By: Vic Monaco
HIGHTSTOWN After close to a dozen people, mostly media members, trampled through it over about a week’s time, the apartment that was home to missing Amy Giordano and her toddler son, Michael Digirolamo, was sealed Thursday morning.
The move came one day after the lead investigator into the disappearance of the woman vigorously defended his decision to not treat the apartment as a crime scene. Borough Detective Ben Miller also was responding to the fact that the landlord discovered a full purse in the apartment Monday afternoon, days after police initially were at the scene.
"It is not a crime scene," he said Wednesday. "I have no right to go through her apartment and her property.
"If I wanted to do that, I’d have to get a warrant. I can’t do that unless there’s a crime in New Jersey. There are no indicators, whatsoever, to point in that direction."
"There’s nothing to indicate that this is anything but a missing persons case," he added. "We can all play CSI … but the fact remains that I don’t have a crime scene until something changes to lead our investigation in a different direction."
"It is as frustrating for us as it is to those out there."
But landlord and former Borough Councilman Mike Vanderbeck says he is "surprised" at the way Detective Miller has proceeded and he disagreed emphatically that the detective needs a warrant.
"He has my permission. The former tenant lost their rights at midnight on the 14th. That’s when the lease was up," he said. "I have all the rights to the apartment."
In addition, Mr. Vanderbeck pointed out, Detective Miller had taken the purse and its contents along with a laptop from the apartment without warrants.
Mr. Vanderbeck said he received a phone message from the detective Thursday morning to alert him that the apartment had been sealed off at the request of the Mercer County prosecutor’s office.
However, prosecutor’s office spokeswoman Casey DeBlasio said Thursday morning that sealing the apartment was a joint decision made "in case it becomes necessary for authorities to examine the apartment closer."
Ms. DeBlasio had said Wednesday that the county prosecutor’s office had no role in the case. If it were determined that a serious crime had occurred, the prosecutor’s office would be involved, she added.
On Thursday, she wrote in an e-mail, "As of this morning, our office is taking a larger role assisting in the investigation. Hightstown remains the lead agency into the disappearance of Amy Giordano."
The usefulness of the apartment as an investigative tool in a potential crime is questionable now that so many people have entered it.
Mr. Vanderbeck said he took immediate action on the night of June 14 to keep people out of the apartment. He said he did so after he was told by Detective Miller that a pediatrician had determined to a high level of certainty that the young boy abandoned at a Delaware hospital June 9 was the same child who had lived in his Mercer Street apartment with Ms. Giordano.
"I was concerned that people might come back to the apartment during the night, so I went to Home Depot and got a door latch," he said. "I drilled a hole for the latch and locked the apartment door, so if someone came during the night they’d have to contact me."
The next morning, he said, he met with Detective Miller.
"I was a little surprised he didn’t cordon it off," he said. "I told him about all the media attention and asked if this is something that warrants cordoning off the apartment by the Hightstown Police Department. He said, ‘It’s your apartment. You can do whatever you want with it.’"
In the meantime, Mr. Vanderbeck acknowledges that he allowed about nine media members, including a reporter and photographer from the Herald, to enter the apartment with accompaniment, which included his daughter, Dorothy.
"When police said there was no crime scene, I felt it was to the benefit of the mother and the child to let reporters and film crews there to help find them," he said.
As of about 10:45 a.m. Thursday, the apartment had been accessible to anyone Mr. Vanderbeck chose.
"I think its usefulness as a crime scene is done," he acknowledged.
While Hightstown Police Chief James Eufemia did not return a call seeking comment, a high-ranking law enforcement official in New Jersey, who asked that his name not be used, indicated early in the week that he understood Mr. Vanderbeck’s concerns and agreed with his opinions.
"Everything should be in play in this case," he said.
"It should be treated like a crime scene. Otherwise you compromise it. … Once people walk through here, it’s no longer pure."
Asked about the way the case has been handled, Delaware State Police spokesman Sgt. Joshua Bushweller simply said Hightstown is "spearheading" the missing persons case.
"We have no jurisdiction in New Jersey," he added.
The case in Delaware could conceivably result in two charges endangering the welfare of a child and child abandonment, he explained.
Lt. Gerald Lewis said Wednesday that the New Jersey State Police had begun to assist borough police at the latter’s request. Earlier in the day, Detective Miller said New Jersey State Police became involved automatically because Rosario "Roy" Digirolamo of Millstone, who paid Ms. Giordano’s rent and has been identified by Mr. Vanderbeck as her child’s father, had been subsequently classified as a missing person.
Detective Miller acknowledged Wednesday that he is troubled with the apartment traffic over the last two weeks but that he was powerless to do anything about it.
"Absolutely I’m troubled, in case it becomes a crime scene," he said.
But the detective said Wednesday that nothing had changed the status of the case, including Mr. Vanderbeck’s discovery Monday afternoon of Ms. Giordano’s pocketbook in the back of a closet in the apartment. The purse was filled with items that included her credit cards, identification and a Mercer County voter registration application signed and dated June 5.
"If you were someone who wishes to move on and start over with a brand new identity, without any ties to anybody or anything, you wouldn’t want to be found," the detective said. "You’d leave everything behind and start over."
Detective Miller sent the Herald a press release at 4:15 p.m. Thursday with full descriptions of Ms. Giordano and Mr. Digirolamo (see related story). The release also described Mr. Digirolamo’s car as a 1998 silver four-door Lexus 300 with New Jersey license plate number MCJ22Z.
The Herald found out earlier about the press release from another source, and Detective Miller subsequently refused to talk about it on the phone, before he apparently sent it by fax. "I don’t have to cooperate with anyone because there hasn’t been a crime," he said before he hung up the phone.
Earlier in the day, the Herald had tried unsuccessfully to reach Detective Miller.
Earlier in the week, the detective said the case is a top priority, being given "the maximum resources we have."
Mr. Vanderbeck wasn’t assured.
"If it’s a missing persons case, then why haven’t I seen a flier or poster to that effect around town?" he asked.
Detective Miller said the department doesn’t have the resources for that action, which he said is more often taken by private citizens or groups.
Mr. Vanderbeck said his comments aren’t meant to make him the focus of the story.
"I’m just trying to do what’s right," he said.
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