Delaware County Daily Times - Sept 26, 2000 Article

Remembering loved ones

Delaware County Daily Times (Primos - Upper Darby, PA) - Tuesday, September 26, 2000

Author: MATT ZAGER ; Of the Times Staff

UPPER CHICHESTER -- Out in the darkness the roughly 60 people had more on their minds than the annoying rain that wouldn't stop or the isolating feeling of being in the middle of nowhere.

They were the families of children who had been murdered.

At picnic tables in an open-air pavilion near the Upper Chichester Municipal Building last night some sat motionless, with their eyes closed as a woman sang. Others held hands or put their arms around each other.

The annual memorial service was organized by Parents of Murdered Children Inc., a national support group.

"Normally at this point in a speech, I would tell you how proud I am to be here. But I'm not proud. I'm outraged that on the threshold of the 21st century, an organization like yours still (needs to) exist," said Upland Borough President Joseph E. Blair.

"These are difficult times," he said.

There were mothers, fathers, friends, aunts, uncles and grandparents.

One of the speakers was Jennifer Helton whose 20-month-old daughter Katelyn has been missing and presumed dead since Aug. 10, 1999.

"Deep down I know that Katelyn is somewhere safe," said Helton who added she's grateful for the more than a year and a half she was able to spend with her daughter.

Katelyn 's father, Robert Rivera , took the baby from a baby-sitters home Aug. 10, 1999. She has not been seen since that day.

Rivera , who's been charged with his daughter's kidnapping and murder, had offered conflicting stories about what happened to the girl.

Nancy Pitts read a list of memories of her 17-year-old son who was killed with a fondue fork at a party in Ridley on July 17, 1998. The memories included her son blowing out the candles on a cake for his 17th birthday.

"There was no 18th birthday," said Pitts. "That's when I stopped remembering."

Chad Pitts was killed a month before his 18th birthday. He'd wanted to learn computer drafting and design and work as a disc jockey, his mother said.

Beau Leonard, who was 19 at the time of the murder, admitted stabbing Pitts in the neck after an argument. Leonard was sentenced to 18 to 40 years in jail for third-degree murder.

Last night, Jack Bierling presented a $6,000 check for construction of a memorial garden in Upper Chichester.

The money was raised in a golf tournament, said Bierling. His one-year-old granddaughter, Madison Bierling was killed by a babysitter on Dec. 1, 1998.

Madison died from massive brain injuries. Her babysitter, Tricia Muff, had told police that she threw the child down after becoming angry. Muff was sentenced to life in prison without parole in September of 1999.