Delaware County Daily Times - Mar 29, 2000 Article

Search continues for Katelyn 's body

Delaware County Daily Times (Primos - Upper Darby, PA) - Wednesday, March 29, 2000

Author: KATHLEEN E. CAREY ; Of the Times Staff

LOWER CHICHESTER -- Searchers continued to look for the missing 20-month-old Katelyn Rivera -Helton as her father was held for trial yesterday on charges he murdered her.

The little girl -- or her body -- has not been found despite thousands of hours volunteers and law enforcement officials have spent hunting for her. They've used cadaver dogs, helicopters and heat-sensing equipment to find the toddler who was taken 211 days ago.

The absence of her body invalidates the case, Robert Rivera 's attorney G. Guy Smith said. Assistant District Attorney John A. Reilly Jr. said Rivera 's malice is all that is needed to prove he might have killed his little girl.

Reilly added that investigators were narrowing the scope of their search for Katelyn and will continue to look for her, even up to the trial.

Rivera sat in green prison garb yesterday, often shaking his head and sighing with disgust during the proceedings that ended with the case being sent to trial.

Jennifer Helton, Katelyn 's mom, was the first to testify. Wearing a light pantsuit and with her hair back in a tight ponytail, she verified Katelyn 's height and weight. She also confirmed that the shoe and sock recovered on Route 202 last fall belonged to the little girl.

Upper Chichester Police Detective James B. Reardon testified that Rivera first wouldn't say where Katelyn was and then agreed to disclose her whereabouts if he could talk to Helton.

An hour-and-20-minute meeting was arranged after which Rivera continued to refuse to say where the girl was, Reardon said. Rivera then changed his story and said Helton "could consider Katelyn dead and she would never see her again."

Yet again, Rivera changed his remarks a few minutes later and told Reardon that Katelyn was in upstate New York.

"Nobody has said in this court that in fact Katelyn Rivera (Helton) is dead," Smith said.

CID Lt. David Peifer also testified about Rivera 's comments.

He told of the extensive search at Longwood Gardens, where Rivera said he gave the little girl to a couple. Peifer said interviews with employees and three busloads of guests failed to find the child, as did extensive searches of the grounds.

Peifer said investigators and volunteers searched for more than 4,000 hours over 12 days using cadaver dogs in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Florida and Puerto Rico.

"All with negative responses," Peifer said.

Peifer again spoke to Rivera following a Nov. 23, 1999, hearing in county court. That was when Peifer asked him where Katelyn was. Rivera allegedly said, "If I told you where Katelyn was, I'd spend the rest of my life in jail."

Smith asked District Justice Rocco Gaspari to recuse himself, saying Rivera spoke to the judge as a neighbor and friend about Helton and Katelyn in September and October 1998. Smith said Rivera 's backyard was close to Gaspari's.

He also said Rivera 's ex-girlfriend, Michele Lupi, consulted with the judge about the case and was a relative, possibly a niece, of Gaspari.

Gaspari called the allegations "bologna" and was angered that just because his and Lupi's names end in vowels that it's assumed they're related.

The trial was scheduled for April 28 in Courtroom 3.

Reilly said Rivera was last seen with the baby around 7:17 p.m. Aug. 10 at the Sunoco gas station on Route 1. About two hours later, he returned without Katelyn and goes directly to the restroom before negotiating with the attendant for $10 worth of gas for a wristwatch.

"I believe the baby was discarded somewhere in the Brandywine Valley," Reilly said.

He said searchers were using cadaver dogs and overhead equipment to keep looking in that area.

"Searches will continue," Reilly said. "There's slim chances that we'll find any remains. I can only hope and pray."