The Lost and the Found

https://www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/1678



Unidentified Person / NamUs #UP1678 Unsure, Uncertain

Date Found September 5, 1999
Location Found Freehold, New Jersey
Estimated Age Range 18 Years

Case Information

Case Numbers
NCMEC Number--
ME/C Case Number 13990929

Demographics
Sex Unsure
Race / Ethnicity Uncertain
Estimated Age Group Adult
Estimated Age Range 18 Years
Estimated Year of Death 1949-1999
Estimated PMI--
Height Cannot Estimate
Weight Cannot Estimate

Circumstances
Type Unidentified Deceased
Date Found September 5, 1999
NamUs Case Created April 1, 2008
Agency QA Reviewed--

Location Found Map
General Location--Freehold, New Jersey
County Monmouth County
GPS Coordinates--
Circumstances of Recovery Found in religious burial site known as Santeria.
Details of Recovery
Inventory of Remains Torso not recovered One or more limbs not recovered One or both hands not recovered
Condition of Remains Not recognizable - Partial skeletal parts only

Physical Description
Hair Color Unknown or Completely Bald
Head Hair Description Unknown
Left Eye Color Unknown or Missing
Right Eye Color Unknown or Missing
Eye Description Unknown

Investigating Agencies

Freehold Twp. Police Department
--
--Monmouth Co. ME Office-
Case Contributors
Anna Delaney, Forensic Anthropologist(609) 584-5054 ext. 5656 | lppdelaan@gw.njsp.org
New Jersey State Police Office of Forensic Services
(609) 584-5054

Freehold Township
New Jersey

https://patch.com/new-jersey/cranfo...-sites-not-uncommon-may-be-linked-tcdf2ec3961

County Says Ritual Sites Not Uncommon, May Be Linked to Santeria

Union County spokesperson Sebastian D'Elia spoke with Patch regarding Tuesday's findings.

By Jessica Remo, Patch Staff | May 13, 2011 1:30 pm ET | Updated May 13, 2011 4:42 pm ET

Tuesday's near the former Hungarian Club off of Old Raritan Road in Clark may have surprised residents, but it's nothing the county hasn't seen before, Union County spokesperson Sebastian D'Elia told Patch.

"Occasionally, we find these kind of animal ritual things in our park systems," said D'Elia. "It's certainly not a regular occurrence but it does happen from time to time. We have a large parks system and we do have residents who do this stuff, possibly Santeria, especially in the more urban areas of the county. To see this in Clark is a little unusual."

Santeria is an African-Caribbean religion that does employ animal sacrifice as a form of devotion. There have been other incidents regarding animal sacrifice and Santeria in New Jersey, including in March when a Freehold man was charged with animal cruelty after the remains of several animals were found in his yard.

D'Elia confirmed that the site in Clark did contain a deer skull, deer bones and a mouse skull. The Union County Parks Department removed the animal remains and stick structure on Tuesday afternoon.

D'Elia also stated that the county does patrol the property and that there is a maintenance person who works almost daily in the area where this site was found. "This couldn't have been there very long," said D'Elia. "He would have seen it."

http://nj1015.com/animal-sacrifice-...y-charges-violated-religious-rights-gets-40k/

Santerian priest who sacrificed chickens gets $40K over cruelty charges

Avalan ZoppoMay 27, 2016
Getty Images/Sarah Kerver
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FREEHOLD — A Monmouth County animal-cruelty law enforcement group paid $40,000 to a priest who claims his religious right to sacrifice chickens was violated when he was slapped with cruelty charges.

The Freehold Santerian priest, Jorge Badillo, filed the lawsuit in 2013 in U.S. District Court of New Jersey against the Monmouth County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and its chief, Victor Amato.

Both sides eventually settled the lawsuit out of court in 2014. A copy of the settlement was uncovered this week by John Paff, an open-government advocate from Somerset County who posts public records on his blog.

As part of the settlement, the local SPCA agreed to provide its officers with sensitivity training on the Santeria religion.

Badillo claims to be a santero, a priest in the Afro-Caribbean Santerian religion— a religion that practices animal sacrifice but prohibits killings that cause the animal to suffer.

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The lawsuit states Amato was alerted of possible animal cruelty after police searched the home for a gun that belonged to Badillo's brother on March 17, 2011, but instead found a dead chicken lying outside of a locked shed that served as Bardillo’s temple.

On March 18, 2011, Amato entered the backyard without a warrant and took photos of two dead birds and one dead chicken that were "drying for sacrificial use," but did not collect the animals to determine if they were abused before being sacrificed. According to the lawsuit, there was no evidence the birds were abused prior to sacrifice.

NJ pet shop owner now facing 134 animal cruelty criminal charges
Amato, who also had previously arrested two santeros in Spring Lake in 2008, allegedly said that Badillo "had no right to practice Santeria in Monmouth County or in New Jersey or anywhere in the United States." But according to the lawsuit, there was no law in Freehold in March 2011 that prohibited residents from sacrificing animals.

On March 19, 2011, Amato issued nine tickets for animal cruelty, for which he could have faced more than four years in prison and $9,000 in fines, according to the lawsuit.

That same month, Amato also told the Asbury Park Press about the summons and the newspaper published a story that included Badillo's home address, leading to Badillo's cars being vandalized and his family being threatened, the lawsuit states. Badillo was also in the process of adopting two children, but claimed the charges negatively affected his chances of adoption.

The criminal charges were dropped in municipal court when Badillo plead guilty to one count of neglect of his pet rabbit and agreed to pay $200.

Badillo took the case to federal court in 2013 on charges that Amato violated his First Amendment and Fourth Amendment rights.

He agreed to drop the lawsuit after reaching a $40,000 settlement, in which he also agreed to never adopt animals from SPCA. As part of the agreement, the SPCA agreed to train their humane officers on the Santeria religion.

In agreeing to settle the cases, the SPCA did not admit to any wrongdoing. Both sides agreed to not discuss details of the case or the settlement. The documents of the case, however, remain public records under state law.