. there
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was a knock on the door and loose
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answered it to find a woman who she'd
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never met before standing on her
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doorstep the woman Carolyn Carrera was
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actually Pedro's cousin by marriage she
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was from New Jersey and she said she was
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there hoping that Pedro might take a
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look at her car she said her car was
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having break problems Pedro was like
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good with car stuff so she kind of just
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showed up from New Jersey and said hey
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take a look at my breaks okay r
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yeah unexpected this is why I don't
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answer the door oh I never answer the
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door no I literally never answer the
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door even when it's people I'm expecting
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i s Drew you said no can you get the
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door please oh I yeah I don't even
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answer the door then yeah nope nope but
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Pedro agreed to take a look at the car
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but before he did he said he needed to
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run some errands and go grocery shopping
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so while he was out the two women
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remained at the house just kind of
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making small talk cuz remember they
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don't know each other so it's like a
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pretty awkward situation but she's kind
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of family like she she's
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so she loses trying to like be a good
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Entertainer i' be like sorry but she
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said later on she would describe it as
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an uncomfortable conversation yeah I can
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imagine and also having just given birth
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a little over a week earlier I don't
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think you'd really want to be
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entertaining by yourself no you don't
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but because she had just given birth
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only a week earlier or like a little
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more than a week earlier the subject of
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a baby came up naturally and this woman
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Carolyn mentioned that she and her
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boyfriend Andrea Moore had also just
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recently had a baby she said same sister
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wow now as the women were chatting
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downstairs L suddenly heard a loud bang
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upstairs that sounded like an explosion
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and the baby sleeping upstairs what the
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[ __ ] so she is obviously terrified and
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she runs upstairs and goes into delmar's
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room but by the time she reached the
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room a small fire had broken out and the
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room was beginning to fill with smoke
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holy [ __ ] now despite the large amount
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of smoke now and the fumes just rapidly
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f the room loose was able to get to the
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crib she was completely determined to
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get there and got there but delar was
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nowhere to be seen what the [ __ ] she was
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gone in her own room yep she had just
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been sleeping in her room and then she
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heard a loud bang and the baby was gone
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by the time she got to the crib that's
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everyone's worst nightmare and it's also
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just like how did this happened she was
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upstairs and I've been downstairs this
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whole time like where's the baby so a
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few seconds later the smoke had become
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unbearable and loose was forced to out
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of the room after catching her breath
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she tried again to go back in the room
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and get to the crib wow she actually
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suffered Burns to her face and her arms
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but when she reached the crib her first
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impression was confirmed there was
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definitely no baby in that CRI the [ __ ]
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now she also noticed that the window in
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the room was open and she knew that
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there was no way she would have done
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that herself just one having the baby in
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the room by herself she wasn't going to
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open the window but also it was a cold
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night so that it just wouldn't have been
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something that she'd do so this was
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shocking but the fire had grown out of
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control at that point and she didn't
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have time to think because also she had
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other children that she had to get to oh
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yeah she has a four and five-year-old so
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they were forced outside and we're this
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is heartbreaking neighbors just could
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hear her screaming my baby my baby oh
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God over and over again so hearing the
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noise and seeing the smoke and fire from
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the house coming from the house a
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neighbor 20 uh 20-year-old Jose Rosario
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rushed over and tried to get into the
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house to save the baby later he told
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journalist that he heard crying so
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covering his face he tried to climb the
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stairs to get to the baby but the smoke
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was so thick he just couldn't get in
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there he said I tried the best I could
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but the smoke was choking me other
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neighbors also tried to help like Chico
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fron who tried to douse the house with
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his garden hose but it just the fire was
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out of control a garden hose wasn't
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going to do anything he told a reporter
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the Flames were just too much damn so
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firefight arrived at the scene quickly
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and they pushed back what was now a
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really big crowd and they were all just
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the crowd was shouting like save the
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baby save the baby oh man frazon
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remembered the neighbors were outside
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yelling there's a baby in there there's
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a baby and loose also reported to the
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firefighters that she had gone to her
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daughter's room when the when the fire
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first broke out but that she had found
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no baby in the crib where she had
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expected her baby Delmar to be that's
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horrifying now there's no documentation
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of how firefighters responded to the
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claims
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but it's pretty clear from their later
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statements that they didn't believe
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loose at the time why the [ __ ] would she
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say that I don't really know within
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about 10 minutes firefighters had things
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under control luckily and the fire was
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extinguished but the small row house had
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been completely gutted and there was no
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sign of little Delmar now just then
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Pedro returned to find the house
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destroyed his wife being packed into an
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ambulance and he found out that his
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daughter was consumed by the fire that's
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what that's what firefighters told him
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holy [ __ ] yeah Delmar ended up being
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declared dead at the scene and fire
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officials explained to Pedro that they
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found no body because her remains were
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completely destroyed by the Flames now
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just up front that is not what happened
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so I don't think for a second that
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that's what happen but that's what this
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family was told holy [ __ ] but they never
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believed it wow Pedro didn't believe it
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and neither did loose wow so the next
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day fire Captain Henry doberry told the
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press the fire was caused by a home
00:10:01
rigged extension cord connected to a
00:10:02
space heater which must have thrown a
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spark at some point and started the fire
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oh man neighbor Gloria moika said it's a
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shame because they were just trying to
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find a way to keep themselves warm yeah
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loose was discharged discharged excuse
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me from Temple University Hospital just
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one day after the fire and she learned
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that not only were there no remains to
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bury but also that as a result of their
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not being a body the medical examiner
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actually couldn't issue a death
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certificate or even legally declare
00:10:31
Delmar dead holy [ __ ] so like
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firefighters First Responders said like
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decare their dead at the scene but they
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couldn't legally do that like like U
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like firefighters could but they
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couldn't have it on record Like official
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record exactly and if the parents wanted
00:10:45
or needed that formality they were going
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to have to go and petition a court to
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get their child declared legally dead
00:10:52
yeah when they don't know that for sure
00:10:54
exactly wow so the family was uh
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understandably devastated yeah but but
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they didn't really have a lot of choice
00:11:01
but to move on and try to make things
00:11:03
the best they could for their two living
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children so they moved to a new house
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and in 1999 loose gave birth to a fourth
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child a boy that they named Samuel they
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felt happy about adding to their family
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obviously but the loss of a child took a
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really heavy toll on them of course and
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in December of 2022 or excuse me 2002
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loose and Pedro separated for good
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that's so common it is when you lose a
00:11:28
child when you was a child and just like
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grief in general like yeah that can tear
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people apart and by that time they
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really just agreed on very little and
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their communication was just it had
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gotten really bad but they did agree on
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one thing they both believed that Delmar
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was still alive in 2004 L said I always
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knew that my daughter did not die in
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that fire they were actually both very
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public about their beliefs Gloria moha
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recalled every time I'd see Pedro he'd
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say the same thing my baby's alive I
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know it wow they just like like felt it
00:12:00
in their hearts and it's like you can
00:12:02
see how like the whole thing changed his
00:12:04
perspective on yeah like being a father
00:12:07
with this child you know what I mean
00:12:09
like you can tell he immediately was
00:12:10
like that's my baby and my baby's alive
00:12:13
it's like a very cliche thing to say but
00:12:15
you don't know what you have till it's
00:12:16
gone yeah you know it's like obviously
00:12:18
he was like that's my child and they
00:12:22
were correct it sounds like so it's like
00:12:24
they both have a that
00:12:27
parent definitely now Pedro wasn't just
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convinced that his daughter was alive
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but he was also determined to find her
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wherever she had gone hell yeah Pedro I
00:12:36
know let's go moika said he would tell
00:12:38
me he was pursuing it though what
00:12:39
exactly that meant how he was pursuing
00:12:41
it remains unclear but you know what he
00:12:44
had intentions to yeah so on January
00:12:46
24th 2004 loose went to a family party
00:12:49
thrown by Pedro's Sister Evelyn where
00:12:52
she spotted a young girl who looked to
00:12:53
be about 6 years old according to loose
00:12:56
the girl quote bore a striking
00:12:58
resemblance to herself and her other
00:13:00
children stop loose like we said never
00:13:04
believed Delmar uh died in the fire so
00:13:06
when she saw the child she instantly
00:13:08
felt that it was Delmar holy [ __ ] and
00:13:11
she's just at a family party and at a
00:13:13
family party mhm that feeling became
00:13:16
even stronger when she realized that the
00:13:19
girl's mother was Carolyn K I think it's
00:13:21
kareah I I didn't trust this lady the
00:13:24
second you said she showed up at the
00:13:25
door she just showed up at the door from
00:13:27
New Jersey randomly and was like
00:13:29
are I didn't want to say it for fear
00:13:31
that like she was an innocent bystander
00:13:33
here was just so I was keeping it inside
00:13:36
but I was like I don't know about this
00:13:38
girl
00:13:39
imagine like don't you imagine this but
00:13:41
listener imagine your child goes missing
00:13:44
from your home while a weird stranger is
00:13:47
there and then you go to a family party
00:13:50
and you see what you know is your child
00:13:53
or like very very strongly believe as
00:13:56
your child and the lady who you had a
00:13:58
weird feeling about already is claiming
00:14:01
to be the mother no or is the lady that
00:14:04
took this this child to the party
00:14:08
like you Del or loose must have felt
00:14:11
like she was in an alternate [ __ ]
00:14:13
universe and the the feeling of like
00:14:15
helplessness at first must have been
00:14:17
unreal because it's like what do I do
00:14:20
well everyone's going to think I sound
00:14:22
cucko nut Banas and it's like if you
00:14:24
know that's your child you're like well
00:14:26
I'm going to burn the I'm going to like
00:14:28
Scorch the Earth to this child back so
00:14:30
like I guess let's [ __ ] go like that
00:14:34
would be my i' be like let's go let's
00:14:37
[ __ ] go like I'm going to burn the
00:14:41
whole place down I would like I'm
00:14:43
getting that kid back well don't you
00:14:44
worry loose is the baddest [ __ ] in the
00:14:46
game I knew it about loose so Carolyn
00:14:50
introduced this girl as a Leah was like
00:14:53
this is my daughter Aaliyah but Loose
00:14:55
just couldn't shake the feeling that not
00:14:57
Aaliyah this was her daughter
00:14:59
oh my God and she was like she started
00:15:01
putting two and two together and she's
00:15:03
like I don't know how but somehow
00:15:04
Carolyn kidnapped my baby on the night
00:15:06
of the fire like I just know she kep her
00:15:08
distracted downstairs mhm she later told
00:15:10
a reporter those dimples were all the
00:15:12
DNA I needed to be certain cuz she had
00:15:14
these little di some Mama [ __ ] she had
00:15:17
that child for like a little over a week
00:15:20
literally a little over a week like
00:15:22
that's like like luckily like luckily
00:15:25
many of us do not have to worry about
00:15:27
like what how you would be able to
00:15:29
identify your child older when not
00:15:30
seeing them for their entire life that
00:15:33
but hearing this you're just like damn
00:15:36
like that parent like love and knowledge
00:15:40
for your like who your child is that's
00:15:43
unbelievable it's a force it's a over a
00:15:45
weeked you knew this infant newborn and
00:15:49
then you see them years later and you're
00:15:51
like that's my kid and like let's be
00:15:52
real most newborns look alike like
00:15:55
exactly newborns all look pretty similar
00:15:57
that's unbelievable yeah
00:15:59
that's really unbelievable this family
00:16:00
is icon yeah they're incredible so
00:16:02
according to Pedro's cousin Jose Vera
00:16:05
this was actually not the first time
00:16:06
either Pedro or loose had seen Aaliyah
00:16:09
and while they weren't exactly close
00:16:10
with Carolyn they were still related and
00:16:12
had some contact with her over the years
00:16:14
but not much but Jose Vera said they
00:16:16
agreed the child looked like them and
00:16:18
Pedro always thought it was his daughter
00:16:20
but nothing ever happened till now oh
00:16:22
damn so he claimed that although
00:16:25
although Pedro had seen the girl in
00:16:26
person at family functions loose had
00:16:29
only ever seen her in photographs before
00:16:31
this family function where she's like
00:16:32
that's my daughter that's my child and
00:16:34
she really didn't have a lot of contact
00:16:36
with the family since ending her
00:16:37
relationship with Pedro in 2002 but
00:16:40
still they both together reported their
00:16:42
suspicions to the police and nothing
00:16:45
ever came of the complaints like from
00:16:47
seeing the photographs and that kind of
00:16:49
thing my God but now in 2004 with the
00:16:52
girl just standing right in front of her
00:16:54
loose was like without a doubt 100% my
00:16:57
daughter like I I definitely thought so
00:16:59
before but now I know but now I'm in
00:17:01
front of her I'm in her presence I know
00:17:02
it and she actually told the host of the
00:17:04
party that she believed Aaliyah was
00:17:06
Delamar but given the unbelievable
00:17:09
nature of the claim the host just kind
00:17:11
of dismissed what she was saying and was
00:17:12
like no no no that's Carolyn's daughter
00:17:14
like you must be mistaken and probably
00:17:16
felt bad probably was like yeah like
00:17:18
that I have to tell you like I'm sorry
00:17:20
know somebody else's daughter right but
00:17:23
L's own brother even doubted what she
00:17:25
was saying and said we thought she was
00:17:27
just traumatized by the fire which like
00:17:29
you can understand that yeah cuz it's
00:17:31
like that would be traumatizing I can't
00:17:32
even fathom the amount of trauma she
00:17:34
would have she did have I'm sure it's
00:17:37
like so and Trauma makes you do some
00:17:39
things that you know you wouldn't
00:17:40
normally do or like makes you think
00:17:42
things she's desperate to find her child
00:17:45
again so maybe this is one of those
00:17:47
instances where it's like she's just
00:17:48
desperate or maybe not or maybe not so
00:17:52
later that afternoon Luc was like okay
00:17:54
you guys can all think I'm cuck nuts
00:17:55
bananas but I'm not and I'm going to Pro
00:17:57
it all she's like NOP so she approached
00:17:59
the girl the little girl and just made
00:18:01
small talk with her and then right
00:18:03
before Aaliyah was about to run off L
00:18:06
told her oh you have some gum in your
00:18:07
hair like let me help you with that and
00:18:09
while she removed the gum shut up or
00:18:12
like while she pretended to to remove
00:18:14
the gum she used it as an opportunity to
00:18:16
get a hair sample that she could take to
00:18:18
the police for DNA
00:18:19
testing when I said is a [ __ ] icon
00:18:24
when I said baddest [ __ ] in the game I
00:18:27
meant it lose lo I want to like Shake
00:18:31
loose's hand
00:18:32
like [ __ ] loose that is genius level
00:18:36
she's so nonchalant about it too she
00:18:38
told reporters later because of TV I
00:18:41
knew they needed hair for the DNA oh
00:18:43
[ __ ] like looses she's like I just
00:18:45
watch TV I learned some [ __ ] that's
00:18:46
Elite that's Elite Behavior loose and
00:18:50
and also that's Elite Behavior because
00:18:52
you did nothing to scare this girl and
00:18:54
that's a m and nothing to inform her
00:18:57
that her
00:18:59
you know her anything was being called
00:19:01
into question like that's unbelievable
00:19:05
unbelievable truly unbelievable because
00:19:08
your first instinct might be to just
00:19:10
like you know like again you're
00:19:12
traumatized you're desperate to find
00:19:13
your child yeah you would want to run up
00:19:16
to her and just be like you're my
00:19:17
baby taking you with me but this child
00:19:21
clearly was gone barely a a week after
00:19:25
her birth whoever mother quote unquote
00:19:28
she thinks is her mother that's the only
00:19:31
mother she's known that's the thing
00:19:32
she's 6 years old she's been raised for
00:19:35
6 years by Carol you can't scare her you
00:19:37
can't make her question her whole
00:19:39
upbringing you can't you don't know what
00:19:41
kind of life she's had you don't know
00:19:42
anything about that so it's like you
00:19:44
can't just run up to her and be like I
00:19:45
think you're my kid like she's six like
00:19:47
she's going to be like what so doing
00:19:50
that in such a way that is one brilliant
00:19:52
into totally nonchalant and not
00:19:55
upsetting to that girl at all is like
00:19:58
Mama Mama [ __ ] well done loose so a few
00:20:01
days after the party loose brought the
00:20:02
haris to her local Philadelphia police
00:20:04
uh Precinct to ask for help and they
00:20:06
redirected her to a lab where she could
00:20:08
actually get the DNA testing done hell
00:20:10
yeah according to the official story
00:20:12
remember Delmar Vera had died in a
00:20:15
tragic fire and police never believed
00:20:17
she was kidnapped so there was actually
00:20:18
little they could have done to help her
00:20:20
at the time according to representative
00:20:22
Angel Cruz who would eventually prove
00:20:24
instrumental in solving this case the
00:20:26
language barrier between loose spoke
00:20:29
very little English and law enforcement
00:20:31
might have caused additional confusion
00:20:33
and prevented faster action I'm sure so
00:20:35
loose had hoped to get the DNA test done
00:20:38
to prove that Aaliyah was her daughter
00:20:40
but with limited English language skills
00:20:42
no information about how to access
00:20:44
Laboratory Testing and of course little
00:20:46
financial resources that kind of thing
00:20:48
is so expensive yeah the chances that
00:20:50
she would get answers were pretty slim
00:20:53
but after hearing her story though a
00:20:55
neighbor suggested that Luc seek help
00:20:57
from representative Ang Cruz who
00:20:59
represented the largely Latino
00:21:01
Philadelphia neighborhood that loose was
00:21:03
living in at the time Cruz said I must
00:21:06
admit when loose first came to me with
00:21:07
this story I had trouble believing her I
00:21:10
mean it's it's it's an incredible story
00:21:12
it is yeah but something in the story
00:21:15
struck him as being true so he agreed to
00:21:17
speak with law enforcement on her behalf
00:21:19
and explain what she had told him he was
00:21:21
like I don't know but I'll try hell yeah
00:21:25
Cruz now when the fire first broke out
00:21:27
in Pedro and luc's home in 1997 her
00:21:30
Instinct was to run to the the
00:21:32
daughter's room and save her yeah it's
00:21:34
worth noting she had been alerted to the
00:21:36
danger because of the loud bang not the
00:21:38
fire itself which hadn't broken out yet
00:21:41
by the time she reached the room huh and
00:21:44
when she reached the crib Delmar had
00:21:45
already vanished and then the fire began
00:21:48
yeah that's the thing like when I was
00:21:50
first telling that story you heard loud
00:21:52
bang runs upstairs sees that the crib is
00:21:55
empty and then the room starts filling
00:21:57
with smoke and the fire bre I was
00:21:58
wondering like cuz I'm like what is this
00:22:00
loud bang like what happened here
00:22:02
exactly and you could assume like oh
00:22:04
that was the space heater exping that's
00:22:05
when you said that I was like oh that
00:22:06
must have been it but who knows maybe it
00:22:08
was somebody opening the window maybe it
00:22:10
was yeah a ladder being thrown on the
00:22:12
side of the house I don't know yeah so
00:22:15
all that to say though when loose
00:22:16
reported to fire officials that her
00:22:18
daughter was missing she meant that the
00:22:20
girl hadn't been in the house when the
00:22:22
fire began but as Angel Cruz pointed out
00:22:25
it's entirely possible that because of
00:22:27
that language barrier investigators just
00:22:29
thought that she meant her daughter was
00:22:31
trapped in the house during the fire
00:22:32
absolutely I could see that which you
00:22:34
understand that of course any claims
00:22:36
loose and Pedro made after the fire were
00:22:38
just dismissed as those of grieving
00:22:40
parents struggling to accept being
00:22:43
willing to and also when loose initially
00:22:46
took the lock of hair to the police she
00:22:48
brought it to the front desk of the
00:22:49
precinct cuz how would she know to bring
00:22:52
I would to do with it but the receiving
00:22:54
officer had no prior knowledge of the
00:22:56
case and there wasn't any kind of
00:22:57
translator there to help with the
00:22:59
barrier the language barrier oh man so
00:23:01
she wasn't able to really convey like
00:23:04
how important this was and what this was
00:23:06
huge what the background tier was yeah
00:23:09
that's so frustrating yeah it is so to
00:23:11
Angel Cruz who spoke fluent Spanish the
00:23:14
story like we said was equally
00:23:16
unbelievable and his Instinct though was
00:23:18
to respond exactly how law enforcement
00:23:20
agents had over the years but the fact
00:23:22
that loose had never wavered in her her
00:23:24
belief and she was so thoroughly
00:23:26
convinced that the girl was her daughter
00:23:28
seemed good enough a reason to him to at
00:23:29
least follow up yeah so he contacted the
00:23:32
police on her behalf and he was
00:23:33
successfully able to convince them to
00:23:35
follow up on this
00:23:38
claim another good another goodie I know
00:23:41
this is full that's what I told you it
00:23:43
started off and you're like what the
00:23:44
[ __ ] are you about to tell me what is
00:23:45
going on but I'm like no it's a it's a
00:23:47
good story yeah you're like I promise
00:23:49
you I promise you guys this just keeps
00:23:50
going up and up and up it does and it
00:23:52
will yeah so given the details of the
00:23:54
crime and the ages of the alleged or the
00:23:56
age of the alleged victim the case was
00:23:58
handed over to Lieutenant Michael Bole
00:23:59
of Philadelphia uh Special Victims Unit
00:24:02
an episode of SVU if you will in late
00:24:05
February detectives and Agents from
00:24:06
Child Protective Services went to
00:24:08
Carolyn's home in New Jersey and
00:24:10
explained the situation now given that
00:24:12
so much depended on the outcome of the
00:24:14
DNA tests Aaliyah was actually removed
00:24:16
from the home and temporarily placed in
00:24:18
a foster care while investigators tried
00:24:20
to untangle the details of the case it's
00:24:22
like that's so sad and she's probably
00:24:25
remember like we said this is the only
00:24:27
mom she's ever known has no idea what's
00:24:29
going she little girl she's probably
00:24:31
like what the like what is going on yeah
00:24:33
and it's like and again like this is
00:24:35
this is all because somebody stole her
00:24:39
MH and it's like loc is just trying to
00:24:41
get her back and obviously they have to
00:24:43
go through the steps the proper steps to
00:24:46
do they can't just rip her out of a home
00:24:48
and be like well she's yours now like
00:24:49
you I mean like they could get that like
00:24:52
that's necessary but like man this kid
00:24:54
didn't ask for any of this no and poor
00:24:56
loose and Pedro didn't ask for of this
00:24:59
Carolyn like just victimized everybody
00:25:02
in this family she victimized that child
00:25:04
yeah exactly just to get some she wanted
00:25:07
yeah so according to Carolyn she had
00:25:09
given birth to her daughter Aaliyah in
00:25:11
December of
00:25:12
1997 right around the same time that
00:25:14
loose had her baby oh wow in fact other
00:25:17
family members and her own boyfriend at
00:25:19
the time remembered her being pregnant
00:25:21
and coming home with a baby at the end
00:25:23
of December despite the number of times
00:25:25
that Pedro had voiced his suspicions
00:25:27
nobody ever thought to question Carolyn
00:25:30
and her boyfriend's claims because why
00:25:32
would you ever be like what would make
00:25:35
you do it you know that's the thing
00:25:37
that's the thing now after all while
00:25:38
newborn babies do get kidnapped it's
00:25:41
kind of a rare occurrence yeah I mean
00:25:43
you're not that's not the first thing
00:25:44
you're thinking that these people staged
00:25:46
a wild coup to steal your newborn and
00:25:49
not only that like I'm talking about
00:25:50
like their own family few people would
00:25:53
want to believe their own relatives uh
00:25:55
capable of this no can you imagine of
00:25:58
that no like in your own family that
00:26:01
somebody in your own family stole
00:26:04
another person's baby in your own family
00:26:06
absolutely not out of their crib after
00:26:08
starting a fire in their house it's so
00:26:10
beyond but this time through luc's
00:26:12
insistence and the new hair evidence and
00:26:14
pending DNA results it was compelling
00:26:17
enough that at least a few members of
00:26:18
law enforcement were starting to really
00:26:20
take this seriously let's go everybody
00:26:23
at first everybody's like yeah we'll
00:26:24
follow up but like I don't know it was
00:26:27
it was a case of let's [ __ ] go and
00:26:30
now it's like let's [ __ ] go exactly
00:26:32
so in late February the results of the
00:26:34
DNA test conducted on aiyah hair came
00:26:36
back and provided vital answers the girl
00:26:39
that Carolyn had been passing off as her
00:26:41
daughter Aaliyah for the past six years
00:26:44
nope that was delam Mar Vera [ __ ]
00:26:48
Carolyn yeah [ __ ] Carolyn well what the
00:26:54
[ __ ] with the results in hand Lieutenant
00:26:56
Bole and his partner returned to
00:26:58
Carolyn's home in New Jersey to confront
00:27:00
her but by the time they got there she
00:27:03
had already fled leaving her three other
00:27:06
young children behind oh it's on site
00:27:09
with Carolyn on site like [ __ ] you
00:27:12
Carolyn what an [ __ ] that's the thing
00:27:14
it's like she's just out for her and
00:27:16
hers you're evil you stole someone's
00:27:18
newborn you [ __ ] [ __ ] and then you
00:27:21
abandon your three other children to
00:27:22
flee law enforcement after you got
00:27:24
caught it's I it's [ __ ] to steal any
00:27:27
newborn like don't keep it that weird to
00:27:29
steal a newborn child from your family
00:27:32
it's what like I know you I know you
00:27:34
married into this family but that's your
00:27:36
family like who the [ __ ] are you Carolyn
00:27:39
I hope mhm I hope I hope we see a see
00:27:42
something for Carolyn at the end of this
00:27:44
well investigators now that she was on
00:27:46
the run theorized that certain she'd
00:27:48
been found out and uh would be arrested
00:27:50
she chose to become a fugitive rather
00:27:52
than face the consequences Oh you mean
00:27:54
coward yes exactly because the I mean
00:27:58
everything more or less confirmed her
00:27:59
guilt in the eyes of detectives course
00:28:01
DNA just proved it you stole a baby so
00:28:03
in a statement to the press a law
00:28:05
enforcement official stated their belief
00:28:06
that on the night of December 15th 1997
00:28:09
Caroline started the fire and kidnapped
00:28:11
dmar whom she passed off as her own
00:28:13
daughter wow and when they realized that
00:28:15
she had fled multiple arrest warrants
00:28:17
were issued for charges including arson
00:28:19
kidnapping and concealing the
00:28:21
whereabouts of a child so she was facing
00:28:23
like serious serious charges here not
00:28:26
just kidnapping like that's a serious
00:28:27
charge of itself arson and concealing
00:28:31
the whereabouts of a child like did you
00:28:33
not think about this yeah she did I
00:28:36
don't know yeah she didn't care despite
00:28:38
the circumstances though loose couldn't
00:28:40
help but feel Joy that her daughter
00:28:42
wasn't only alive but would also be
00:28:44
reunited with her in the days to come
00:28:47
yeah boil told reporter she sat there
00:28:49
and Shook and cried and kept saying
00:28:50
thank you thank you thank you but this
00:28:52
is going to be tough absolutely this is
00:28:54
not this kid is 6 years old that's the
00:28:56
thing on the other not so right side of
00:28:58
things this was just the beginning of a
00:29:00
slow and like you said very difficult
00:29:03
process facing everybody involved most
00:29:06
importantly Aaliyah or really Delmar had
00:29:09
only ever known Carolyn to be her mother
00:29:10
like we've said and she was now being
00:29:12
told that Not only was Carolyn not her
00:29:14
mother but Carolyn was her kidnapper who
00:29:17
had stolen her from her actual mother
00:29:20
just days after her birth a concept that
00:29:23
no [ __ ] six-year-old would ever be
00:29:25
able to wrap their head around you can't
00:29:28
can't even imagine a grown adult finding
00:29:31
that out no a teenager finding that out
00:29:34
how how do you explain that to a
00:29:37
six-year-old like without creating like
00:29:40
first of all creating so many new fears
00:29:42
yeah that they were kidnapped out of
00:29:43
their crib disillusioning their entire
00:29:46
world like that just that's a glass
00:29:48
shatter on your entire world and now you
00:29:50
have to reform that bond with that child
00:29:53
like you're going to have a natural
00:29:55
something's there cuz obviously you knew
00:29:57
that was your child like your bond is
00:29:59
strong it's in there but she's like
00:30:01
she's probably going to Miss Carolyn and
00:30:03
like feel kind weird but there's so many
00:30:07
layers that you could point out here I
00:30:08
just feel so bad for I feel so bad for
00:30:11
um for because she by she ends up going
00:30:15
by Aaliyah because that's what she's
00:30:16
been known as life that makes sense it's
00:30:19
and also like how like that's a pretty
00:30:22
big thing of loose and Pedro to do to be
00:30:23
like you know what we'll keep your name
00:30:26
Aah like your kidnapper named you that
00:30:28
that's all you know and we're not going
00:30:29
to and we're not going to change your
00:30:30
name like you know I mean like I
00:30:33
wouldn't even change like a puppy's name
00:30:35
far into you know I mean like and it's
00:30:37
like that that's the and also like you
00:30:40
said your kidnapper named you that right
00:30:43
and also it's like I named you something
00:30:45
like you were you know what I mean like
00:30:47
I named you delar like that was the name
00:30:49
I chose for you it's almost like and now
00:30:51
I I can't call you that it's like a
00:30:54
different thing to grieve yeah like
00:30:56
luckily your child is still alive
00:30:58
healthy and youing that identity that
00:31:00
you created for them when they were born
00:31:02
exactly that's a lot on everybody yeah
00:31:06
and the other thing was further
00:31:07
complicating matters which were already
00:31:09
insanely complicated like we're pointing
00:31:11
out now L spoke very little English and
00:31:15
Aaliyah spoke no Spanish oh so their
00:31:18
ability to communicate with each other
00:31:20
at least initially required a translator
00:31:23
and the services of a professional
00:31:25
social
00:31:26
worker so it's all very like I'm sure
00:31:29
they did their best to make it like not
00:31:31
as clinical as it had to be still that's
00:31:34
like not a setting any six-year-old is
00:31:37
going to be super open in W so Carolyn
00:31:38
did all this and also took her out of
00:31:41
her culture and didn't teach her the
00:31:44
language that she would have been taught
00:31:46
yep wow yep wow Carolyn wow unreal now
00:31:53
shortly after the discovery of all this
00:31:55
Caroline accompanied by her attorney
00:31:56
turned herself into to the authorities
00:31:58
in Philadelphia good as you should the
00:32:00
arrest was a welcome news to Luc and her
00:32:03
family and Pedro she told her reporter
00:32:05
if she was so evil then and started a
00:32:07
fire she could do that now with the kids
00:32:08
inside yes absolutely that's the other
00:32:10
thing she could have killed her other
00:32:12
two children with that fire Absolut EXA
00:32:15
what I was just going to say she didn't
00:32:16
give a [ __ ] and also she abandoned her
00:32:18
other kids to run away from this yeah
00:32:20
exactly FL her now detectives in
00:32:23
Philadelphia were equally pleased with
00:32:24
Carolyn's surrender with Captain John
00:32:27
Darby saying we are pleased that this
00:32:29
phase of a complex protracted and
00:32:31
emotionally charged investig
00:32:32
investigation has been completed with
00:32:34
the subject's arrest in this short time
00:32:36
me too same now while the arrest
00:32:40
appeared to be the beginning of the end
00:32:41
of the police involvement in the case it
00:32:43
also raised um just as many questions as
00:32:47
it answered because to those who knew
00:32:49
her the arrest and allegations of a
00:32:51
kidnapping seemed 100% impossible evely
00:32:55
and Vera Pedro's sister said the rest of
00:32:57
the family wasn't surprised when
00:32:59
Caroline showed up with a baby in
00:33:00
December because they had all believed
00:33:02
that she had been pregnant wow in fact
00:33:05
in early January 1998 a few weeks after
00:33:08
the fire she went to the police station
00:33:11
in New Jersey in uh Willingboro and
00:33:13
reported that she had given birth at
00:33:15
home a bizarre incident they now believe
00:33:18
was intended to cover her tracks should
00:33:20
there be any suspicion holy [ __ ] because
00:33:23
obviously she hadn't given birth
00:33:25
anywhere she not no of her having given
00:33:28
birth in a hospital so she was like oh I
00:33:30
have to do like she researched this
00:33:33
somehow or like she figured out that she
00:33:34
had to go report this that she quote
00:33:37
unquote gave birth at home so that there
00:33:39
would be record of it and also damn
00:33:41
that's cunning as [ __ ] that's the thing
00:33:44
it's that's really [ __ ] up and the
00:33:47
fact that everybody believed she was
00:33:48
pregnant like she had to have been
00:33:50
showing so yeah like what hello what
00:33:53
going on here now when it came to
00:33:55
Aaliyah there was some tension between
00:33:57
the two of them but for the most part
00:33:59
everybody remembered that Carolyn doed
00:34:00
on the girl Evelyn Vera said she treated
00:34:03
that little girl better than her three
00:34:04
other
00:34:05
kids that's also [ __ ] up I'm glad she
00:34:08
treated her well but I'm sorry for those
00:34:10
other three children Aaliyah was
00:34:12
enrolled in private school and although
00:34:14
she was just 6 years old she had already
00:34:16
begun a modeling career appearing in
00:34:17
television and print ads which also
00:34:20
you're just flaunting her you know what
00:34:23
it like there's so many layers there
00:34:25
that I'm like the psych but in this I'm
00:34:28
not saying anything about like kidss
00:34:29
modeling I'm saying in this specific
00:34:32
case you kidnapped this child and now
00:34:34
she's appearing in television ads and
00:34:36
you're like oh like that's my baby yeah
00:34:40
the [ __ ] pathology and the psychology
00:34:42
behind that you could spend years
00:34:45
studying yep what and it's like that's
00:34:49
definitely you just living through this
00:34:51
child and wanting to get the like pats
00:34:53
on the back for like look at my pretty
00:34:55
little girl in the moding ad just like
00:34:57
mangling her in front of the people who
00:34:59
are like pry sure that's my kid like
00:35:03
that's the that's the aspect that I'm
00:35:04
looking at like what the fu when they
00:35:06
said she's evil they are 100% correct
00:35:08
this woman is evil like that's
00:35:10
diabolical now what made the story even
00:35:12
stranger was that there were many
00:35:15
members of the Vera family who not only
00:35:16
knew of Pedro and luc's belief that
00:35:18
their daughter was still alive but
00:35:20
several of them like a lot of people
00:35:22
didn't believe it but several family
00:35:23
family members did believe that
00:35:25
Carolyn's daughter was actually Delmar
00:35:27
wow wow Jose ver said we told my cousin
00:35:30
peder about it but nothing ever happened
00:35:32
nothing was done I don't know why cuz
00:35:34
what do you do because they did report
00:35:36
certain things to the police but the
00:35:38
police were like we don't have any
00:35:39
[ __ ] evidence of that they were like
00:35:40
that's crazy and there was language
00:35:42
barriers there was so many things
00:35:44
doesn't seem like it was like top of the
00:35:45
to-do list for the police at the time
00:35:48
until loose came in there with the hair
00:35:50
yeah my girl loose and then Cruz was
00:35:52
like I'll take care of this exactly now
00:35:54
even Carolyn's boyfriend at the time was
00:35:57
actually suspicious of her story in 1999
00:36:00
he confronted Carolyn about his
00:36:02
suspicions and demanded to take a a
00:36:04
paternity test to prove whether the
00:36:06
child was his or not and at that point
00:36:09
she broke up with him and never had any
00:36:12
contact with him after that you wish
00:36:15
that and I understand like it's this is
00:36:18
you know a position none of us can
00:36:20
imagine being in but I wish that he once
00:36:23
she had broken up with him he had gone
00:36:24
to police and been like I think this kid
00:36:27
was stolen I think this kid was
00:36:29
kidnapped I don't think this kid ISS but
00:36:31
again I can't imagine being in his
00:36:33
position thinking that of of your
00:36:35
significant other and honestly he might
00:36:37
have I didn't I didn't come across that
00:36:40
but like Pedro and loose had gone to the
00:36:42
police that guy did too then like kudos
00:36:44
to him and I'm sorry it didn't work out
00:36:46
but like I know but even if he didn't
00:36:48
I'm like I can't imagine that position
00:36:50
so but you just wish like thinking back
00:36:52
cuz also you probably like if you're
00:36:54
having those suspicions and and then she
00:36:56
breaks up with you all of a sudden
00:36:57
pretty much confirms it but then you
00:36:59
must sit there with your own thoughts
00:37:00
and say no I'm insane like there's no
00:37:03
way I'm claiming this kid is not mine
00:37:05
like that's why am I thinking that you
00:37:07
know like yeah there's a lot of layers
00:37:08
lot guil right and having truly believed
00:37:11
Carolyn to have been pregnant at the
00:37:12
time the breakup also left him with
00:37:15
troubling unanswered questions he said
00:37:17
my question is where is the child she
00:37:19
and I had together it's a traumatic
00:37:21
experience oh I can't imagine because he
00:37:23
thought she had been pregnant with his
00:37:25
baby and then she's got this child and
00:37:27
he's like I don't think this is our
00:37:29
child and she's like well [ __ ] you and
00:37:31
just breaks up with him and cuts off
00:37:33
contact it's like cuz now he's probably
00:37:35
thinking like is that my child and I
00:37:37
can't see them now like what the [ __ ]
00:37:39
and now I'm feeling some layer of guilt
00:37:41
cuz I still don't believe that's my kid
00:37:43
like what happened to my child that I
00:37:45
thought you were pregnant with it's wild
00:37:47
this woman [ __ ] so many people up she
00:37:49
did and it's a whole family o if some
00:37:52
members of the family were stunned by
00:37:54
the Revelation that Aaliyah was delar
00:37:56
there were others who were less
00:37:57
surprised by the news after all this
00:38:00
actually wasn't the first time Carolyn
00:38:01
had been in trouble with the law I'm
00:38:03
shocked or the first time she'd made up
00:38:05
a wild story to explain away someone's
00:38:07
suspicions in 1996 she had actually been
00:38:10
arrested and charged with starting a
00:38:12
fire at a New Jersey medical office
00:38:14
where she'd been working as a billing
00:38:16
clerk according to police Carolyn had
00:38:18
been stealing business checks and
00:38:20
cashing them but when she believed her
00:38:22
boss had got on to what she was doing
00:38:23
she quote tried to destroy evidence by
00:38:25
setting fire to the office
00:38:28
wow Carolyn once an arsonist always an
00:38:31
arsonist yeah also there were people
00:38:34
still inside the building at the time
00:38:36
she set the fire oh this she doesn't
00:38:38
care about killing like she doesn't care
00:38:42
as long as she's getting what she wants
00:38:43
out of it like she it's pure luck that
00:38:46
she hasn't yeah that I've heard from you
00:38:49
yet Carolyn's out for Carolyn and
00:38:51
Carolyn she doesn't give a [ __ ] but
00:38:52
because there was people in the building
00:38:54
at the time she set the fire she was
00:38:55
charged with aggravated arson as she
00:38:58
should be in addition to the fraud and
00:38:59
theft charges but she agreed to plead
00:39:02
guilty to a third degree charge in
00:39:03
exchange for probation and community
00:39:06
service I'm sorry if someone tries to
00:39:08
burn down a building with people inside
00:39:10
of it that's attempted murder also let
00:39:13
me tell you if I was in that
00:39:14
[ __ ] office at the time that
00:39:16
she had set it a blaze and I found out
00:39:17
that she got probation in community
00:39:20
service I would be through the [ __ ]
00:39:23
wild I'd be calling everybody that seems
00:39:26
really wild to me like that's not enough
00:39:29
and also but wait there's more that's
00:39:32
what this story should be titled but
00:39:33
wait there's more it was also not the
00:39:35
only time Carolyn had claimed to be
00:39:37
pregnant when she wasn't oh you don't
00:39:39
say in 2000 while working at a drugstore
00:39:42
she told multiple co-workers that she
00:39:43
was pregnant even though she never
00:39:44
showed any physical signs of being
00:39:46
pregnant that fall she took maternity
00:39:49
Lea and when she returned to work and
00:39:51
Trigger warning she says something
00:39:52
terrible she claimed that the baby was
00:39:55
still born and even went so far as to
00:39:58
show several of her co-workers a
00:40:00
photograph of a dead
00:40:02
newborn I don't even know how to respond
00:40:05
to that mhm her boss said it was kind of
00:40:08
gruesome I really didn't know what to
00:40:10
say to
00:40:11
her is one of the grossest people I've
00:40:14
heard of like that's she's gross unreal
00:40:17
that's
00:40:18
unbelievable this case I obviously
00:40:20
whenever a child that is presumed to
00:40:23
have been missing for many many years is
00:40:25
recovered it's remarkable but in this
00:40:28
case the most unbelievable part of it
00:40:30
probably was Carolyn's version of events
00:40:32
that led to her taking on the role of
00:40:34
Aaliyah's mother according to her she
00:40:37
did go to Pedro and luc's home on
00:40:38
December 15th
00:40:40
1997 but she didn't kidnap Delamar she
00:40:43
said Pedro handed the girl over for a
00:40:47
few inexplicable reasons and she never
00:40:49
had any idea why he did that in a 2005
00:40:52
interview she said I've thought about it
00:40:53
why didn't I question it yeah but it
00:40:56
made my emptiness go away so she just
00:40:58
never questioned his
00:41:00
actions and you know that um that baby
00:41:03
had a mother that you were sitting
00:41:05
talking to downstairs and it filled your
00:41:08
emptiness though to steal her newborn
00:41:10
yeah totally yeah definitely okay that
00:41:12
makes sense that makes it fine also that
00:41:14
just doesn't make any sense whatsoever
00:41:17
fine it's fine if her story seemed uh
00:41:19
entirely implausible it only got
00:41:21
stranger from there she also claimed
00:41:23
that loose had not only known the truth
00:41:25
about her daughter all along but
00:41:27
actually she had been there when Pedro
00:41:29
handed the baby over after the fire
00:41:31
broke out nope and as evidence that she
00:41:33
was telling the truth she pointed to the
00:41:35
number of times that Pedro had visited
00:41:37
her at her and her family at their home
00:41:39
in New Jersey including one occasion
00:41:42
when he she said he was accompanied by
00:41:43
loose she said why is it that Pedro is
00:41:46
not arrested I didn't do this by myself
00:41:49
and he gave me the child why didn't he
00:41:51
get the kid before if he would have come
00:41:52
to me and got her it wouldn't hurt me as
00:41:54
bad as it's hurting me now
00:41:57
here's the thing too the statement that
00:42:00
she just made that says why didn't he
00:42:02
get the kid before yeah you don't love
00:42:06
that kid no the kid you don't refer to
00:42:08
your kid as the kid why didn't he get
00:42:10
the kid I've never referred to my CH
00:42:12
like what why didn't she go get that the
00:42:14
kid over there like what like no I don't
00:42:18
believe [ __ ] all that you're saying like
00:42:19
we said Carolyn's out for Carolyn yeah
00:42:21
while authorities never believed that
00:42:23
Pedro Vera was involved in his
00:42:24
daughter's kidnapping the charges
00:42:26
against did allege that she had not
00:42:28
acted alone but the documents only named
00:42:31
an unnamed conspirator and no additional
00:42:33
arrests were ever made that's horrifying
00:42:36
CU that's what I'm wondering she was
00:42:37
downstairs
00:42:38
distracting loose exactly somebody came
00:42:41
in that room and stole that child for
00:42:43
her like she was involved obviously but
00:42:45
like she didn't do the ACT herself right
00:42:49
like I'm sure she came kind of thing but
00:42:52
who the [ __ ] was that isn't that
00:42:53
interesting that it's the person is only
00:42:56
name is only like referred to as an
00:42:58
unnamed uh conspirator cuz it's like who
00:43:00
is this person that would go into a
00:43:02
nursery and steal a newborn out of a
00:43:05
window also they had to have a really
00:43:07
compelling story to to be uned in all of
00:43:10
this no that's wild yeah it's weird but
00:43:13
in 2005 Pedro's lawyer Mike Luber told
00:43:16
reporters this woman who is obviously a
00:43:18
pathological this is a woman who is
00:43:19
obviously a pathological liar she has
00:43:21
significant mental problems two of the
00:43:24
psychiatrists have said she is mentally
00:43:25
imbalanced and she obvious L will say
00:43:27
anything to do anything to avoid the
00:43:29
music so to speak yeah she abandoned her
00:43:31
children to he said the one thing she
00:43:33
hasn't said is the truth who the real
00:43:34
conspirator is that's so weird isn't
00:43:37
that weird that's so weird and I just
00:43:40
there's not enough information about the
00:43:42
case to to point fingers and obviously
00:43:45
I'm not going to point fingers not going
00:43:46
to speculate like I wish I could
00:43:48
speculate on my own yeah but there's not
00:43:50
enough there's just not enough for her
00:43:52
part Carolyn has always talked to her
00:43:54
story and maintained her maintained her
00:43:56
innocence she said I feel it's unfair I
00:43:58
raised her for six years and instead of
00:44:00
saying I want my child back saying this
00:44:02
woman kidnapped my kid well I
00:44:04
didn't I'm that's Carolyn who's saying
00:44:08
it's unfair I raised her instead of
00:44:10
saying I want my child back saying this
00:44:12
woman kid not my kid cuz she's saying
00:44:14
they should have said like I want my kid
00:44:16
back cuz I gave it to I gave my kid to
00:44:18
you voluntarily and now I want it
00:44:21
back wow and she's like instead they're
00:44:24
saying I kidnapped this child or this
00:44:26
kid this kid yeah uh instead she
00:44:29
believes once Pedro learned that she had
00:44:31
lost her baby in December of 1997 he
00:44:34
decided to hand his own child over to
00:44:37
her I don't know about that according to
00:44:40
the Philadelphia Daily News her medical
00:44:42
records actually show no sign of her
00:44:44
having been pregnant at the time or
00:44:46
giving birth to a stillborn baby as she
00:44:48
claims but she has stuck to that story
00:44:51
when in all reality records indicate
00:44:53
that she actually had a tubal liation in
00:44:55
1990
00:44:57
wow so like I don't I don't know a lot
00:45:00
about that surgery I don't know if it's
00:45:01
reversible but I know even when people
00:45:05
do try to get like their tubes untied it
00:45:07
it depletes your chances
00:45:09
of getting pregnant it can be reversed
00:45:12
by another operation only about 50 to
00:45:15
80% of women are able to become pregnant
00:45:17
after having their Fallopian tubes
00:45:19
reattached that's what I figured like I
00:45:20
know some like a surgeries like that
00:45:23
claim to be reversible but a lot of it's
00:45:25
a lower chance it's a much lower chance
00:45:27
so who's to say yeah but in her version
00:45:30
of events Carolyn went to the house that
00:45:32
day to give Pedro a ride to a friend's
00:45:34
house to buy drugs she said meanwhile
00:45:37
like they were like no she showed up
00:45:38
asking to for her breaks to be fixed but
00:45:41
she said after she dropped him off she
00:45:43
returned to loose at the house just
00:45:44
before the fire started once the fire
00:45:46
started she helped loose get all the
00:45:48
three other get all the other children
00:45:50
out of the house before returning to the
00:45:52
friend's house to pick up Pedro and tell
00:45:54
him what happened but um that couldn't
00:45:56
have been true because First Responders
00:45:58
at the scene told Pedro what happened
00:45:59
when he got back yeah she alleged all
00:46:02
the way back to the house he said it's
00:46:04
my fault I cut the wires and the heater
00:46:06
and did something and when they got near
00:46:08
the house she claims he asked her to
00:46:10
drop him about a block away from the
00:46:12
house and a few minutes later he
00:46:14
returned to the car and handed her the
00:46:16
baby what so he got the baby out of the
00:46:20
fire that I'm like what do you that
00:46:22
doesn't make any sense
00:46:25
whatsoever no the fire started so you
00:46:29
drove him to his friend's house to quote
00:46:30
unquote buy drugs then you went back to
00:46:32
luc's house and then the fire happened
00:46:36
and nobody knew where the baby was and
00:46:38
the baby was already missing from her
00:46:39
crib and then you left to go get Pedro
00:46:44
and then Pedro said oh no that's my
00:46:47
fault thank you for helping my family
00:46:50
out of the fire here's my baby who I
00:46:53
found after the fire even though no
00:46:55
firefighters could find ever heard what
00:46:58
anyway she continued I took her home
00:47:00
laid down next to her and played played
00:47:02
with her from then on she was mine and
00:47:04
no one questioned it uh except multiple
00:47:07
people for six entire years what the
00:47:09
[ __ ] no one questioned it baby what the
00:47:11
[ __ ] are you talking about it's
00:47:13
documented that people have questioned
00:47:15
it literally documented as the trial
00:47:17
neared Carolyn agreed to plead no
00:47:19
contest to the charges and in late
00:47:21
September 2005 she was sentenced to 9 to
00:47:23
30 years in prison for the abduction
00:47:26
after the sentence was passed she
00:47:27
addressed the court saying I truly
00:47:28
believe I need counseling your honor I
00:47:30
want to apologize to the family and the
00:47:32
court for all of this
00:47:34
confusion all of this confusion hey I'm
00:47:38
glad you're saying you need counseling
00:47:39
cuz like 10 out of 10 agree check out
00:47:42
better help uh
00:47:45
confusion you talk to a therapist about
00:47:49
calling that confusion cuz I don't know
00:47:50
about that yeah but in response judge uh
00:47:53
judge Pamela Demi called Carolyn's
00:47:54
remarks breathtakingly short of the
00:47:57
yeah and said and what I'm hearing in
00:47:59
your voice still is an angry desire to
00:48:01
put a lot of their responsibility on
00:48:02
someone else I can't imagine letting
00:48:04
another parent believed that their child
00:48:06
had been burned to death that's the
00:48:07
other thing it's like you didn't just
00:48:09
kidnap this child and this child was
00:48:12
like missing like they were just like
00:48:14
which would be devastating enough to
00:48:17
think that somebody just kidnapped your
00:48:18
child they were led to believe that she
00:48:21
burned to death in her crib to the point
00:48:23
where there was literally nothing left
00:48:26
nothing for them to do a memorial
00:48:28
nothing nothing and they also remember
00:48:30
couldn't even have her legally declared
00:48:32
dead so there was no headstone to visit
00:48:34
nothing nothing wow nothing in addition
00:48:38
to the prison sentence the judge ordered
00:48:40
Caroline to serve a 5-year probation
00:48:42
sentence and to never have contact with
00:48:44
any of the victims ever again now the
00:48:47
process of restoring custody to of the
00:48:50
child to her parents like we were saying
00:48:51
earlier was a very slow and very
00:48:54
difficult one a court awarded shared
00:48:56
custody to both loose and Pedro but it
00:48:59
was agreed that her primary residence
00:49:01
would be with loose and for the sake of
00:49:03
their daughter Pedro and loose maintain
00:49:05
a c a cordial relationship good Pedro's
00:49:07
lawyer said this child already has a
00:49:09
fragile psyche if we get into custody in
00:49:11
visitation battles it's going to get
00:49:12
messy that was really good of them
00:49:15
though to like put their own [ __ ] aside
00:49:17
which like I imagine is hard to do
00:49:19
anyways in that scenario yeah absolutely
00:49:22
it's like to make sure you're putting
00:49:23
her in her wellbeing first absolutely
00:49:27
um finally while they always referred to
00:49:29
their daughter as Delmar like I was
00:49:30
saying earlier both loose and Pedro
00:49:32
agreed to continue calling the Girl
00:49:34
Aaliyah so does not to disrupt or
00:49:36
confuse her any further cuz remember she
00:49:38
was 6 years old when she was reunited
00:49:41
with them like six years she's been
00:49:43
Aaliyah in late March of 2004 less than
00:49:46
less than a month after Aaliyah was
00:49:48
returned to them Luc and Pedro sold the
00:49:49
rights to their story for um a movie and
00:49:52
a book to the Larry a Thompson
00:49:54
organization a company known for
00:49:55
producing made for TV movies and in 2008
00:49:59
if this entire thing has been sounding
00:50:00
like a lifetime movie to you it became
00:50:02
one it became one the Lifetime network
00:50:04
premiered little girl lost the Delmar
00:50:06
Vera story and the family and Angel crw
00:50:08
agreed it was an accurate and respectful
00:50:11
depiction of their story so that's great
00:50:13
yeah in August 2006 both parents Pedra
00:50:16
and loose filed a civil suit against the
00:50:18
city of Philadelphia including the
00:50:19
Philadelphia Fire Department wow
00:50:21
alleging that several City and law
00:50:23
enforcement officials had violated their
00:50:25
quote Federal statutory right under the
00:50:27
national child search assistance Act of
00:50:29
1990 and their 14th Amendment right by
00:50:32
failing to conduct a proper search for
00:50:33
Delmar I during and after the fire the
00:50:37
court was sympathetic to the complaints
00:50:38
lodged by loose and Pedro But ultimately
00:50:41
it dismissed the complaint writing after
00:50:44
much analysis with and with considerable
00:50:46
appreciation for the professional skills
00:50:48
of several of the council involved in
00:50:50
this wrenching case that has no doubt
00:50:51
caused many heads to shake and wonder at
00:50:54
its occurrence and many sympathetic
00:50:55
Helping Hands to be extended to the
00:50:57
people involved for the reasons
00:50:58
discussed below the Motions to dismiss
00:51:00
the complaint will be granted so they
00:51:03
did so with sympathy which was nice yeah
00:51:05
like they didn't just say like [ __ ] that
00:51:07
and I I I think it would have been like
00:51:11
difficult to go through more to prove
00:51:13
all of that so it's probably a good
00:51:15
thing exactly so you hope that now
00:51:17
they're all just living peacefully and
00:51:20
that my goodness hope everything is
00:51:22
going well for all of them and that they
00:51:24
wake up on the right side of the bed
00:51:26
every day I hope so I want all good
00:51:28
things for this family honestly cuz it's
00:51:30
like you've been through enough that's
00:51:32
the thing like damn absolutely Bonker
00:51:37
story and the I mean there's pictures of
00:51:39
them now together and everything and
00:51:42
they look so happy and adorable and that
00:51:45
makes you so happy that's awesome what a
00:51:47
wild story though I was just looking for
00:51:50
true crime stories that weren't like uh
00:51:52
you know like the typical kind of thing
00:51:54
yeah and this one had a happy ending
00:51:56
that made me happy wow that's wow that
00:52:00
was a wild story that I have not heard
00:52:03
ofay czy never heard it before I started
00:52:06
looking up I think I think I literally
00:52:08
wrote true crime stories with a happy
00:52:09
ending yeah I love that because you're
00:52:11
just like I just want one I just needed
00:52:13
one I would like one now so yeah that is
00:52:16
one of the craziest cases I think we've
00:52:17
ever covered truly and I'm happy that it
00:52:19
had a happy ending for that family I
00:52:22
hope you guys enjoyed it I hope they're
00:52:23
thriving I hope they're thriving they
00:52:25
look like they are yeah they look so
00:52:27
happy yeah and we hope you keep
00:52:29
listening and we hope you keep it weird
00:52:33
but not so weird that you ever kidnap a
00:52:34
baby out of their crib and lie about it
00:52:37
cuz don't listen to the show if you do
00:52:39
that don't and just don't do that don't
00:52:41
do that bye
00:52:45
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