A person goes lacking in Connecticut and his automotive is discovered burning in upstate New York. Why have been the FBI searching for his physique in Sheffield? | crime
Several FBI-led law enforcement agencies continued to work the edge of a Sheffield cornfield this month while searching for the remains of Carlos Reyes, who they believe may be Carlos Reyes, a Danbury, Connecticut man who went missing in late March.
SHEFFIELD — The FBI spent several days earlier this month searching for what it says may be the body of a Connecticut man who went missing in late March and whose car was later found ablaze.
Quote
“Investigators are confident [Christopher Lemke] may provide you with information to assist you in locating Reyes or his whereabouts.” Danbury Police Det. Lt. Mark Williams, in a Facebook post
Sources familiar with the investigation and search say the agency was looking for the remains of Carlos Reyes, 20, whose family reported him missing on March 28. His car was found on fire the next day across the state line in Brewster, NY
Police are still considering the disappearance of Reyes, who worked for the grocery delivery website application DoorDash, as a missing person investigation. Reyes lived and delivered frequently in Danbury.
Carlos Reyes, 20, was last seen by family on March 28.
When asked why Reyes’ body would have been dumped in Sheffield, law enforcement sources said, on condition of anonymity, that police likely used GPS tracking of a vehicle that arrived at the Route 7 rest stop on the Housatonic River in the Sheffield pottery has been placed nearby. Surveillance and other forms of electronic tracking might have helped.
Information about the Sheffield connection could also come from others, including a man whom authorities are questioning about Reyes’ disappearance, sources said.
Christopher Lemke is in Connecticut on $1 million bail for an alleged car theft at gunpoint while fleeing police two weeks after Reyes’ disappearance, as well as drug and other charges, according to Danbury Police . Lemke is also “directly linked” to a search warrant in an area where police collected evidence and monitored Reyes’ disappearance.
The assumption, sources said, is that the body would have been dumped in the river; When they were not found there, the police shifted the search to the adjacent corn field.
Neither Reyes nor Lemke are known to law enforcement in Berkshire County, the sources added, saying a check on the database was blank.
Sheffield appears to have been a location “distant enough” to dispose of a body and far enough from where the crime is said to have been committed, sources noted.
“If you’re trying to think like a bad guy, that seems like a good place to do something like that,” said a source when asked if the riverside rest area might have been used for the purpose. “The speculation [by authorities] is that the body was dumped here, not that the murder was committed here.”
A spokesman for the FBI’s Boston Division declined Friday to answer questions about the Sheffield connection. Earlier in the investigation, the agency said it was looking for “concrete evidence” as part of an ongoing investigation.
A massive FBI and police presence here in early May alerted residents and passers-by. Search teams with divers were first seen at the roost on May 4, possibly the night before. The search soon shifted to the adjacent field. The crews were apparently digging with a backhoe and using other heavy machinery, approaching the field from Boardman Street, which runs parallel to Route 7 across the river.
Crews arrived on May 6 to complete the search.
Carlos Reyes.
Meanwhile, Danbury and other Connecticut police departments continued their investigations. The Connecticut and New York news sites continued to report it, and The Eagle used those reports, along with information from the Connecticut Police Department and other sources, to cobble together a picture of an investigation that led authorities to the Berkshires.
Related searches and a carjacking
Danbury Police say Reyes’ family last saw him on the night of March 28. The next night, his four-door gray 2008 Infiniti caught fire in Brewster, NY, which is about 11 miles west of Danbury. The police found the car unoccupied.
Fast forward to April 7th. Police executed a search and seizure warrant at a home on Ball Pond Road in Danbury which, according to the Daily Voice, a Connecticut news site, “ended in gathering surveillance footage and evidence related to the missing person.” ” It also involved finding a pond and storm drains.
Timeline of disappearance and search
March 28 Carlos Reyes is last seen by family
March 29: Reyes’ car is found on fire in Brewster, NY. The police are searching the area
March 31: Family reports Reyes and his car missing; Police receive report that car was burned
April 7: A search warrant at a home in Danbury, Connecticut leads to evidence and surveillance linked to Reyes; Christopher Lemke is “directly related” to this search.
April 14: Police executed a search warrant at a home in Newtown, Connecticut. Lemke allegedly flees on foot and commits a car theft at gunpoint. He is being held on $1 million bail.
May 3-6: The FBI conducts a search for the body of Reyes in the Housatonic River and adjacent field in Sheffield. The search turns up no remains.
In an April 15 Facebook post, Lt. Danbury Police Detective Mark Williams states that “Lemke was also directly connected to this April 7 raid.”
“Investigators are confident [Lemke] may provide you with information to help locate Reyes or his whereabouts,” Williams wrote.
The trail soon leads police to Newton, Connecticut, which is about 11 miles east of Danbury. Another search warrant based on a stolen gun and multiple incidents on April 14 led to Lemke’s arrest at a home there.
Lemke, 33, allegedly fled police on foot, kidnapped someone at gunpoint and stole a car. Police say they found Lemke in possession of narcotics with intent to sell.
Danbury is located between Newtown, Connecticut and Brewster, NY. From Brewster, Route 22 in Connecticut merges with Route 7 and goes directly to Sheffield, about 60 miles north.
Comments are closed.