n/t
10-06-2009, 09:22 PM
LAPD, family both trying to find man missing 4 1/2 years
DISAPPEAR: Family of Valley man missing since 2005 celebrates his birthday; cops suspect homicide.
Spellman's family said they became concerned when he failed to show up as planned for dinner April 13, 2005. His mother went to his rented home in Woodland Hills, where she said she ran into one of her son's co-workers, who said he might have taken an impromptu trip to Las Vegas.
Uneasy with the exchange, Spellman's mother filed a missing person's report.
But Spellman's relatives said the original detective was indifferent to their concerns and didn't even send officers to the home of the missing man until June 28 - more than two months after he had vanished.
The family later filed a complaint with the LAPD, claiming the detective assigned to the case lagged in launching an investigation into Spellman's disappearance. They were eventually told that an internal investigation determined there had been no wrongdoing.
For their part, police said they closed the missing person's case after Spellman's landlord filed a notice of eviction against him. The landlord's attorney told authorities that Spellman had gone to her office nearly two weeks after he was reported missing - a premise Spellman's family disputes.
After hiring a private investigator, the family was stunned to learn that the case had been shelved. They quickly refiled it, and police launched an investigation.
After two years of dead ends, the case was reclassified as a suspected homicide.
http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_13466825
DISAPPEAR: Family of Valley man missing since 2005 celebrates his birthday; cops suspect homicide.
Spellman's family said they became concerned when he failed to show up as planned for dinner April 13, 2005. His mother went to his rented home in Woodland Hills, where she said she ran into one of her son's co-workers, who said he might have taken an impromptu trip to Las Vegas.
Uneasy with the exchange, Spellman's mother filed a missing person's report.
But Spellman's relatives said the original detective was indifferent to their concerns and didn't even send officers to the home of the missing man until June 28 - more than two months after he had vanished.
The family later filed a complaint with the LAPD, claiming the detective assigned to the case lagged in launching an investigation into Spellman's disappearance. They were eventually told that an internal investigation determined there had been no wrongdoing.
For their part, police said they closed the missing person's case after Spellman's landlord filed a notice of eviction against him. The landlord's attorney told authorities that Spellman had gone to her office nearly two weeks after he was reported missing - a premise Spellman's family disputes.
After hiring a private investigator, the family was stunned to learn that the case had been shelved. They quickly refiled it, and police launched an investigation.
After two years of dead ends, the case was reclassified as a suspected homicide.
http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_13466825