Missing and Murdered Children

Original Post: December 15, 2009Updated: 4.16.10Sources

The story is so familiar it is becoming very tiring. Mother has small child and live-in boyfriend. Boyfriend is not the biological father of the child. Mother leaves her child in the care of the boyfriend. Child is reported missing. Boyfriend is taken into custody and charged with misdemeanor child endangerment and a parole violation. Mother speaks to the media and is pretty much not wanting to discuss those “nasty rumors” circulating about her son’s hands being burned two months ago while he was in the care of the boyfriend. She just wants everyone to focus on finding her little boy.

As I said in the previous paragraph, this scenario is becoming far too commonplace and the outcomes are usually tragic.

Marc Anthony Bookal, 4, was last seen inside his Newburgh City, New York apartment by his mother’s boyfriend, Cory Byrd, 30. Cory told police he was getting the child ready to go visit relatives at about 1 p.m. on Monday December 14. He then noticed the front door to the apartment was open and Marc was no where to be found. He checked at a neighbor’s home where Marc liked to play, but he was not there. It has not been reported in the media who called authorities to report Marc’s disappearance, how long it took between the discovered disappearance and the reporting of the disappearance, or where Marc’s mother was while he was in the care of Cory Byrd.

Police checked the area block by block. They say there were no sightings of the 4-year-old walking down the street by himself. There have been no sightings of a 4-year-old walking around by himself in the middle of the night last night either.

Today, police arrested Cory Byrd and charged him with child endangerment, a misdemeanor, for allowing him to wander outside by himself. They also charged him with a parole violation. I have been covering stories about missing and murdered children for quite a few years now and I cannot recall one time when a caretaker or parent was taken into custody for child endangerment when their child disappeared from inside the house “for allowing the child to wander off”. Maybe authorities have good reason to put him behind bars based on his past history with children.

According to an article published in August 1998, Cory Byrd was jailed after he was charged with seriously harming his 1-year-old son. The injuries to 1-year-old Christian Caston included the following:

“…a fractured skull, several broken ribs, a broken wrist and a perforated liver,…”

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Just like Marc’s injuries two months ago and his current disappearance, at the time of Christian’s injuries there was no one else caring for the child except for Cory Byrd. Bryd served several years in prison for the assault on his son and on other charges and was recently paroled in April of this year.

I wonder why Marc’s mother allowed her boyfriend to remain in the home, let alone babysit her son given the fact Marc sustained burns to his hands just two months ago while in the care of Cory Byrd and given his criminal history. Police have asked her to come down to headquarters for further questioning; however, she says she isn’t going anywhere until she finds her son. She wants police to stop thinking of her boyfriend as a suspect and look for her son. I wonder when she will get a clue.

Journalists are taught to be objective when reporting about a story. They usually tread carefully when describing situations that have happened where children have been abused. Having said that, I was surprised to read the following in a story written by Times Herald-Record reporter Michael Randall regarding Byrd’s past conviction:

Ten years ago, Byrd was convicted of first-degree reckless endangerment, a felony, and sentenced to 1 1/3 to four years in prison for beating up another of Bookal’s sons, who was 14 months old at the time.

Child protective services is now investigating the disappearance to determine if there was neglect involved. It appears it is once again a case of too little too late.

It is the season for miracles. Maybe Marc did wander off.

Marc Anthony Bookal

Marc is a 4-year-old Black male with light skin. He is 3’5″ tall and weighs approximately 45 pounds. Marc has a medium-length brown Afro and brown eyes. When last seen he was wearing a red, long-sleeved shirt, white Nike sneakers, and gray sweatpants. He is not wearing a jacket.

Anyone with information is urged to call Newburgh City Police Department at (845) 561-3131

Updates 

Latest Update

December 16, 2009: 3 p.m. PST

It is really to say but Marc has not been located. Today authorities are focusing their search on the city’s waterfront and have expanded the water search to include the Hudson River. They are also searching along the railroad tracks. To me, it sounds as if they are looking for his body. As I said previously, Marc’s mother should get a clue, go into that jail, and knock Cory Byrd upside his sorry head and demand he tell her where he put her son’s body. Of course, she is not ready to get a clue.

December 17, 2009: 1:20 p.m. PST

According to RecordOnline.com, the press conference planned by police for this afternoon in front of Marc Bookal’s home has been unexpectedly canceled. No reason was given for the change in plans.

December 17, 2009: 6:30 p.m. PST

I think this picture says it all about how desolate the search for Marc is becoming in the fourth day. It is such a vast body of water, if he is in the water his body will probably never be found. I read somewhere today the reason for searching the waterfront and the river is because the bloodhounds hit on a scent.

The media has not mentioned police interviewing area sex offenders and I am not sure why that has not been mentioned or if it has or has not been done. A search of the New York state Sex Offender Registry for zip code 12550 revealed several registered sex offenders. The law only allows for Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders to appear on the public registry because they are deemed the most likely to reoffend and pose more of a danger to the community.

It appears that most of the registered sex offenders live together in various addresses within that zip code. I am guessing that the majority are being housed in area motels. What is troubling is there are two registered sex offenders living on Marc Bookal’s street.

“A” indicates Marc’s address at 11 Benkard Avenue. “B” indicates a registered sex offender living across the street from Marc’s home. MapQuest said it takes 3 seconds to get from point “A” to point “B” and that is driving directions. “B” is a Level 3 sex offender. “C” indicates the other registered sex offender living on Marc’s street. He is a Level 2 sex offender. I hope police have questioned these two sex offenders living so closely to the location of Marc’s disappearance. I am not going to give the addresses or names of these sex offenders because they have not even been questioned. I am only mentioning them for the reasons stated above – have the police checked them out?

December 18, 2009: 5:30 p.m. PST

Marc is still missing and the search is still ongoing with the addition of search and recovery dogs from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Cory Byrd is still in jail. When he was arrested on Monday he asked for an attorney during questioning so police have not been able to question him since that time. Today, they asked him to take a polygraph examination and authorities are waiting for an answer from his attorney regarding taking that exam. I wonder if Christina has asked Byrd why he needs a lawyer.

If I believed Byrd’s story about Marc wandering away from home, and if, Marc got lost most likely he succumbed to the elements or dehydration on Monday night. Marc was not wearing a coat when he disappeared and now there is a winter storm watch in effect for this weekend. I really don’t believe Byrd’s story.

December 19, 2009: 2:45 p.m. PST

Police announced today during a news conference that an anonymous donor has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the safe return of Marc Bookal. Police also stated that due to the impending snow storm, expected this evening, the search for Marc will be suspended until Monday. They have made an extra effort to search in the area around Marc’s home and the surrounding neighborhood today. They also asked people in the area to be aware of anything that seems out of place around their homes and report it to police.

December 21, 2009: 4:45 p.m. PST

Marc is still missing. Police reported today that Marc’s mother, Christina Bookal and his biological father, Yul Bookal, have both taken polygraph examinations. Police did not mention the results of those tests. They are still waiting for an answer from Cody Byrd’s attorney for the request made earlier in the week for his client to agree to submit to a polygraph examination and further questioning.

Meanwhile, the reward fund has grown to $16,000. Another anonymous donor added $5,000 to the pot and the organization Carlie’s Crusade Foundation is offering an additional $1,000. Authorities are also seeking more leads including anyone having video surveillance footage in the Southeast corner of the city. Police want to review that video. If you would like to make a donation to the reward fund you can contact police. To make a donation to the Carlie’s Crusade reward contact their website Carlie’s Crusade Foundation or call them at (800)496-6720 or 309-2961.

I haven’t seen the plea in the media yet by Christina Bookal to the person who has her son to please bring him home. However, his father did make that plea early on. All I have seen from Christina is a plea for the police to stop looking at her boyfriend as a suspect and to start looking for her son.

December 22, 2009: 10:30 a.m. PST

Police revealed today that Marc’s biological parents both appeared truthful in their responses on the polygraph exams. Police also revealed today that Cody Byrd declined through his attorney to submit to a polygraph exam. I can say that this is no surprise to me. Of course he has the right to refuse the exam and in most states the results are not admissible in court; however, if he has nothing to hide and if it would help clear him of any involvement in Marc’s disappearance, why not take the exam? There is only one reason I can think of that he would refuse to take the polygraph and that is he has something to hide. I am not saying he is guilty of doing something to Marc, I am just saying he must have something to hide.

It was also announced today that the Carlie’s Crusade Foundation has changed the terms of their $1,000 reward offer. Originally it was offered for information leading to Marc’s safe return. Now they have changed the terms to any information leading to Marc’s location no matter the outcome. Police too, are becoming less hopeful of finding Marc alive. It has been 8 days.

December 28, 2009: 3 p.m. PST

Mark is still missing and his mother is still criticizing the police investigation into his disappearance. She is upset because they will not share with her where they are searching or what leads they are following. Christine also is of the opinion that police were not as thorough from the beginning as they should have been:

“If it were one of theirs, they’d have the whole … town flipped upside down,” she said.

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I have my own opinion about Christine. She does not mention whether she went to visit her boyfriend in jail to ask him to please take the polygraph examination he has refused to take. She does not mention whether she asked her boyfriend why he won’t submit to the polygraph exam.

I admit, I do not live in Newburgh. However, the news coverage has shown a tireless search for Mark by police officers in terrible weather conditions. It would be nice if Christine showed just a bit of gratitude for the effort being made to find her son, the son she left in the care of a convicted child abuser. She is not the victim.

January 8, 2010: 3 p.m. PST

Just days after police announced the end of their ground search for Marc Bookal and one day after it was announced that Cory Byrd hired a high-profile attorney to defend him, police resumed the ground search. They said they received new information and are concentrating their search in the area of Marc Bookal’s street. The search included a vacant elementary school and some other buildings in the area and is expected to continue through Saturday.

Cory Byrd’s new attorney, Gary Greenwald, told the media that there is more to the disappearance than what the public knows. Spoken like a true defense attorney, Greenwald gave the following explanation regarding his new client’s refusal to submit to a lie detector test:

“The people who are observing this case don’t know the circumstances of how that was asked of him,” Greenwald said of the polygraph test.

He declined to detail those circumstances in advance of his client’s court appearances but said people should keep an open mind until the facts come out.

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The first thought that came into my mind when I read the above quote was the police either did not say “Would you please take a polygraph exam?” or they didn’t smile when asking Byrd to take the test. Of course I am being sarcastic.

I wonder who is paying for this attorney Greenwald’s services. He has his own law firm with several offices and was a former mayor. He is replacing Byrd’s legal aid attorney. Since one has to qualify for legal aid service by showing a lack of income or low income, it makes me wonder how Byrd can now afford a private attorney.

January 16, 2010

Cory Byrd appeared in court with his attorney yesterday. There was no discussion regarding the charges for which he is currently being held – endangering the welfare of a child and his parole violation. Instead, his attorney produced a demand for information from the prosecution detailing a list of items they want access to which the prosecution declined to turn over. Among the items Byrd’s attorney wants access to are search warrants, results of urine samples and a copy of the arrest report. The prosecution said they will submit in writing to the court on Tuesday their reasons for denying the demands. The prosecution is also considering taking the case against Byrd to a Grand Jury. I am thinking they are seeking to indict Byrd on murder charges. The judge said he will rule on the demand January 25.

Of course Christina Bookal was in court to support her man. I only say that because of what she said to the press after the court hearing:

But Christina Bookal, who remains convinced the boy is still alive, said after attending Byrd’s court appearance that she’s not satisfied that all possible steps are being taken. She continued to criticize police for focusing on Byrd.

“I’m quite sure there are plenty of people who saw something,” she said. “My 4-year-old is out there somewhere. Bring my son home.”

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No, Christina, Cory needs to tell what happened to Marc.

March 5, 2010

Marc is still missing. The charge against Cory Byrd of endangering the welfare of a child was dropped just after the snow thawed enough to allow the court proceeding to continue. Byrd is not quite completely out of the woods. Byrd was still facing the violation of probation charge and the judge sentenced him to 15 months in jail. Apparently when Byrd was arrested the day of Marc’s disappearance he tested positive for marijuana and that violated his parole. I am going to guess that he will only be serving just a little over a year of the 15 month sentence because he has been incarcerated since December.

The reason the prosecutors gave for dropping the child endangerment charge is they did not want to have to turn over information they have gathered during their investigation to the defense. Also, they do not have enough evidence to charge Byrd with homicide at this time. If they jump the gun and charge him too soon with homicide and he beats the charge then he can never stand trial for the crime again. It is better to wait until they have solid proof that Byrd harmed Marc.

March 24, 2010: 2 p.m. PST

Authorities are reporting they have located a small body behind a home in Newburgh they believe to be that of Marc Bookal. The home in question is located at 20-22 Edwards Street – about three blocks from Marc’s home. Authorities have notified Marc’s mother of the discovery.

April 16, 2010

The remains located inside a garbage bag, about 3 blocks from the home of Marc Bookal have been positively identified as the missing boy’s. Authorities say Marc’s death was the result of a homicide. No charges have been filed as of this writing.

Police are asking anyone who has information regarding this case to contact contact the City of Newburgh Police Department at 569-7509, or Lt. Patrick Arnold at 569-7508.

Sources 

Stepfather of Missing Newburgh Boy Marc Anthony Bookal Arrested, Charged with Letting Boy Wander, WPIX.com, Last Accessed: December 15, 2009.

New York State Department of Correctional Services, Last Accessed: December 15, 2009.

Michael Randall, Police Searching Newburgh Waterfront, River for Missing Boy, RecordOnline.com, Last Accessed: December 16, 2009.

Video: Search Efforts Along the Hudson River for Missing Boy, RecordOnline.com, Last Accessed: December 16, 2009.

The Search for Marc Bookal, RecordOnline – Times Herald-Record, Last Accessed: December 18, 2009.

Michael Randall, Newburgh Police Want Mother’s Boyfriend in Missing Boy Case to take Polygraph Test, RecordOnline.com, Last Accessed: December 18, 2009.

Paul Brooks, Reward for Missing Boy Rises to $16,000, RecordOnline.com, Last Accessed: December 21, 2009.

Doyle Murphy, Reward Acknowledges Possibility of Grim Outcome, RecordOnline.com, Last Accessed: December 22, 2009.

Michael Randall, Police Resume Ground Search for Missing 4-Year-Old, RecordOnline.com, Last Accessed: January 8, 2010.

Doyle Murphy, Corey Byrd Gets 15 Months for Parole Violation, RecordOnline.com, Last Accessed: March 5, 2010.

Doyle Murphy, Newburgh Police Believe They’ve Found the Remains of Missing Boy, RecordOnline, Last Accessed: March 24, 2010.

Police ID Body in Bag as Missing Newburgh Boy, WCBSTV.com, Last Accessed: April 16, 2010.

1. Heather Yakin, Baby is Critical; Father Charged, RecordOnline.com, Last Accessed: December 16, 2009. [↩]
2. Doyle Murphy, Missing Newburgh Boy’s Mom Wants More Info, RecordOnline.com, Last Accessed: December 29, 2009. [↩]
3. Doyle Murphy, Greenwald to Defend Boyfriend of Missing Boy’s Mom, RecordOnline.com, Last Accessed: January 8, 2010. [↩]
4. Michael Randall, Defense Demands Evidence in Newburgh’s Missing Child Case, RecordOnline.com, Last Accessed: January 16, 2010. [↩]