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It is with immense pain we inform you of the terrible and tragic news of the murder of 9-year-old Leiby Kletzky. The circumstances surrounding his death, too horrific to describe, caps a three day search operation which concluded with the police arresting a number of suspects believed to be involved in the murder of young Leiby.

Boruch Dayan Hoemes – Leiby Kletzky OBM

It is with immense pain we inform you of the terrible and tragic news of the murder of 9-year-old Leiby Kletzky. The circumstances surrounding his death, too horrific to describe, caps a three day search operation which concluded with the police arresting a number of suspects believed to be involved in the murder of young Leiby.


Hundreds of volunteers joined together with volunteers of Shomrim, Hatzalah, Cesed Shel Emes, Chaveirim and together with the assistance of the NYPD who put a dozen detectives on the case, along with the technical assistance from the FBI. The search ended early Wednesday morning.

“I’ve never seen a community feel more depression than they are at the moment,” Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Borough Park) said he said in an interview broadcast on NY1. “Whoever did this is sick beyond belief.”

A massive search by cops and hundreds of volunteers from the Orthodox Jewish community had been underway for Leiby, who had begged his parents to let him walk home alone from camp for the first time. His parents agreed to meet him halfway between his Borough Park school and the family’s home on Monday afternoon.

But he never showed up – and now cops think his disappearance may be linked to a man he was seen following on the street.

A neighbor saw police take several people into custody at a home on E. Second St. near Avenue C about 3:30 a.m. Wednesday.

“They went through backyard with their guns out. They knocked on the door, and I heard a noise as they busted down the door,” the neighbor said. “They went in and then three guys and a woman a few minutes later were on the porch. Then downstairs they brought out some guy in cuffs. He was quiet standing on the porch. They took the three guys and took them into an Impala.”

The witness said the man in handcuffs had a beard.

Leiby was filmed by a store surveillance camera standing alone about 5:30 p.m. Monday at the corner where 45th St., 18th Ave. and Dahill Road intersect, police said. At that point, he was already far off course from a seven-block walk to meet his parents.

The video shows a bearded man turn the corner and walk down Dahill Road with the boy walking behind him. The man then gets into a gold-colored sedan and drives off – but the video does not show the passenger side of the car.

Leiby is not seen getting into the car or driving away with the man.

“We have not ruled out that the boy got into that same vehicle,” said NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne, the department’s top spokesman.

On an earlier surveillance video, Leiby was filmed leaving the camp at Yeshiva Boyan at 4:50 p.m.

About 30 minutes later, yet another video shows him walking alone on 15th Ave. near 44th St., police said. The 4-foot-tall boy was carrying a backpack and wearing blue pants and a blue shirt with green and white stripes. The encounter with the bearded man in the gold car, shown on a third surveillance video, came seven minutes later.

“Everyone’s thinking the worst and hoping for the best,” said Shmuel Eckstein, 44, a friend of Leiby’s father, before the body was discovered. “He’s a very good kid. He’s an angel. He has no rebellious streak to him.”

Cops searched the neighborhood by helicopter and door to door. Agents from the FBI’s New York office also joined in the hunt.

The Shomrim neighborhood patrol provided dozens of members and arranged for more than a hundred volunteers to join the hunt.

Leiby’s parents were wracked by dread yesterday, their pain etched into their faces. “They’re distraught,” said Simcha Bernath, head of the Borough Park Shomrim. Leiby’s father, Nachman Kletzky, huddled in his home yesterday afternoon with four rabbis while his wife rested for the first time since her son went missing.

Hikind, who spoke to the father , said the dad was depressed. “’Let’s hope,’” the father said, according to Hikind.

Assemblyman Peter Abbate, Hikind, the Shomrim and others had put up a reward of $100,000 for information in the case.

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28 Comments

  • Anonymous

    what a tragic and awful outcome.BDE may the family be comforted .one cannot imagine the pain.beyond all….

  • Be Careful

    Several years ago a child was molested inside the cleaners on Kingston and Empire.

    Keep your kids out!

  • katz

    very sick people in this world how can anyone hurt and innocent child whomever did this should be hung in front of everyone so no one will ever think of doing this again!!!

  • The Guy With the Dog

    Thank you for your sensitivity in not posting the gruesome details surrounding the findings.

  • ad mosai wrote

    BDE. I am pretty sure that a man who took him to the car was very familiar to the boy. There is no way it was not planned.If all rabbeims from every communities are not going to get together and do some actions – there is no point to trust anybody.

  • Crown Height Activist

    Now is the time to act! Chances are the kid was molested as well. WE MUST PUT THESE ANIMALS AWAY!!!! THESE ARE OUR CHILDREN!!

  • Teach Your Children Well

    I know it may be extremely difficult to talk to kids about this issue however you must protect them and teach them NEVER TO TALK TO STRANGERS and RUN AWAY or SCREAM, CALL ATTENTION TO THEMSELVES if someone suggests they enter their car. Just because she or he looks Jewish doesn’t mean its okay to trust them. children should always walk in pairs. My heart goes out to the family, and all of klall yisroel, imo anoche betzara.

  • @ maidele

    Hashem, guard your children. Watch over us. Keep us safe. Hear our cries penetrate the heavens above, as our tears fill the earth below. Hashem yerachem.

  • Hinda

    May Hashem assist in finding answers to this. May the family heal.

    No matter what faith a person is – if the person is a creep of the most creepish – put them away – re-instate assylums for the insane.

  • Time for a publicized list

    If there are “known molesters” in our neighborhood, besides for reporting any abuse to the police, TELL THE PUBLIC WHO THEY ARE! Post their names! Please help us protect out children instead of trying to protect a family’s name or reputation!

  • to number 8

    i just checked out that website and im totally creeped out.
    firstly – the details are bad (but at the same time tame compared to what else occurs)

    Who runs that website?
    I would imagine there should be many more names up there!?

    Whilst I think MORE needs to be done about these sickos – Im also a little concerned that if these sites are not controlled properly things can get out of hand. Its very easy for someone to post a story about someone they dont like – want to get revenge on (believe it or not people are so bad) – and it can really ruin lives for no reason.

    Is it just me? Is it just that more coverage is given to this?
    But it just seems like everywhere you turn theres another story. But i guess thats cuz its getting so much more well needed coverage with the online lectures, warnings etc.

    oy – we need moshiach!

  • MGHT HAVE BEEN PREVENTED

    The sicko that did this is too weird not to be noticed somebody had an idea he was capable of this. Parents, friends, neighbors S
    SOMEONE KNEW HIM AND SHOULD HAVE SAID SOMETHING!!

    If you see something say something should be expanded to cover sick crazies like this murderer.

  • Speak to your kids about personal safety

    BDE

    Rabbi Horowitz video – Speaking To Your Kids About Personal Safety
    http://vimeo.com/25322132

    Don’t let this child have died in vain! Take measures NOW to prevent this from happening to another child!

  • elisha

    what did this mans local community know about him what what couldve been swept under a rug?

    THIS IS THE QUINTESSENTIAL QUESTION

  • Get the garbage out!

    The problem is that thanks to the leftist view of “civil rights” that rules American society, you cannot have someone put away because they “act strange.”

    This rasha vera loi held down a job, knew to pay a dentist’s bill etc. He would never have been sent to a treatment facility based on complaints that he acted strange.

    His entire rap sheet consists of something that many a normal person has done. The most polite way to refer to this offense is “releasing a highly concentrated urea solution of bodily origin onto the ground in public.”

    However, we do have to clean up 770 and get rid of some of the strange characters there – I think we do still have the right to ban people from private property. Some are violent and others are using substances that could make them violent. Same goes for the phony schnorrers. Any one of these creeps could be a Levi Aron.

  • to #21

    there is a cleaners on the corner of Empire and Kingston
    its one store in from the corner . I think spot cleaners.

  • b safe

    to # 21. The cleaners still is on kingston cor. empire.

    you live in CH?

  • Andrea Schonberger

    BDE. Heartfelt sympathy to the Kletzky family especially to his mommie and tate who must be going through terrible sufferings right now. To have such an innocent life taken away by a brutal murderer is tragic.

  • So tragic

    BDE. Absolutely tragic and our heartfelt condolences to Leiby’s family. We pray that hashem gives them the strength to get through this horrendous time.