Body of 19-year-old abducted from Atlantic City apartment found in Schuylkill River
April 21, 2011
The story was supposed to have a happy ending: a missing woman’s return home to her loved ones after she was kidnapped in a terrifying home invasion.
Instead,
Officials confirmed Wednesday night that the body found floating in
A
Housel did not say where Ruffin was shot, but police sources have said the wound was to her head.
Ruffin was with her cousin and three other women at the apartment on the 800 block of
When the door opened, four people wearing masks and brandishing guns rushed in. Duct tape was used to tie them up, police said. Cash was taken, and then Ruffin — crying and talking of her son — was forced out at gunpoint.
“”We’re taking her to the Ville,”” one of the men said, believed to be referring to
Ruffin’s family and friends rallied the community, leading prayer vigils and canvassing the neighborhood for information. Everything they were told, they passed on to detectives.
“”They are letting us call them any time of the day or night,”” Ruffin’s aunt
Then, on Tuesday, the detectives got a call that
Investigators with the
Later that night, tests confirmed what they had already known to be true: Ruffin was dead.
It has not yet determined where or when the girl was killed, although sources involved in the investigation said evidence shows she was killed somewhere else and transported.
Strong currents caused by heavy rains that hit
The teen mother had been working hard to make a good life for her and her son, Jhalil, who celebrated a special fourth birthday at the
Everything was for “”Dink,””
During the weeks of searching, family tried to keep Jhalil occupied so he wouldn’t ask about his mother.
“”I just pooh-pooh it, saying, ‘She’ll be back,'”” said Salaam, who shared her
But now, the family knows that won’t happen.
Family, friends and even strangers filled two Facebook pages dedicated to Ruffin with condolences and words of despair.
“”RIP, Nadirah. We will continue to pray for your son and your family,””
“”You are reunited with your pop-pop now,”” wrote
On the Help Bring Nadirah Ruffin Back Home page, there were still words of hope: “”Hopin’ and praying,”” Jazmin Renay wrote.
The
Housel had explained earlier in the day that, if the killing was determined to be in
The