The Buffalo Police Department is investigating whether there’s any association between human remains found in a burned-out car on Tonawanda Street and a 3-year-old boy found on a porch just a mile away.
Buffalo Police Captain Jeff Rinaldo said the vehicle was likely on fire early Monday morning but had burned itself out long before officers were called to investigate, around 6 p.m. Monday in the 100 block of Tonawanda Street.
Due to the heat and duration of the fire, Rinaldo said officers could not immediately identify the make and model of the car. He said flames might not have been visible from surface streets but believe it might have been from the 198 or the 190 in the very early hours of Monday morning.
Police released the photos and names of the parents of the young boy (see above tweet) and are asking anyone in the Buffalo area who might have seen or come into contact with them to call the department’s homicide hotline at 716-851-4466 or the confidential tipline at 716-847-2255.
Rinaldo said the case is being handled as a missing persons case for the three adults and that no reports of a missing child have been filed in Buffalo for a boy matching the 3-year-old’s description.
He remains in the custody of Child Protective Services and is said to be in good spirits. The boy’s grandmothers flew to Buffalo from Florida, where the family resides, on Monday. Rinaldo said CPS will be working to reunite the child with his family.