Sep 26, 2007 2:36 pm US/Mountain
Church Plans Vigil Where Girl's Body Found
People Create Memorial Where Neveah Gallegos Was Found
Denver Coroner Positively Identified Body Of Missing Child
by Rick Sallinger
DENVER (CBS4) ―
-
-
Suspect and mother of the missing child, Miriam Gallegos
CBS4
-
-
Suspect Angel Ray Montoya
CBS4
A positive identification has been made on the body of a child found Monday afternoon in west Denver. The Denver coroner confirmed the body is of 3-year-old Neveah Gallegos. A neighborhood church in Lakewood near the park where the body was found planned to organize a candlelight vigil Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
Her mother, Miriam Gallegos, reported she was kidnapped on Friday, but police quickly suspected foul play.
Gallegos and her boyfriend Angel Ray Montoya, a convicted sex offender, have been arrested. Police said Montoya may have assaulted Neveah previously.
Neveah's body was found in the area of 11th Ave. and Perry Street. A memorial was taking shape in the area Tuesday evening.
"We just came right here because we were sorry for her," said Guadalupe Calderon, a 12-year-old girl. "We don't even know her, but that's why we came here."
"She seemed very detached," neighbor Rachael Dill said of Miriam Gallegos' relationship with her daughter. "You wouldn't have known that was her child. The grandma usually watched the child."
Gallegos grew up in a small home on Denver's west side. Children's decorations adorn the windows of the house. Tiffany Brown has a daughter the same age as the victim, and lived right across the street.
"I just don't understand how that could happen and how she could invite somebody into her home under the circumstances that she knew that he had," Brown said.
Montoya failed to register as a sex offender in 2003. Two years later, he was convicted of misdemeanor child abuse involving a young boy and last year he was investigated on allegations of sexually assaulting Neveah.
Gallegos is accused of assisting in the crime by falsely claiming her child was kidnapped and helping dispose of the body.
"I don't understand how she can be a part of it and feel comfortable with herself," Brown said. "To say the child was kidnapped and everything, I don't understand it, it's just heartbreaking."
The Denver District Attorney's office requested an extension Wednesday to file formal charges in this case. Prosecutors said they need more time to review the evidence since the body was just recovered and autopsy performed.
(© MMVII CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Comments