December Park(94)

Holt, an eighth grader at Cape Middle School, was walking home with fellow classmates yesterday when he left the group to continue home on his own, according to other students.

“There is no evidence of foul play,” Chief of Police Harold Barber said last night. “Right now, we are handling this as an unrelated incident.”

Roger Dollins, an attorney and spokesperson for the Courtney Cole Memorial Charity, disagreed with Barber’s assessment. “It is na?ve to think these disappearances are unrelated, particularly after what happened to Courtney,” Dollins said. “This is simply a case of local law enforcement turning a blind eye because they are ill-equipped to handle a situation of this magnitude. They have no leads.”

“Instead of placing blame, we should remain vigilant as a community,” Chief Barber responded. “We are not ruling out the possibility of abduction at this point, but to assume these other children came to the same fate as Courtney Cole is irresponsible and presumptuous. No evidence exists to suggest this.”

Nonetheless, county executives have expressed their displeasure with Barber’s handling of the situation, and parent groups are calling for Barber’s resignation.

“I think it’s time the city bows out and allows federal investigators to take over,” Dollins said. “How many more children have to vanish before someone does something?”

From the Harting Farms Caller, June 3, 1994: Holt Boy’s Backpack Found Police discovered the backpack of Howard Matthew Holt, 13, yesterday evening in the woods off Magothy Road in the section of Harting Farms known locally as the Cape. Holt was reported missing June 1 by his mother, Susan Holt, when the boy failed to return home from school.

Police said the backpack was discovered after conducting a thorough search of the area surrounding Cape Middle School and the route Holt would have taken to walk home. Holt’s mother had informed police that it was a route her son had taken every day to and from school, usually with a group of his friends.

“We spoke to a number of Howard’s friends who had been with him on June 1 when school let out,” explained Detective John Ebbett of the Harting Farms Police Department. “The consensus is that Holt went off on his own when he and his friends reached Muraco Street. Howard’s friends said he turned and walked up Magothy Road alone. That was the last time they saw him.”

The backpack was discovered in a shallow section of woods beside Magothy Road in view of some tenements and a small park, police said. The backpack was searched, then sent to a laboratory for analysis. According to police, it is too early to determine if the backpack contains any evidence that would assist police in uncovering what has happened to the boy.

A search continues for more evidence in the surrounding area.

Chief of Police Harold Barber had no comment.

From the Baltimore Sun, June 5, 1994 (Sunday edition): Child Abductions, Murder Plague Bayside Community Howard Matthew Holt, 13, of Harting Farms, Maryland, has been missing since June 1. Holt’s disappearance marks the sixth adolescent to vanish from the streets of the small bayside community since last August. Fears about a child predator were finally confirmed last October when the body of Harting Farms resident Courtney Cole, 15, was found bludgeoned to death in a wooded area off one of the city’s main thoroughfares. To date, no other bodies have been found.

Harting Farms Chief of Police Harold C. Barber has stated that his department is looking into the possibility that these disappearances are related, although there exists no evidence to suggest they are.

“The only thing that links all these cases,” Chief Barber said at a recent press conference in Baltimore, where he was rallying support from Baltimore County police, “is that the children have gone missing. We are exploring all avenues and aren’t ruling anything out.”

Concerning the specific details of Holt’s disappearance, Chief Barber declined to go into the matter, though he insisted that his department is doing everything within their power to find out what happened to the boy. “We have recovered Howard’s backpack and have sent it to the lab to be analyzed,” said Chief Barber. “We have been conducting interviews and are following up on a number of leads.”

As to what leads the department has received thus far, Chief Barber wouldn’t comment.

The Harting Farms Police Department came under strict criticism last October when the body of fifteen-year-old Courtney Cole was discovered in a wooded area near Governor Highway, the city’s main thoroughfare. To date, the department has no suspects in Cole’s death, and it seems from an outside perspective that all leads have reached a dead end.

“My heart breaks,” said a tearful Byron Cole, father of the deceased. “Someone should have been arrested by now.”

Meanwhile, parent organizations and city council groups are in an uproar at what is perceived to be a cavalier attitude taken by Barber and his department.

“These are children,” said Holly Dangliano, spokeswoman for the Protect Our Children Foundation. “It is deplorable how dismissive the local police have been throughout the past year.”

Chief Barber was asked if the FBI should be brought in to assist in the investigation.

“This isn’t a single investigation,” Chief Barber said. “These are six separate investigations.”

When a reporter at the press conference repeated the question about possible FBI involvement, Chief Barber ended the interview without further comment.