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Missing woman found alive in Charlestown apartment; man charged
By adamg on Tue, 01/22/2019 - 3:39pm
A resident of the Bunker Hill housing development was charged today with kidnapping a 23-year-old woman downtown. Police Commissioner William Gross said the woman was found, alive in Victor Pena's apartment at 49 Walford Way.
Gross said detectives are now looking at whether Pena, 38, is involved in any similar incidents - and are still trying to find the second man spotted with him and the woman Saturday night.
Gross said tonight that Pena and the other man were spotted on surveillance cameras Saturday night chatting up the woman on Congress Street after she left Hennessy's on Union Street around 11 p.m. on Saturday. Pena then led her to the State Street Orange Line station, where they boarded a train to Charlestown, he said.
"She did not go along willingly," Gross said.
"She appears in good health" today, Gross said, adding that when police entered Pena's apartment, they found her standing next to Pena. They separated the two and took her to a waiting ambulance and Pena to a cruiser. Gross added that they did not have to break down the door; officers knocked and Pena opened the door.
Gross added that out of caution, police last night searched Charlestown High School, fields and dumpsters.
Innocent, etc.
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Comments
Thank god
Just a miracle in this freezing cold and after a few days she's alive.
6pm press conference
By BPD. A very bizarre story.
boston police
excellent work once again.
So happy that these parents get to hug their daughter tonight
Regardless of whether her disappearance was voluntary or involuntary, it's not often that parents go through something like this and get to hold their child one more time.
Thank God
This is amazing. Hopefully she is unharmed but most importantly she alive. I wish her family the best. They must be experiencing a kind of relief rarely available in these matters
Kudos to the T
For the great photos, I can't believe I'm writing that
Yeah
One wishes they spent the same effort on their signal system as they do on the camera system.
Or the PA system.
Or the PA system.
All things being equal, this
All things being equal, this young lady being found safe is worth all the delays the train can come up with.
Great news!
I seriously love the fact that there are cameras everywhere and that police/MBTA etc are getting really good at accessing and sharing data and working together.
Panopticon
This is great that she's safe but I'd rather not live in a total surveillance state. You seem to be assuming this could only be solved by having our lives recorded, we don't know that BPD wouldn't have been able to solve this otherwise.
No chance they find her that quick if there are no cameras....
sorry parkwayne.
Not to say she wouldn't have gotten out if there weren't cameras but a case like this doesn't get solved without cameras.
Phone ping + door searches
But the BPD found her after doing door-to-door searches in the area her phone was last pinged. I’m not saying the cameras aren’t helpful generally for these type of cases, but they weren’t necessary for this case at all.
Disagree
Because they had a photo, people recognized him. As such, they went to his specific door and knocked (repeatedly) and he opened the door. Without the photo, they only know she's nearby and if this guy doesn't open the door, the don't find her. Total surveillance state FTW!
Perhaps not accurate?
It was reported on the radio this morning that Pena changed his door locks, the police had to drill out the lock to gain entry, and there was a struggle to get him subdued.
How do you know?
I think I heard he was recognized by his neighbor who called police. So actually I think the photos helped
She could be one of my kids...
23... making her way in a new job in a new town... out for the evening with friends... could just as easily have been one of my kids or one of their friends or one of my friends' kids. I hope she's 100% OK.
Ugh
Imagine if little 13-year old Maria Fernandez, missing since January 11th, fit the demographic profile of one of your kids, and were thus able to win a small bit of your concern.
Or if this website's editor wrote with such urgency about her disappearance at any point over the five days, in the same way that he wrote about Olivia Ambrose's.
Maybe Maria Fernandez could then be miraculously located unharmed as well.
http://bpdnews.com/news/2019/1/17/missing-person-alert-maria-fernandez-1...
Editor, I'm curious: you seem to voraciously swallow and regurgitate all of the transit-cop releases on Orange Line flashers and turnstyle-jumpers, etc. - what made you decide to take a pass on the BPD's missing person alert for Maria? I'm sure there was a logical explanation for that.
It's true, I usually don't post BPD missing-person reports
Because in almost all the cases, by the time I post, they've turned up again. This particular case didn't start out as a usual missing-person report.
Are you the same person
Who squawked about this on BPD's facebook page? Someone who is familiar with the story stated that Maria may have run away and although the BPD and DCS are trying to find her, she's eluding them. I hope they find her and get her the assistance she needs.
Maria was last seen on
Maria was last seen on January 11 and a missing person bulletin wasn't released until January 17. There was a grotesque failure to initially report her missing and the person responsible uHub and his demographic would have been entirely unable to help with that oversight.
As one of the people looking
As one of the people looking for Maria, I can say this site isn’t my target.
Also only the parent or
Also only the parent or guardian is generally allowed to put notices out on the media. But if you reach out to missingkids.com. They will help with all of that.
http://www.missingkids.com/gethelpnow/search
Nice litany of grievances
Festivus was over a while ago.
Tell us, anon, how you know that people don't care about Maria? Sounds to me like reciting your talking points is your point, not finding missing people.
If you REALLY cared about this young girl's disappearance AND wanted to see her here, you would do what the rest of us "roving reporters" have done: registered a screen name and sent Adam an e-mail or a tweet about it. That would deprive you of your agenda and blah blah ranting, though.
Tough trade off, eh?
Double ugh
What are my "litany of grievances," you oh-so-legitimate commenter who is superior to me because you've "registered a screen name"?
My only grievance is that the safety of a young white woman who grew up in the suburbs was placed at a significantly higher premium than the safety of a poor minority girl who grew up in the inner-city.
And the reason for that is: some lives matter a lot more than others.
Not only on this website, but in the Globe (which at least had the decency to have a lone reporter type up a 3-paragraph blurb on Maria Fernandez), at the BPD (which hasn't shown the same level of urgency gathering video feeds from across the city - heck, it hasn't even bothered to proofread its single release on Maria Fernandez, which doesn't correctly locate the "Indigo House"), or in economically comfortable households such as yours.
There was a BPD alert which I'm sure he saw.
"My only grievance is that
"My only grievance is that the safety of a young white woman who grew up in the suburbs was placed at a significantly higher premium than the safety of a poor minority girl who grew up in the inner-city."
My those are some strong assumptions you are jumping to!
Enlighten us. Other than these are both missing people cases, I don't see what they have in common that bears comparison worthy of throwing the race card. are there photos of maria with potential suspects? phone records? eyewitnesses? because it was THOSE lucky and easily broadcast pieces of info that appear to have led to Ambroses' return. Not the fact that she was some how "placed at a significantly higher premium" than anyone else.
It's not the race card directly, it's the threshold of
"Could this have happened to me or a loved one?"
If yes: call out the cavalry and devote every ounce of the community's resources to solve this, and to make sure it doesn't happen again.
If no: it may be a sad story, but let's just watch how things unfold and hey, did you see that story about the stolen urinal art?
At the time that this website and most other media outlets published their first articles on this topic, the only facts that were known were:
- a young woman had left a bar at about midnight
- she was in the company of a guy in a t-shirt who was later found to have had nothing to do with her disappearance
- it was uncharacteristic of her to ignore her phone
- she was wearing Doc Martens
All of the other clues, which apparently made this such a unique case deserving of the world's attention in your mind, didn't start coming out until long after the first article. And it wasn't until article #3 was published on this website that there was any hint from authorities that this was a kidnapping.
I'm thrilled that this turned out well - my first comment was the above "So happy that these parents get to hug their daughter tonight." But this is yet another example, 30 years after Carol Stuart, of Greater Boston's wonderful protectiveness toward those belonging to a certain social group, and extreme apathy toward the Other.
But the editor of this website is just doing his job, as is McGrory, as is Stephanos, as is Gross. They know exactly what matters the most to the people whom they serve, and the community gets exactly what it wants and deserves.
As Will LaTulippe writes on behalf of this "particular community,"
...and we simply will not have it.
Then you are playing the "look at me I'm WOKE" card
Either way, you are full of crap.
Take a look at this: https://www.universalhub.com/taxonomy/term/6780
A young person of color and REPEATED concern.
Just go away, honey. Come back after you've searched the archives for "missing" and count the people who aren't white. That's called doing your homework. Kind of like checking your privilege using facts.
Okay
So why are people of color often mentioned here as "missing" when they aren't elsewhere?
You don't read well enough to know that.
Um, what?
First you say I don't care about missing minority kids. Now you're saying I highlight them specifically so I can slap a "missing" label on them?
Assuming you're the same person who's been complaining about me not highlighting the girl who apparently ran away, that is.
Speak for yourself
Who is "we"?
This site isn't the Boston Globe. It is one guy. Where is the tweet you sent?
She's exceedingly legitimate
By refusing to post without a handle, you're indicating that you're not serious about participating in this particular community, which is ironic, since you've come here demanding that we take an issue which you've raised seriously.
come on
that's ridiculous.
just because one uses a handle doesn't mean they're here for constructive or substantive debate or conversation. exhibits a, b, and c: fish, roman, and bugs.
plenty of us anons have been around here for a while, we just dont want to register for whatever reasons we might have, and at the moment adam still allows that. we dont shout people down or, we don't act morally superior and make absolutely every story about ourselves. the same can't be said for certain other registered commenters. so, get over yourselves a little bit.
Fish
He has some great things to say about how police departments do business, and is a thoughtful contributor when he wants to be.
As for "get over yourselves," the brand name commenters are absolutely part of the UH experience.
great things?
only if you're predisposed to police brutality and racism like he appears to be.
is/was he even a member of any police force? we don't know. he's not thoughtful, he spouts off maga talking points and never ever has the cojones to respond to anyone. he's not here for conversation, just to spout hate.
so I see you've changed your position a bit. first it was that having a registered handle means youre a Serious Adult™ here for Substantive Serious Conversation™. now, it only means that you "contribute to the UH experience". those are different things.
"Brand name commenters" are def part of UH experience
And if I were like them, and loved to argue on the internet all day, I'd ask I ask you what is the upside to the constant commentary and endless opinions?
I've been reading UH for 10 years. I originally found the the commentary, for the most part, to be fresh and not too strident.
The argumentative serial posters that have something to say about everything, everyday, are exhausting. And full of shit.
No more legit than other posters, really
To paraphrase MLK, Jr:
I have a dream that posters will not be judged by their login status, but by the content of their posts.
There are many regulars on here that post incessantly and argue over the most trivial of things. All day, everyday.
Those posters are much less legit to me than honest sounding one-offs.
You spend a lot of time in bars, right Will?
Is the guy with no filter always arguing at the end of the bar legitimate?
Same kind of deal here.
Absolute nonsense regarding registering a screen name
Good grief.
Firstly, and most importantly, let's hope this thread raises awareness for Maria and helps towards getting her to safety.
Secondly, I've been an anon reader and poster for over 10 years. I've emailed Adam pics and other reporting details many times. He's reported them as he sees fit. Absolutely no need to register, as shown by the fact that Adam indeed published this post.
How much the OP anon REALLY cares about Maria is in no way contingent on her registering a damn user account on UH.
For all you know the OP could be an anguished loved one posting out of frustration. Who might not have taken the time to register on a site they rarely visit.
One thing I like about UHub is Adam, for one, gives all posters the benefit of the doubt unless they're crossing blatant lines.
For all you know
The OP could just be a narcissist looking for megaphones rather than looking for facts.
You can send things to the U Hub Twitter without a screen name, yes. So why didn't the OP do just that?
*crickets*
Maria was not abducted
She does not want to be found because she ran away from a group home. Apparently her cousin has heard from her and she has said that she is fine, but she doesn't want to go back. BPD is still looking for her, because a girl her age should not be on her own. No doupt they could do better, but it's not the same situation.
State Lines
They also have to work across state lines. If the family she went to wants to get custody, she has some rights.
And she's been found
BPD reports.
as I said before I’m not sure
as I said before I’m not sure that this is my target when I look for kids, but the the fact that they are found isn’t a convincing reason not to raise the profile of these missing girls. My anecdotal experience with girls that have gone missing more than once is that they will be assaulted. Another disturbing thing I’ve seen is over the more than one male reported missing was murdered.
Yes, but ...
I agree, there are stories behind all missing person reports. But as I said earlier, my experience with BPD missing-person posts is that in almost every case, the missing person is found, and usually pretty quickly (sometimes even before I see the missing-person post on BPDNews). I'm more likely these days to use Twitter for such things because more people seem to check that quickly (being sort of the nature of the medium) and, to be totally honest, because it's a lot easier to just post a link with a sentence on Twitter than to post something here.
A key difference between the missing girl and the missing woman, at least for me in deciding whether to post something, was that the girl's case appeared to be a "typical" disappearance, whereas with the woman, the initial "facts" of the case (some of which turned out not to be facts, like with the guy seen walking out with her at the bar) indicated something possibly more sinister than somebody just walking/running away from home. When the police posted the photo of the suspect, it became a lot more clear we were dealing with a potential criminal act (police rarely do that except in criminal cases).
Issues of how the media treat disappearances in the white and minority communities are a good issue to consider, and should be connected with a similar discussion about how the media cover crime in white and minority communities, but I'm not sure these two cases are the best examples, because they really were fundamentally different from the start.
Not for nothing
This site posted the police released photo of a person suspected of stealing a dog. (Later the police retracted their suspicion.) Some anonymous person posted numerous comments against Uhub claiming that Adam had no business posting the police call for help.
The morral is, you can't make everyone happy.
I hope your friend is found safe.
I'm pretty offended
And from where are you drawing the inference that I lack concern for Maria Fernandez?
Why the fuck are you gratuitously slamming me?
Who cares?
The above post makes you sound like a weak-minded sissy. Who cares if some anonymous internet poster says you don't care about some missing person you never met? You probably don't care anyway, and neither do they.
One of these posts
"People only care because the person is white. If the person was.... etc."
Human beings are self-interested and tribal and care about stories that they can relate to. Despite what anyone tells you, NOBODY here cares about some kid that gets murdered in Mumbai. The level of caring increases as the tragedy hits closer to home. Why do you think we are posting on a Boston website and not some U Hub knockoff based out of Chicago?
It's the same with race. People care more about stories where the person is part of their race and culture. Most posters here are white and care about white-related stuff - "what if that were my child?" More white page views for murdered college white kid over gang crossfire murdered black kid any day. Don't argue because the numbers demonstrate this time and again. Sorry, it's the way people are programmed through millions of years of evolution. Adam ("The Great One") understands this.
Whatever the situation with Maria
Whether she was abducted or whether she ran away from the group home, I hope that poor girl gets the safe help that she needs. I'm sorry for the distress that this is causing you.
They found her!
WOW! Two missing Boston persons both found alive in the same week!
Maria has also been found.
Maria has also been found.
The suspect looks like a odd
The suspect looks like a odd fellow:
https://www.facebook.com/victormanuel.pena.7505
What a real creep this
What a real creep this suspect is. Just got through reading the Globe article about this case, and it seems he has a history of harassing women and girls. Hopefully this time he'll be off the streets for good.
he looks
a different sort of troubled on his Facebook "king of puerto rico" page. on the MBTA cameras he looks like one of the faceless thalidomide/ agent orange mutants from the tim robbin's movie jacob's ladder. none of this is looking good, but he is entitled to a presumption of innocence until proven guilty.
King of... where?
On that Facebook page, he may claim to be "El rey de puerto rico", or the King of Puerto Rico; but the city he lists as his hometown is in the Dominican Republic.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_José_de_Ocoa
And there's something really creepy about his "cuento" or story, when you consider this and other allegations in the past:
"I am a very romantic and caring man, and very hot. I love to spend time with beautiful young chicas from 18 to 35 years old. If you think you're a beautiful young chica and you know how to conquer a man, here I am to listen and talk with you."
Pile o Cash
I can’t believe you can still view this turds fb account.
Police success or failure?
Yes, it is a success for BPD, finding the girl and catching her kidnapper. But, it may turn out to be a big failure for the BPD, not having caught or arrested him for prior offenses that would have prevented the kidnapping from occurring in the first place.
It's hard
Being a creep is not a crime. He was "known" by the transit police, but in our society you have to actually break the law before they can arrest you.
If she can't remember anything, he will walk
I hope this guy gets life (he won't) or at least loses access to the government funded and heated Charlestown apartment. The air conditioner still in the window was a special touch during 5 degree temperatures. Who cares when we're paying for the heat?
Unfortunately, "prior bad acts" are not admissible in court, so forget his history of harassing women. Commissioner Gross said she was in "no condition" to resist. It was also a winter storm with frigid temperatures. To parse the Commissioner's statements, at some point she was wandering (drunk?) alone in the weather and most likely incoherent. All the suspect has to say is that he wanted to try to get her to a safe, warm place and she was unable to provide her address., so he asked her if she wanted to come to his place and she said yes, then she wouldn't leave. She's an adult. Both suspect and victim are fluent in Spanish, he could say they were bonding. He didn't kill her or take her phone (it pinged yesterday, maybe he bought her a charger). His court appointed lawyers will spare no expense on finding out everything, including why she was booted from Hennessy's. Barring sexual assault (he will say consensual if the rape kit is positive) he will walk.
As an ex-con showed me on his bicep tattoo, 12+1=1/2. Twelve jurors, one judge equals half a chance. He only needs one juror and Suffolk is notorious for not guilty verdicts especially if there is a hint of doubt. Watch for this story to fade quickly.
Fish FAILS Civics
That's the way it is supposed to work, dear.
Not "cops say guillty so must be guilty".
This is not news to women..
This is not news to women...most men get off scott free.
Glad this predator is off the
Glad this predator is off the streets and thank you to the brave women who have reported this POS to the police in the past.
"ncluding why she was booted from Hennessy's."
Do we even know that's true? I only saw one person report it and the family specifically thanked Hennessy's so I doubt they would be thanking them if she was indeed booted from Hennessy's.
Fish did well in civics and at jury trials
Your reasonable doubt may not be my reasonable doubt. We don't know what happened, other than he took an endangered young lady to a warm home during frigid, snowy conditions. He didn't kill her and apparently didn't damage her phone enough to stop it from pinging yesterday.
The prosecution may convince 11 jurors without a doubt but if the defense attorney puts up enough of a smokescreen, all he needs is the 12th to have doubt. Defense attorney has plenty to work with and whatever happened in the apartment will likely be her word against his.
As for her being booted from Hennesey's, I heard that on several news outlets, no idea if it has been confirmed.
Interesting
I saw many news outlets saying that she left with a man that was kicked out, however only one person I saw that said she was kicked out as well. The reason it interests me because so many people were trying to pub blame on Hennessy's the past few days, when looking back it doesn't seem they did anything wrong. We shall see...