Illeana Hess 17, Missing 12/31/06 (Body found/2 men arrested)

[Elaine]

Another missing girl's body found in NJ. I didn't even realize this one was missing.  Illeana Hess, 17 years old, from New Jersey http://tinyurl.com/2gtaz5
 May God bless her, and her family.

[pdh3]

We never even heard that she was missing.
There needs to be a better way to get the word out. Not every child has a family capable of publicizing the fact that a child has vanished.

[Jacqueline]

We never even heard that she was missing.
There needs to be a better way to get the word out. Not every child has a family capable of publicizing the fact that a child has vanished.

I LIVE in NJ and this is the first I am hearing of it.

So sad.

[Angiex911dsptchr]

Sad

[MsVada]

how sad for sure.  

I didn't even find a listing for her on missingkids.org

 

[2NJSons_Mom]

After reading this, I remembered seeing a blurb on the news.  It was mentioned that she had run away before.  Found this a few minutes ago...not much info:

http://www.wnbc.com/news/10822086/detail.html

[Elaine]

After reading this, I remembered seeing a blurb on the news.  It was mentioned that she had run away before.  Found this a few minutes ago...not much info:

http://www.wnbc.com/news/10822086/detail.html

Thanks 2NJSons! I wonder why her Dad waied till the 10th to report her missing, no wonder we didn't hear about it (they now say she was last seen NY's eve.) Someone covered her body in an attempt to conceal, so something IS very suspicous.

[2NJSons_Mom]

http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007701240443

Still no answers in mystery surrounding body of teen found in woods

Berkeley police are awaiting results of toxicological tests
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 01/24/07
BY KATHLEEN HOPKINS
TOMS RIVER BUREAU

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BERKELEY — Authorities are still investigating the circumstances of how a Toms River teenager's body was dumped in a wooded area off Dover Road.

The girl, whose body was found Sunday, was identified Monday by authorities as 17-year-old Illeana Hess of Morris Boulevard in the East Dover section of Toms River, whom police described as a frequent runaway.

An autopsy failed to reveal a cause of death or any trauma, and authorities are awaiting the result of toxicological tests to find out if there were any drugs or alcohol in her system.

Authorities still do not know who dumped the girl's body in the woods and covered it with debris.

"There's nothing new to report," said Capt. Jeff Harper of the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office. He said detectives were in Berkeley Tuesday continuing to investigate.

The girl was last seen alive by her father, Gregory, at home on Dec. 31, Harper said. He reported his daughter missing to Toms River police on Jan. 10, Toms River Police Chief Michael Mastronardy said.

The body was found in a wooded area, 300 feet from Dover Road, near Davenport Road, underneath high-tension wires.

A Point Pleasant man walking on a trail in the woods made the discovery and notified authorities.

Authorities are asking anyone who may have witnessed something in the area where the body was found to contact them.

They may call Senior Investigator Elliot Morgan of the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office at (732) 929-2027 or Detective Joseph Robertazzi of the Berkeley Township Police Department at (732) 341-6600, ext. 121.

[2NJSons_Mom]

Elaine,  

Yes, I agree about the length of time before her Dad reported her missing....  Makes one wonder...

[MsVada]

perhaps her Dad thought she ran away again?  Even so, I'd have reported it.

[2NJSons_Mom]

http://tinyurl.com/236wbq

How did Illeana die, grieving family asks

Teen's body left in woods
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 01/25/07
BY KATHLEEN HOPKINS
TOMS RIVER BUREAU

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TOMS RIVER — Illeana Hess was starting to come out of a dark period in her life, her family said.

She had given up her body piercings and Gothic dark clothing and makeup, they said.

She talked about going to Ocean County College and possibly to California.

She liked writing and music and had recently picked up an application to volunteer at Community Medical Center.

And on New Year's Eve, she walked out of her Morris Boulevard house and never came back.

Now, her family is imploring the public to come forward to authorities with any information they might have as to how the 17-year-old ended up dead in a wooded area of Berkeley, blanketed with debris.

Gregory Hess, the girl's father, said Illeana had stayed away from home before — once prompting a missing persons report when she turned out to be staying at a friend's house in New York. But always in the past when she was missing, he would come across some of her friends who had seen her, he said.

But after she left Dec. 31, none of Illeana's friends had seen her or knew where she was, he said.

Because of that, Hess said he thinks his daughter died that night.

But, he said, he was in denial and didn't report Illeana missing to police until Jan. 10.

The girl's body was found by a hiker Sunday in a wooded area underneath high-tension lines off Dover Road near Davenport Road in Berkeley.

An autopsy performed Monday revealed no trauma or cause of death, and authorities are awaiting the results of toxicological tests, which usually take six to eight weeks, to determine if there were any drugs or alcohol in her system.

Authorities still do not know who left Illeana's body in the woods.

Her grandfather, George Hess, also of Toms River, said Illeana may have experimented with drugs, but "she was no drug addict."

Her family doesn't know whether she may have taken drugs on the night she died, or someone may have slipped something to her. They say they don't know if she was still alive when left in the woods.

"Whatever did happen, that it brought another person or persons to dump her body in the woods like she was a bag of garbage is unconscionable," George Hess said.

"Why couldn't they have driven her to the hospital or called 911?" asked Gregory Hess. "I hope they have a conscience and 'fess up. They're going to have to live with it for the rest of their lives.

"I'd like to know what happened," he continued. "It's not going to bring her back, but it will put some finality to it."

The father said Illeana was his first-born daughter. She had two younger sisters and an older stepbrother.

Gregory Hess said he and Tamara Cuzzocrea, his ex-wife and Illeana's mother, shared custody of her for awhile, but for the past two years Illeana was living with him.

From the time she was a little girl, Illeana wanted to be the center of attention, both her father and grandfather said.

George Hess said Illeana couldn't carry a tune but loved to sing. She would sing all night on karaoke night at a local coffee shop, he recalled.

"She was always outgoing and friendly," said her father.

Gregory Hess said Illeana "marched to her own beat," and what he remembers most about her is her happy-go-lucky spirit.

A few years ago, however, she "spiraled downward," Gregory Hess said.

She was cutting classes at Toms River High School South, prompting him to have her transferred to High School East, he said. But she stopped going to school altogether about 1 1/2 to two years ago, he said.

Recently, however, she was starting to turn her life around, he said.

"She loved to write, mostly poetry and lyrics to songs," George Hess said. "She was finding her way."

She talked about getting a job and wanting to volunteer at the hospital to cheer up elderly patients, Gregory Hess said. "I still have the application. . . . She was on the upswing. She was coming out of her phase. She was starting to face the world.

"She didn't deserve this," he said. "She wasn't the best kid, but she was far from the worst."

Kathleen Hopkins: (732) 557-5732 or khopkins@app.com

[sharon]

I LIVE in NJ and this is the first I am hearing of it.

So sad.

My inlaws live in Toms River -- and mil had not heard about this

But she has been very aware of Natalee -- she actually brought it up to me over a year ago.

You're so right pdh3 -- there needs to be a better way to get the word out quickly. Especially for children --- but, really, for everyone.

[2NJSons_Mom]

Was just checking to see if there was anything new in this case.  Toxology report does not seem to be in, but found this drug blog/informational site:

http://tinyurl.com/34wpvh


US: Teen found dead defied her parents

Found: Sun Jan 28 02:02:26 2007 PST
Source: Asbury Park Press (NJ)
Copyright: 2007 Asbury Park Press
Contact: yourviews@app.com
Website: http://www.app.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/26
Webpage: http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?A...
Author: Kathleen Hopkins, TOMS RIVER BUREAU, khopkins@app.com
Newshawk: http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/

   


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Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 01/28/07

BY KATHLEEN HOPKINS

TOMS RIVER BUREAU

TOMS RIVER -- Gregory Hess and Tamara Cuzzocrea aren't the first parents to be frustrated by efforts to try to tame their strong-willed teenage daughter, and they won't be the last.

But their ordeal highlights the worst that can happen in the saga of teenage angst and the age-old battle of teen versus parent.

Hess and Cuzzocrea's 17-year-old daughter, Illeana Hess, turned up dead Jan. 21 in a wooded area in Berkeley, 22 days after she was last seen alive leaving her father's house on Morris Boulevard in Toms River.

Authorities said it appeared her body had been dumped there by someone and covered with debris to mask it, although they do not yet know who was responsible.

An autopsy revealed no signs of trauma, so authorities are awaiting the results of toxicological tests to determine whether drugs or alcohol were present in her system and caused her death.

Illeana left to go to a New Year's Eve party, said Gregory Hess, who is divorced from Cuzzocrea. When Illeana did not come home that night, it wasn't the first time she had done that.

Cuzzocrea said Illeana often stayed over at friends' houses without first calling home to say she wouldn't be home. She once stayed at a friend's house in New York without telling anyone, she recalled.

"She'd end up coming back a few days later," Cuzzocrea said.

Illeana habitually cut classes at Toms River High School South, so much so that she was supervised by a probation officer for truancy, said Christopher Cuzzocrea, Illeana's stepfather.

Upset by the truancy, her parents had her transferred to High School East and would drive her there each morning, they said. Illeana would sneak out anyway to nearby woods, they said.

About a year and a half to two years ago, Illeana stopped going to school altogether, according to her family. She wouldn't be reined in.

It wasn't unusual for Illeana to come home at 3 in the morning, her mother said. She said she sent Illeana to live with her father because the hours that she was coming and going were disrupting the life of her younger sister.

Illeana was getting in with a different clique, Christopher Cuzzocrea said.

"She got further away from who she was," he said.

"She trusted people who didn't care," Tamara Cuzzocrea said.

"Friends who will dump you and cover your body with garbage," Christopher Cuzzocrea said.

Edward R. O'Keefe, a friend of Illeana's from Toms River, said he had spent many hours with Illeana driving around and listening to gangster rap. O'Keefe said Illeana got in with a wrong crowd and was using hard drugs.

O'Keefe took Illeana to job interviews, but she didn't get any of the jobs, and to apply for classes to get her equivalency diploma, but she didn't follow through on that, either.

"I got my GED," O'Keefe said. "She had her own priorities -- having a good time. It wasn't such a bad thing, except she got in with the wrong people.

"I stopped hanging out with her for awhile, trying to snap her out of it," he said.

Meanwhile, some of the friends she was keeping company with said it wasn't unusual for teenagers to party -- drink, smoke marijuana and cigarettes and make bonfires -- in the very woods where Illeana's body was found.

"There were occasionally people who had other drugs, but mostly it was drinking and smoking," said Dan Harrington, 19, of Toms River.

"I never saw her in the woods," Harrington said of Illeana, although he did say she experimented with drugs.

"She was a free person," Harrington said of Illeana. "She wanted to have fun. She wasn't a bad person. She never did anything to harm anyone.

"Since you drop out, you have that sense of freedom," Harrington said. "She just didn't want to go home."

Another friend, Rina Non, 20, of Toms River, met Illeana in a theater class at High School East, and the pair immediately became friends.

Harrington said he, Non and Illeana were part of a group of misfits that would hang around with each other.

Non said she went with Illeana to get some of her first body piercings.

"I think she had some darkness," Non said. "She just wanted to be loved and just get the hell out of here. I don't know what it was."

Illeana's mother said her daughter had talked about going to California to make a new life for herself. When she didn't come home on New Year's Eve, she thought maybe Illeana was en route to California and would call when she got there.

When she didn't come home, Tamara Cuzzocrea said she and her ex-husband drove around looking for Illeana, but didn't immediately go to the police because she had stayed out in the past, and they didn't think the police would take the matter seriously.

But they didn't find her, or anyone else who had seen her. Then, on Jan. 22, the bad news came.

"We knew this would happen. We just hoped it never would," said Christopher Cuzzocrea.

"It's a tragic ending to a beautiful girl's life," Tamara Cuzzocrea said.

"She was multidimensional, free-spirited," she said of her daughter. "She was happy, smiling. I can't find a picture of her without a smile. She was just a happy-go-lucky girl following her own drumbeat. . . . She just wanted a new life with some new people, and she didn't get that chance."

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Kathleen Hopkins: (732) 557-5732 or khopkins@app.com

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[2NJSons_Mom]

I believe this is her MYSpace....check out friend 7:38...

http://tinyurl.com/3dxtkf

[Elaine]

I believe this is her MYSpace....check out friend 7:38...

http://tinyurl.com/3dxtkf

That is her, such a pretty girl. that 7:38 friend is straaaaange!! I read every comment he left her, he has been homeless, in jail, had beer cans thrown at him. I clicked on his myspace account an viewed all his pictures, what a character, OMG...he also has himself listed as 47 yrs old, which I am sure he isn't, but what ever his age.... I think I'd be lookin at him closely. He left her a lot of comments (obsessively) they stopped in December, but remember he was homelss then and may not have had access to his puter. ....The girl was a bit defiant, yes, but someone dumped her like garbage, and covered her body with trash and debris. I hope they find out who did this (even if all they did was toss her body there) No human being deserves to be thrown away like trash!!

[Florida]

7:38 sure is creepy!
He's from NY
Lives 7 miles from Toms River in Seasde, NJ

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendID=8540193&MyToken=a7ab61c6-409b-42b5-9e3b-b175a9c12be5ML

[2NJSons_Mom]

Elaine, I agree and hope they find out who dumped or hid her.  Maybe she did hang with unsavory characters, but discarding her that way is very sad.

Florida, Manhattan, NY is near the Jersey shore, bu t more like Jersey City....no way is NY 7 miles from Seaside...or Seaside Heights which is near Toms River.  

I thought that guy was creepy....that one post...'I'm dead to you'...and the music....don't know.  out of my league.[/b]

[2NJSons_Mom]

Florida, maybe I just misunderstood.  I didn't see that he lives in Seaside...so the 7 miles makes sense...only retained that he was from Manhattan.

[Elaine]

From 7:28 's my space blog, posted by florida in the link above:[list=]"there is a handful of
people that wouldn't
mind seeing me die."

"I wouldn't mind either."

"Illeana, doesn't hate me,
she avoids me like hell,
but she doesn't hate me."

[/list]

[Elaine]

From 7:28 's my space blog, posted by florida in the link above:[list=]"there is a handful of
people that wouldn't
mind seeing me die."

"I wouldn't mind either."

"Illeana, doesn't hate me,
she avoids me like hell,
but she doesn't hate me."

[/list]

correction, it is from that 7:38's blog..not 7:28[/b]