November 02, 2015
Source/Facebook
The body of Brendan Link Creato, 3, was found on the morning of Oct. 13, 2015, in a wooded area in Haddon Township. On Jan. 11, 2016, investigators announced the boy's father, David "DJ" Creato Jr., of Haddon Township, New Jersey, had been indicted by a grand jury on charges of first degree murder in connection with his son's death.
The toxicology report for Brendan Creato, the toddler found dead in Haddon Township last month, has come back negative.
Richard J. Fuschino, the lawyer representing the boy's father, David "DJ" Creato, said the Camden County Prosecutor's Office has informed him that results of the toxicology report have come back negative, but that the autopsy was still officially pending.
Andy McNeil, public information officer for the prosecutor's office, would not confirm or deny the toxicology report's findings to PhillyVoice.
"We are continuing to conduct an exhaustive investigation into the death of three-year-old Brendan Creato," McNeil said in an email. "We have no further comment at this time. We will contact reporters when we have more information to share."
Fuschino simply said the toxicology report supports what police initially told him – that DJ Creato is not a suspect in the toddler's death.
"Unfortunately, it gets us no closer to an answer to what happened here," Fuschino said. "However, for all of those people on social media talking about how he is a suspect ... I think this just goes to show what a real mystery there is here."
A police dog discovered Creato's lifeless body around 9 a.m. on Oct. 13 in a strip of woods flanking South Park Drive, near a sharp elbow bend in the road.
Brendan and his 22-year-old father lived in an apartment a half-mile away, at the corner of Cooper and Virginia streets. DJ Creato and Samantha Denoto, the toddler's mother, shared custody of Brendan, but he was in his father's custody when he disappeared.
DJ Creato has told authorities that the boy was last seen around 10 p.m. on Oct. 12. Brendan was reported missing from their second-floor, double-locked apartment when DJ awoke the next day before 6 a.m.
DJ Creato has said he immediately called his mother, Lisa, who lives about two blocks away on Virginia Street. He has said he next called Haddon Township police to report Brendan as missing.
Authorities have released limited details regarding their investigation, saying the toddler was not physically molested and there was no signs of forced entry at the apartment.
Township police spent at least three days last week in the woods where the body was found, and canvassed the homes in the adjoining neighborhood.
Both a man and a woman have reported seeing an older white man wheeling a baby carriage toward Cooper River Park around 7 a.m. on Oct. 13. The man, Mark Hoover, told PhillyVoice that the man pushing the carriage wore a yellow sweater, tan pants and eyeglasses. He said the man appeared to at least be 60.
Hoover said he could not see into the carriage because it was covered with a blanket. The temperature that morning was in the low 50s. He said the man appeared to try to stare him down after he met his gaze.
Fuschino previously told PhillyVoice that he had not heard of the baby stroller in the area before being contacted by a reporter. He was unaware of any stroller missing from his client's apartment or the Creato's home.
The prosecutor's office has declined to comment on the stroller sightings.
Staff writer Kevin Shelly contributed to this report.
