Find Your Daily Voice
Friday, may 2
72°
© 2025 Cantata Media
Kathy Reakes
Reporter
kreakes@dailyvoice.com
Kathy Reaks has worked as a reporter in the local news business since 1984, starting as a news clerk and working her way up. She spent 17 years at Florida Today in Melbourne, Florida as a general assignment reporter, crime reporter, entertainment reporter and restaurant critic. She worked four years at Hometown News as a general assignment reporter, then another two years at Spacecoast Daily in Cocoa Beach, Florida. She attended Eastern Florida State College in Melbourne, Florida.
Stamford Man Buried Son's Body In Park, Held Mom Hostage, Police Say
A Fairfield County man who was a person of interest in the death of a 2-year-old boy whose body was found buried in a city park has been captured.
Edgar Ismalej-Gomez, age 26, of Stamford, was arrested by Stamford Police in a taxi early Tuesday, Jan. 3, after an exhaustive search by officers who went door to door and business to business searching for the alleged child killer, according to Stamford Police Chief Timothy Shaw.
The department was led to the child's body after receiving a phone call on Monday, Jan. 2, regarding a kidnapping and a child buried at Cummings Park in Stamford.
Offi…
ID Released For 31-Year-Old Killed After Car Mounts Sidewalk, Strikes Tree In Stamford
Police have identified a woman who was killed after her vehicle crashed into a tree on New Year's Day in Fairfield County.
The crash took place in Stamford around 6:10 a.m., Sunday, Jan. 1 in the area of 171 Greenwich Ave.
Stamford resident Marcela Parra, age 31, was killed when the 2019 Honda she was driving southbound on Greenwich Avenue crossed over to the northbound side of the road, mounted the sidewalk, and struck a tree head-on, said Sgt. Jeffrey Booth of the Stamford Police.
Parra was pronounced dead at the scene, Booth said.
A passenger in the vehicle, a 24-year-old Stamfor…
Man Found Dead Dead In Wooded Area Off Hudson Valley Roadway, Police Say
Police are investigating after a man in his 50s was found dead in a wooded area.
The man was found dead in Dutchess County around noon on Sunday, Jan. 1, in a wooded area off of Teller Avenue in Beacon.
Det. Sgt. Jason Johnson, of the Beacon Police, said officers responded to the area and located the man, who was transported to the Dutchess County Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy.
The investigation is ongoing, and further information, including the man's name, will be released pending notification to family members, Johnson said.
Anyone with information regarding the case is …
Hudson Valley Boy, Age 5, Saved By First Responders After Leg Gets Stuck In Tree
Sometimes little boys will be just that, little boys.
That's was the story for one busy Hudson Valley mom when one of her two boys, ages 5 and 7, got his leg stuck in a tree and she had to call the police to help her get him free.
This all happened in Orange County at the home of Nicole Marie Manzare in Warwick on Wednesday, Dec. 28.
"I was cutting up cardboard and the boys, Will and Josh, were in the sideyard playing when I heard screaming, Manzare said.
Of course, the mom went running and found her youngest son Will with his leg stuck in a tree.
"I tried everything to get his leg fr…
72°
