Delaware County Daily Times - Aug 14, 1999 Article

A mother's nightmare

Delaware County Daily Times (Primos - Upper Darby, PA) - Saturday, August 14, 1999

Author: ROSE QUINN ; Of the Times Staff

UPPER CHICHESTER -- She loves taking baths, trying on men's hats and playing with mom-mom's dogs.

Just mention Reeses's Peanut Butter Cups to 20-month-old Katelyn Selena Rivera-Helton and she'll smile so wide her cheeks puff like marshmallows.

""She calls them cook-cooks, like cookie'' Jennifer Helton said yesterday, offering personal glimpses of her missing daughter in hopes of hastening a safe return.

The devoted mother's words suggest optimism.

Her tear-swollen eyes, like those of her own parents, scream fear.

""I don't want to believe he did anything. I want to believe she is with someone who is taking care of her,'' Helton said of Katelyn's father and accused kidnapper, Robert N. Rivera.

""It's just a nightmare. Not knowing is the worst,'' said Jennifer's mother, Olga Helton.

Rivera, 33, told authorities he gave the child to a couple he met Tuesday night at Longwood Gardens and who drove off from the Chester County facility in a dark green Dodge Caravan with Maryland license plates.

Helton said Katelyn, who turns 2 on Dec. 12, would be excited to see anyone.

""She would say hi to everyone,'' Helton said, adding that Katelyn wouldn't let up until she got a response.

As of last night, the FBI, county detectives and township police continued a joint probe with no new leads on Katelyn's whereabouts.

Five days ago today, Helton, 26, packed her little girl's bag with diapers, a change of clothes and pacifier and dropped her off for a routine day at the babysitter's.

Helton hasn't seen Katelyn -- who's also fond of fruit popsicles -- since.

Yesterday Delaware County District Attorney Patrick Meehan reported that Katelyn appeared fine when Rivera purchased $2 in gas at a station at Routes 1 and 100 in Chester County, about 8 p.m. Tuesday.

""She was in the back seat, standing up, looking out the window,'' Meehan said.

Meehan said the attendant could not say which direction Rivera headed when he left the station, which is located within a few miles of Longwood Gardens.

Meehan, FBI spokeswoman Linda Vizi and township police Chief William Robinson appealed to anyone who may have seen Rivera and the little girl near Longwood Gardens to call authorities immediately.

""He indicated to police that he spoke with a number of people indicating he had kidnapped his baby,'' Meehan said. "" We want to speak with anybody who could corroborate that representation.''

Meehan said investigators reviewed surveillance tapes and were in the process of identifying tour buses at Longwood Gardens between 8 and 10 p.m.

A spokesperson at Longwood Gardens declined to comment pending the ongoing investigation.

The description of the couple to whom Rivera says he gave Katelyn is as follow: A white woman, 20-30 years old, 5 feet 7 inches tall, 130 pounds, with dark eyes and straight brown hair; and a white man in his late 30s, 5 feet 10 inches tall with a heavy build, short dark hair and sideburns.

According to Helton, Rivera, who grew up in Long Island, N.Y., had a post office box address in the Longwood Gardens area when they met four years ago.

She could think of no other connection to that area.

Helton said she only recently met Rivera's mother and would not describe his relationship with his family as close.

Helton left Rivera, returning to her parents home on Sharpless Road, about two weeks ago. It was then that she told Rivera she wanted to sever the relationship.

""I told him I thought he needed help'' for anger,'' she said.

Though she admitted previous incidents of violence, she declined to elaborate.

She did say that Rivera, who is part Puerto Rican, had previously threatened to take Katelyn to Puerto Rico.

Rivera was unemployed and his driver's license was suspended, according to authorities.

Helton said he socialized with younger people in the area, mostly girls in their early 20s.

Katelyn went to daycare while Helton worked at a hair salon.

According to police, Rivera ran off with the little girl from the babysitter's Conchester Avenue home bout 11 a.m. Tuesday, after assaulting her mother in the parking lot of a nearby convenience store.

Except for a pacifier, Rivera took nothing with them -- not even Katelyn's allergy medication, Helton said.

Three hours earlier, the embattled couple were in district court. Rivera, 33, waived a hearing on charges that he assaulted Helton on July 30 as she tried to remove some belongings from an apartment.

Rivera, jailed since Wednesday on kidnap and protection from abuse violations when he turned up at the home of Helton's parents, told authorities he gave Katelyn away to a couple he did not know.

Jennifer Helton said when Rivera turned up at the house Wednesday he said he would tell her where Katelyn was if she got into the car with him.

Looking back, she said, ""I don't think that would have made any difference.