New York, NY – One week to the day after the violent abduction and subsequent murder of Menachem Stark, NYPD officials are expressing optimism about the progress of the case.
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According to a Newsday (http://bit.ly/1iX8MK4), NYPD Chief Philip Banks told reporters this evening, that police are investigating new leads, some of which were generated by the $72,000 reward being offered.
“This is a homicide investigation and, of course, it is very sensitive,” said Banks at a news briefing. “But I will tell you we feel relatively more confident about this investigation than we did a few days ago. We are investigated some leads, some leads are coming in…so the case is progressing.”
Police Commissioner Bill Bratton told reporters that police have spent days gathering surveillance tapes in the hopes that they will yield further clues.
Ironically, while the Great Neck Getty station where Stark’s body was found has no surveillance cameras, two buildings nearby have street facing video cameras: both are yeshivas. Neither the Long Island Hebrew Academy nor the Silverstein Hebrew Academy, both located on Cutter Mill Road just yards from the Getty station where Stark’s body was dumped, responded positively to requests for comment.
Banks’ remarks come just one day after the release of a surveillance video showing a man in a ski cap, mask, jacket and jeans walking in front of Stark’s office approximately six hours before Stark’s abduction.
An unnamed legal source has noted that at least one of Stark’s business partners was asked to view the video and sources say that the van which was used in the kidnapping had been seen in the vicinity of Stark’s office for a minimum of two weeks prior to his abduction.
In defense of the family and the Williamsburg Shomrim and rebuffing the lies and blame spread by the media in the name of NYPD sources:
NYPD Patrol Guide, Procedure No: 207-23 deals with Missing Persons incidents. On page 3 is clearly lists the circumstances when an immediate investigation will be commenced. These circumstances are where the person is:
a. A child under 16 years,
b. Mentally/physically impaired requiring hospitalization,
c. Senile, retarded or disabled,
d. 65 years or older,
e. Unique/unusual case,
f. Circumstances indicating unaccountable or involuntary disappearance, or
g. Possible drowning victim.
In this matter, it is only thanks to Shomrim who located the videos which established that this case falls under items e. or f., that the NYPD started the search when contacted. Were it not for Shomrim, NYPD would’ve done nothing until sometime Friday.
According to the Patrol Guide, in cases not falling under the above list, the procedure is to fill out paperwork and fax it to that the Missing Persons Squad, who then takes over. According to the Patrol Guide, that squad is closed between midnight and 6:30 AM and they don’t even accept cases after 11:30 PM.
I find it interesting there are quite a few real estate management office on cutter mill road, I’ve been a renter and throughout the years I’ve sent many a rent check to diffident address’s on cutter mill road. Also I think they killed him by mistake, otherwise they could have just done so right on the street, why go through the bother of schlepping him into a van etc.. I think they tried to scare him and things went bad, I’m looking to advise the nypd, but I would look at cell phone calls made on the route between the hours he was taken and 3-4 in the morning, there couldn’t t have been that many phone calls in that area that time of the night. Also highly unlikely these murderers have credit so most like they used pre-paid phones or whatever
If he was being stalked for two full weeks by the same person, they should have contacted Shomrim three weeks ago! Or did they?
Reply to number 1. First of all. Wow you must be some type of buff that you had to go and pull out the nypd patrol guide. Second of all. If the wife is claiming that she had no dispute or any reason why her husband would have left on his own will then the cops on the scene will call a supervisor which will then see the surveillance cameras ad which will then notify the detectives unit which will then be a description of a vehicle over city wide which will then be on 30 thousand real cops not fake ones to be on the look out and could have saved his life. So don’t think that when cops show up they will just do that stupid report. Get your head together with all that shtisim u have in it.
Reply to 8… You have no clue what your talking about. I’m not going to Debate you.but any adult that goes missing only a report is made.no detective comes down to check camera’s. U r just a basher. Remember next time your in trbl call 911
1.They should have offered the 72k to start, it would be a drop in their bucket ( if it is true he received 51 million from banks).2. He was a family man and not a savvy business man, it appears. No one kills a slumlord (if he was one). They are a dime a dozen, all over the place. People call 311 and report no heat or hot water, is what they do. I have lived in apartment buildings, and all were well taken care of. If you can’t do right by tenants, get out of that business, especially if you are frum Yid. Money is not before being a mensh, ever, in Torah. Can’t make a profit being decent? Not your field to be in. 3. This was a case where he knew a lot more than others wanted him too, re the huge loans he took out for mortgages, and his banks auctioning properties off to his relatives at cut rate prices, after he defaulted. This was an extortion type killing or a blackmail type killing, not a tenant / landlord thing. Just my deductions. Lawsuits were pending…
My condolences to his family, regardless, as he just did not see where he was heading, perhaps.
Would not be surprised if the cops have now a pretty good idea who the perpetrators were. They are taking their time for some obvious reasons. Something else comes to mind, possibly the perpetrators wanted that the body be found as soon as possible.
Just a theory. what if some russian Mafai guys knocked him off then hoped on a plane (Ok not during the snow the next day) back to Russia together with Snowden?
There’s a guy who does the mising people stuff for shoimrim and hatzola. maybe someone shold ask him abuot the cops and stuff. i thnik he comes from flat bush.
He was abducted to be killed.
ransom days are in the story books.
if money was wanted, they could have gotten it thru court, this is real estate not drugs.
only the money would not come as fast as these lenders wanted.
liens and judgments on real estate work, the money would need to be paid at one point and to some degree.
The garage in great neck is an active accomplice, surprised that no one is saying anything. with a foot of snow on the ground they not only saw ‘smoke’, there were more than just ‘paw prints’ in the snow leading to the dumpster. no shock from garage owner, seems like he was well prepared, came out to shovel at 5:00 am.
conveniently calls cops after his garage was well shoveled.
I can’t verify, did not look into it, almost unbelievable that any liability insurance for a garage would not require proper security cameras.
these killers seem well connected with the press, distracting attention from the real leads. The real estate hard money lenders are the only suspects here.