3-year-old found dead in Haddon Twp. ID’d as Brendan Link Creato; no charges so far

Authorities have identified the 3-year-old boy found dead in Haddon Township Tuesday morning as Brendan Link Creato.

An announcement from Camden County Prosecutor Mary Eva Colalillo and Haddon Township Police Chief Mark Cavallo also said no one has yet been charged in the child's death.

Brendan was reported missing from his residence on the 100 block of Cooper Street by a family member at approximately 6 a.m. on Tuesday, authorities said.

Members of the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, Haddon Township Police Department and other police, fire and public safety agencies responded and began to conduct a thorough search for the boy, the announcement said.

A K-9 unit from the Delaware River Port Authority Police Department tracked the child to a wooded area off South Park Drive in Haddon Township, where he was found deceased shortly before 9 a.m., it said.

The results of the autopsy are pending and the investigation is continuing. By mid-afternoon, the area where Brendan was found had been cleared of police tape, but there remained a heavy police presence at the boy's home.

Authorities are asking anyone with information to contact Camden County Prosecutor’s Office Detective Michael Rhoads at 856-225-8561 or Haddon Township Police Detective Don Quinn at 856-833-6208.

Haddon Township resident Seneid Jen O’Rourke Kennedy told New Jersey 101.5 she became aware the child was missing through posts made at around 6 a.m. in a community group on Facebook.

She joined the search — but in her case, starting several blocks away from the child’s home, feeling it would be saturated with other volunteers and officials.

Kennedy said she alone saw dozens of people looking — many from neighboring communities including Cherry Hill. She alone covered about four miles in an hour and a half but didn’t see any sign of the boy, she said.

If there was an organized volunteer search, she said, she wasn’t personally aware of it. But she did encounter the boy’s grandfather while looking, and was told the boy had gone missing somewhere between midnight at 6 a.m., she said.

In a Facebook post earlier today, Kennedy said despite the news of the boy’s death, she wanted “to say how proud I am of our community!!!! So many people came out to search for the little boy. Everybody just individually looking through the neighborhood. I’m proud to live in this amazing town!!!”

— Dino Flammia contributed to this story