Police in New York are working to determine where there’s a connection between the discovery of a 3-year-old boy found sleeping in a box on a women’s porch on Monday and human remains found in a burned out car later the same night.
The boy, named Noelvin, was found alone sleeping in a stray cat box about a mile away from the charred car in Buffalo – and more 1200 miles away from his home in Orlando, Florida.
He was discovered by local resident Lois Augsberger on her porch at 8:00am Monday morning when she went outside to fetch a newspaper.
‘I said, “Where’s your mommy, honey?” He said, “The car’s on fire.” That’s all he kept saying,’ Augsberger recalled to KXAN.
Police say they’re now looking for his parents Nicole Merced Plaud, 24, and Miguel Anthony Valentin-Colon, 31, along with family friend Dhamyl Mirella Roman-Audiffred, 29, who haven’t been heard from since Sunday.
The boy, named Noelvin, was found alone sleeping in a stray cat box about a mile away from the charred car in Buffalo – and more 1200 miles away from his home in Orlando, Florida
Noelvin was discovered by local resident Lois Augsberger in a box (above) on her porch, dressed in a diaper with a blanket wrapped around him at 8:00am Monday morning when she went outside to fetch a newspaper
Hours after Augsberger found Noelvin, investigators discovered a burned car in the city’s Black Rock neighborhood at 6:00pm, with human remains inside.
The fire, which police said burned extremely hot and for a sustained period of time, likely started around 3:00am on Monday morning.
Police believe it ultimately extinguished itself after severely damaging the vehicle, which so badly charred investigators have been unable to identify its make and model.
Investigators are now working to determine if the crime scene is connected to Noelvin’s missing parents and Roman-Audiffred.
During a Tuesday news conference, Buffalo Police Captain Jeff Rinaldo said it would ‘take some time’ for the medical examiner’s office to identify the remains found inside.
Augsberger says the boy kept repeating ‘the car’s on fire’ whenever she asked him where his mother was
Hours after Augsberger found Noelvin, investigators discovered a burned car in the city’s Black Rock neighborhood at 6:00pm, with human remains inside
The fire, which police said burned extremely hot and for a sustained period of time, likely started around 3:00am on Monday morning. Police believe it ultimately extinguished itself after severely damaging the vehicle, which so badly charred investigators have been unable to identify its make and model
Noelvin’s paternal grandmother, Zenaida Colon, traveled to Buffalo from Florida along with other family members on Thursday to try and obtain custody of the toddler, who is currently in the care of Child Protective Services.
At an impromptu press conference Colon theorized that her son had been vacationing with Noelvin, Plaud and Roman-Audiffred, when they went missing.
‘They were great parents, I have nothing bad to say, so I don’t know,’ she said. ‘I’m hopeful that we have a good outcome to this, but if we don’t, at least we have peace of mind that they’re there or they’re not. The sooner the better.’
Noelvin’s grandfather, Jorge Oquendo added, ‘We’re heartbroken, we’re worried, we’re scared.’
‘We’re all devastated,’ Oquendo said. ‘We’re all devastated for a lot of reasons. We have no answers, we don’t know what happened, we don’t know if it happened.’
Noelvin’s paternal grandmother, Zenaida Colon (above), traveled to Buffalo from Florida along with other family members on Thursday to try and obtain custody of the toddler, who is currently in the care of Child Protective Services
‘They were great parents, I have nothing bad to say, so I don’t know,’ she said. ‘I’m hopeful that we have a good outcome to this, but if we don’t, at least we have peace of mind that they’re there or they’re not. The sooner the better.’
Though neither Oquendo of Colon knew the family was going out of town, they insisted it wasn’t unusual for them to have embarked on a road trip.
Augsberger says Noelvin was dressed only in a pull-up diaper with a blanket wrapped around him when she found him in the cardboard box early Monday.
‘I come out the door and I open this up and I just happened to look down and I see him starting to crawl out,’ Augsberger said.
‘He was crawling out of the box. He heard me. He must’ve heard me open the door and he came crawling out of the box and he had the blanket around him and I picked him up and I hugged him.’
Augsberger summoned the help of a local daycare provider while she awaited the arrival of police.
Speaking to KXAN, the woman, who didn’t want to be identified said: ‘I had given him a car to make him a little more friendly. He enjoyed the car. He told me he has a sister. When I asked him what his mom’s name was, he said “Mommy.”’
The woman added says he repeatedly referenced a burning car.
Anyone who saw smoke or fire in that area, or witnessed anything worth reporting to police, can call Buffalo Police homicide detectives on (716) 851-4466.