Delaware County Daily Times - Oct 1, 1999 Article #1

D.A. takes custody of Rivera letter to Times

Delaware County Daily Times (Primos - Upper Darby, PA) - Friday, October 1, 1999

Author: ROSE QUINN ; Of the Times Staff

UPPER DARBY - The original copy of jailed accused kidnapper Robert Rivera 's letter to the Daily Times in which he boasts of being the "only one" who knows the whereabouts of his missing daughter, was secured by authorities as potential evidence yesterday.

Delaware County Criminal Investigation Division Lt. David C. Peifer and Special Agent Donna A. Kibbie of the FBI retrieved the letter about mid-morning. The newspaper turned over the document to authorities voluntarily. Peifer, who's been involved in the case since Katelyn Rivera-Helton's Aug. 10 disappearance, handled it with a tissue.

After reading it, he wanted to know who in the office had touched the letter, which Rivera had sent to the newspaper from the county prison.

By late afternoon, Delaware County District Attorney Patrick Meehan verified the authenticity of the signature, as well as the fact that Rivera had asked a fellow inmate to do the actual printing.

Rivera can neither read nor write, noted Meehan. "The value of the letter as a piece of evidence is speculative," Meehan said. "At this point, we have to be diligent."

Meehan did say that the letter, dated Sept. 23, would seem to contradict earlier statements by Rivera that he gave his daughter to a couple he met but did not know at Longwood Gardens the night of the kidnapping."

The comments in this letter also contradict an earlier comment that Jennifer Helton, Katelyn 's mother, knows where the baby is,'' Meehan said.

In the letter, Rivera cautioned of "jailhouse snitches" making deals with authorities to not only attain lighter sentences, but a $10,000 reward for information leading to Katelyn 's safe return. "

I am the only one who knows the true story," wrote Rivera , who faces trial on kidnapping and related offenses. "So if you hear anything from anyone else, consider it a lie."

Rivera misspelled Katelyn 's name in the letter, which did not come as any surprise to ex-fiance Jennifer Helton when she verified the signature Wednesday night.

She doubted he would know his Social Security number.

The search for Katelyn has primarily focused in Cecil County, Md., where Rivera visited friends the night of the kidnapping. Katelyn was not with him at the time, though she was seen with him earlier at a gas station at Route 1 and 100 not far from Longwood Gardens.

Anyone with information should call police at (610) 485-8400, county detectives at (610) 891-4700, the FBI at (215) 418-4000, or Cecil County authorities at (410) 996-5547.