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Hernandez case - similarities and differences to Laci's

 
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jane



Joined: 22 Sep 2002
Posts: 3225

PostPosted: Mon Apr 21, 2003 12:49 am    Post subject: Hernandez case - similarities and differences to Laci's Reply with quote

quote from San Francisco Chronicle, 21 April 2003

Case of another 'Laci' languishes in obscurity
Torso of missing pregnant mom was found in S.F. Bay last year


Kelly St. John, Chronicle Staff Writer

A vibrant young woman -- pregnant in her third trimester with a baby boy -- vanishes. Police suspect foul play. Doubts swirl around the man she loves, whom police don't rule out as a suspect.

Finally, the grim discovery: A woman's remains are pulled from San Francisco Bay.

The saga of Laci Peterson captivated America's attention. The 27-year-old Modesto mother-to-be was reported missing on Christmas Eve and became the subject of daily news reports capped by the arrest Friday of her husband, Scott Peterson.

But it is also the story of 24-year-old Evelyn Hernandez of San Francisco, who vanished last May 1 with her 5-year-old son, a week before she was to deliver a baby boy. Her torso was found in the bay three months later and identified, while her son remains missing. No arrests have been made.

Hernandez's case barely registered in the community and in Bay Area television news shows and newspapers, while the eyes of the nation seemed to be fixed on the search for Laci Peterson.

There are many, sometimes subtle, reasons why some cases become major news stories -- while the vast majority languish in obscurity, according to law enforcement officials, relatives of the missing, journalists and citizens.

Peterson seemed to be the all-American girl next door, the most innocent of victims. She also has a vocal family advocating on her behalf, and the financial and public relations help of a well-connected crime victims group in Modesto, the Sund/Carrington Memorial Reward Foundation, formed during the search for the Yosemite murder victims in 1999.

"This girl (Laci), she's white, they have money, and there is a family behind her," said Twiggy Damy, a friend of Hernandez, a single mother who moved to San Francisco from El Salvador when she was 14. "Who cares about Evelyn?

"The first time I heard Laci's case, I got flashbacks from Evelyn, because it is the same case," Damy said. "That's very hard to see, why one gets more attention than the other."


VALUE OF PUBLICITY
Families of crime victims say the media spotlight keeps pressure on police to work quickly to solve the case, while police say publicity helps them enlist the help of citizens whose tips might lead to the recovery of a body, an arrest, or the safe return of a missing person.

"Our greatest hope would have been for someone to say, yes, I saw her here, with this person," said San Francisco police inspector Holly Pera, who took on Hernandez's case when it became a suspected homicide.

Police at first thought Hernandez may have gone away to have her baby on her own, and didn't hold their first news conference until more than a month after she vanished, when the homicide unit took over the case.

"It's hard to turn back the clock and get what we could have gotten if we had major publicity from the get-go," Pera said.

It is rare for a pregnant woman to vanish. But Peterson's case likely received extra media attention from the start because she was from the same town as another well-known missing person and homicide victim -- Chandra Levy, the Washington, D.C., intern who had an affair with then-Rep. Gary Condit.

Adding intrigue as the Laci Peterson story unfolded were revelations about Scott Peterson that seemed to come almost weekly -- from his admission to an extramarital affair, to revelations that he had purchased a life insurance policy on his wife, to his selling her car and attempting to sell the house, to his hesitancy to speak to the media.


ENDEARING PERSONALITY
In Modesto, regular folks say that what has made Laci's story tug on their heartstrings is Laci herself -- a beautiful, warm and likable young woman who seemed to have it all.

"She was a happy-go-lucky lady. In a way, I feel like I wish I would have known her," said Lee Benites, a genial grandfather who cuts hair at his downtown salon, the Razor's Edge. "And a lot of it is because it was Christmas time, and she was going to have a baby."

"It's heart-wrenching to think that somebody could do something like that to a woman who is expecting a baby, especially if it was (Scott Peterson)," said Mary Lou Hambrick of Louisville, Ky., as she played with her grandchildren at a park while visiting family in Modesto.

Hambrick said she was riveted by Laci Peterson's case from the start. And that's not just because her 29-year-old daughter, Erin, lives in Modesto and looks a bit like Laci, she said.

"She just looks like a warm, beautiful daughter," Hambrick said. "You see nothing but a big smile."

But advocates for other missing adults say that while they don't begrudge the attention Laci Peterson has received, they are devastated by the disparity.

About 200,000 adults are reported missing in the United States each year. The state attorney general's office reports that 35,142 adults were reported missing in California in 2001, some 4,346 of them under suspicious or unknown circumstances. Most have received scant attention.

While Evelyn Hernandez's story eerily mirrors Peterson's case, the disparity in media coverage also has been striking.

Even before the dramatic arrest of Scott Peterson on Friday, The Chronicle had written 32 stories since Laci Peterson was reported missing Dec. 24 -- four of them on the front page. It published four about Evelyn Hernandez, none on the front page.

HERNANDEZ'S STORY

Laci Peterson often topped the newscasts of national cable news channels during a four-month investigation, while Evelyn Hernandez received scant coverage from Bay Area television stations -- even on the day her remains were found.

Described by friends as a devoted mother to her son Alex, Hernandez was a legal immigrant who had worked as a vocational nurse and in jobs at Costco and the Clift Hotel. She was reported missing by her baby's father, a 36-year-old married man named Herman Aguilera, Pera said.

Authorities had already suspected that Hernandez and her son Alex met with foul play when her wallet was found in South San Francisco, two blocks from where Aguilera worked at a limousine company, Pera said. Then, in late July, a portion of her torso -- still clad in maternity clothes -- washed up on the Embarcadero.

When her death was confirmed by DNA tests just after Labor Day, her small circle of friends and a sister who lives in the East Bay planned a memorial service in San Francisco that drew 100 people. It was the same small community that had circulated flyers when she disappeared.

Damy said friends and family tried repeatedly to get Hernandez's case featured on "America's Most Wanted" but were rejected because no warrant had been issued for a suspect. But, Damy said, the show did a story on Laci Peterson although no suspects had been named in that case either.

Hernandez's friends and family are convinced that subtle factors -- from Hernandez's status as a Salvadoran immigrant to the fact that she was involved with a married man -- figured in the news media giving little notice to her case.

"It's embarrassing," said Pera, the San Francisco police inspector. "We've pushed and asked for and received as much as we possibly could. But we don't make the decision about what gets covered and what doesn't."

E-mail Kelly St. John at kstjohn@sfchronicle.com.

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rd



Joined: 13 Sep 2002
Posts: 9273
Location: Jacksonville, FL

PostPosted: Mon Apr 21, 2003 1:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is nonsense. Laci is Latino just as Evelyn Hernandez was. This white thing is total hogwash, typical lying, exaggeration, and denial encountered all too often from humans who cannot deal with the truth.

The truth is that there was a Modesto connection, it was Christmas Eve, and Laci was photogenic. It was a combination of factors, but this California tan business certain midwesterners are saying makes white people look like Latinos is the same as what I think of Evelyn Hernandez's family statement. She is no more white than I am Latino.

rd
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jane



Joined: 22 Sep 2002
Posts: 3225

PostPosted: Mon Apr 21, 2003 1:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

rd, I see your point - (though Rocha is a Portuguese name) but Laci was born in the U.S. - she wasn't a poor immigrant, didn't have an accent.

Actually the reason I posted this was that I found it interesting that the other body came to view in a similar condition to Laci's. I thought that if facts are known as to how Hernandez' body came to be that way, it could tell us something about what happened to Laci. (How she was secured to the weights etc.)
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rd



Joined: 13 Sep 2002
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Location: Jacksonville, FL

PostPosted: Mon Apr 21, 2003 1:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sure, it's great info, very important to understand and discuss, and this subject comes up repeatedly as to why certain cases get a lot of coverage. The knee jerk reactions are white people are more important, but it's really innocent, photogenic people get more attention, regardless of race. We saw the same thing with children last summer, the same charges based on Elizabeth's coverage, but young black kids got the same coverage. They just ended a lot quicker and weren't as baffling.

By the way, Portuguese is Latino in my opinion. Latino is Spanish influenced in a practical sense. This is a complicated subject that I've discussed unrelated to this case with co-workers. Some that would be considered Latino in all ways (color, name, origin) consider themselves black because they aren't white, as if anything not white is black. This is baffling but is an internal thing to Latinos I am told, at least in the Carribean.

rd
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jane



Joined: 22 Sep 2002
Posts: 3225

PostPosted: Mon Apr 21, 2003 1:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I certainly don't think it's a deliberate thing, but I do think that people tend to be more concerned about people that seem similar to themselves. Unless they make a deliberate attempt not to be that way (or unless they've had an opportunity to really get to know people from other ethnic backgrounds, which doesn't happen that much - probably more for young people these days than when we were growing up.) Wasn't there more of a desire to intervene in genocide in the Balkans (where people look more like us) than in Africa? (Most people in a position to make decisions about involvement are white.)
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EmmaPeel



Joined: 20 Sep 2002
Posts: 472
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 21, 2003 3:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Being that she was simply attacked and murdered but robbery was not the motive, it seems the HIGHLY likely that the MARRIED man and father of the unborn child is the chief suspect--see article below. Barring that, then I would think they did it to abduct the five-year-old. Yeah it's possible someone wanted the unborn child, but that's highly unusual to try and surgically remove a child without killing it when you could much easily simply kill a new mother and take the newborn. (And surely police would have been able to tell if the was taken or not.)


FWIW, here's pictures of them:





More than 200 people congregated at an event at Centro Familiar de la Raza to remember Evelyn Hernández, many of whom, with their heart opened and tears flowing from their eyes, expressed their love and sorrow to the victim of the brutal murder that took her life.

Also in the audience were her two sisters - one of them is mute and deaf - hoping to send their sister’s remains to their homeland of El Salvador, with the help they could get there from friends from the community.

Hernández, who arrived in the U.S. at the age of 14, was a theater student under the wing of theater teacher, Bertha Hernández, with whom she formed part of Romeo y Julieta en la Misión.

On May 1, Hernández left her home headed to Buena Vista child care to drop her off her 5-year-old son, Alex. Later on the day, she used her ATM card at a Ross store.

That would be the last day Hernández, who was in the final days of giving birth to her second child and was on maternity leave from her job at Costco, is believed to have been alive.

In a gruesome discovery, the 24-year-old Hernández was found in mid-July on the Embarcadero. No one has been arrested in this case.

Hernández’s wallet was found a few days after her disappearance, in a gutter on Linden Avenue in South San Francisco, two blocks from where Hernández’s married boyfriend and the father of her unborn child, Hermán Aguilera, worked at a limousine company and as a mechanic for United Airlines at San Francisco International Airport.

Tucked away in the newly-purchased wallet were folded-up cash and a disability check made out to Hernández, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

“I don’t understand this type of violence,” said a deaf-mute man, through a sign language interpreter, while expressed his compassion for Hernández.

“She was always happy, and came up with craziness, making others to say jokes,” said Eurania López. “This isn’t about sadness, but to unite and to take action to help her.”

“We must remember her as she was, a very happy girl, full of life,” said José Esteva, a community organizer.

And although Hernández has left this world, it’s never too late to settle old differences.

As a last-minute reconciliation, one young woman in the audience pleaded for forgiveness, saying that one time she had been unjust with the victim. A personal grudge had broke their friendship off.

Twiggy Damy, the main organizer of the event at the center, remembers Hernández as a very nice young woman who was involved in different community organizations such as Horizons Unlimited and Arriba Juntos, both of them youth programs in the Mission-Potrero Hill area.

“She didn’t have any enemies,” Damy said. “She loved to talk to people.”

Police ask anyone who saw Hernández at around 9 p.m. on May 1 - when she spoke to her sister, and 6 a.m. on May 2, to contact them at 415/553-1145.
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rd



Joined: 13 Sep 2002
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Location: Jacksonville, FL

PostPosted: Mon Apr 21, 2003 4:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If I read this cvorrectly, it is very sad that the 5 year old has not been found. I hope he has been hidden away with relatives by the father and will be found. Thanks for the info, Emma.

rd
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EmmaPeel



Joined: 20 Sep 2002
Posts: 472
Location: Texas

PostPosted: Thu Apr 24, 2003 11:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

RD, I don't think the father of the missing child was the married boyfriend. I suspect that was from a prior relationship.

There was a friend of hers on Greta tonight. She did mention in passing that she was having some problems with her boyfriend, but said she knew of no one who would have killed her.

I wish Greta had questioned her on the type of problems they were having. This case smacks big time of being a married man who didn't want his lover having a child so his wife would find out or he would be forced to child support. I'll bet anything the problem was he wanted her to abort the child and she refused and so he killed her.
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fallout



Joined: 19 Sep 2002
Posts: 566
Location: The Great NorthEast

PostPosted: Fri Apr 25, 2003 3:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Greta Van Susteran has Twiggy Damy who was a friend of Evelyn Hernandez on tonight.

Greta becomes greater every time I see her and I trust her more than almost any other newsperson out there.

Her friend has basically repeated what is stated above but also tells us that she and her friends have tried to get the media interested but fuhgeddahbout it because she's a latina. Its so sad.

We have two cases in NYC that don't qualify for Fox News either and I know what she means.

The unbelievable part is that there is absolutely no trace of the kid!! How can the cops sleep knowing that he is possibly under the control of the killers?

This story needs more attention and bless Greta for bringing it up. There is enough similarity and location coincidence to demand that the Modesto cops look at this for information.

By the way, I did a check on the distance from the San Francisco bay to the Redwood trees of the Bohemian Club. Its not too far to ask a few questions! I only ask because of the May 1 coincidence.

Glad to be living 3,000 miles away from that place.

James

James
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EmmaPeel



Joined: 20 Sep 2002
Posts: 472
Location: Texas

PostPosted: Fri Apr 25, 2003 9:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I emailed the story above that mentions the wallet being found near her boyfriend's workplace and the fact that her boyfriend was a married man to Greta last night. I hope she can start asking questions on how much this boyfriend was investigated and if anything further was found out.
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rd



Joined: 13 Sep 2002
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Location: Jacksonville, FL

PostPosted: Sat Apr 26, 2003 11:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It certainly sounds like what you're bringing to Greta's attention, Emma. Maybe a little light shed on this guy will give it the attention needed to solve her murder.

rd
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