Eight-year-old boy, Leiby Kletzky, found dead

An eight-year-old boy has been found dead after having beenmissing for over 24 hours from his Boro Park neighborhood. Hisdismembered body was discovered in two locations, in a dumpsteroutside a Greenwood Heights/South Park Slope auto shop and in thefreezer at a Kensington apartment.

Thirty-five-year-old Levi Aron lived in the third floorapartment of a house owned by his parents. He is behing questionedat the 67 Precinct in East Flatbush.

Leiby Kletzky was last seen leaving the Boyan Day Camp at 120544th Street Monday at 5:05 p.m. Surveillance video captured imagesof the boy walking alone at the corner of 50th Street and 13thAvenue. It was the first time his parents had allowed him to makethe seven block walk home by himself. Kletzky is believed to havegotten lost.

Aron allegedly has confessed to the brutal killing, pointing tohis bloody refrigerator when police arrived at his apartment askingwhere Kletzky was. When officers opened the freezer, they found acutting board, three carving knives and pieces of the boy’sbody.

Most of the rest of the boy’s body was found two and a halfmiles way in a dumpster on 20th Street between Fourth and Fifthavenues. Police from the 72 Precinct and Patrol Borough BrooklynSouth descended on the dumpster just after 4 a.m. Wednesdaymorning. The dumpster was located on a busy commercial strip acrossthe street from an Islamic girls school.

At a morning press conference on Wednesday, Police CommissionerRay Kelly stated that police believe the suspect panicked when hesaw missing person flyers for Kletzky plastered around theneighborhood. It is unknown why he took the boy in the firstplace.

I heard during the night. A high-ranking officer called me ataround 3:30 a.m. and shared the horrific news, said AssemblymemberDov Hikind, who had closed his office on Tuesday so that he andstaffers could join the search for Kletzky. People came from everycommunity to help. I have never seen such an outpouring ofsupport.

Hikind, the Shomrim Safety Patrol and area business leaders hadalso offered a $100,000 reward for information on Kletzky’swhereabouts and safe return.

Leiby’s parents and four sisters had been holding vigil in theirhome on 15th Avenue near 57th Street since he went missing. Theyremain there today, preparing for his funeral tonight, whichaccording to Hasidic Orthodox Jewish custom, will be held within 24hours of [confirmed] death.

State Senator Marty Golden also sent out alerts to hisconstituents informing them about the boy’s disappearance. An alerthad also been issued through the New York State Division ofCriminal Justice Services Missing and Exploited ChildrenClearinghouse.

Next week would have been Kletzky’s ninth birthday.

Additional reporting by Jesse Lent