NEW YORK — A tragic and bizarre story has police in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey working together to piece together what happened and find a man who is proving very difficult to track.
A 5-year-old girl was found abandoned inside the Port Authority bus terminal in Manhattan Monday. Port Authority police found the girl on the second floor concourse just after 10 a.m. Monday. Surveillance video shows she was dropped off there around 8:30 a.m., and police say the girl said her dad dropped her off.
"He told her to wait there, that he would be back and of course he did not come back," said Stanford Police Capt. Richard Conklin.
She led police to her home in Stamford, Connecticut, where her mother was found murdered.
"Even though she's only 5-years-old, and speaks only Spanish, she was able to give them this address that she's lived at for one day," said Conklin.
Now, the hunt is on for the girl's dad, 32-year-old Elmer Gomez Ruono.
Capt. Conklin said that on Sunday night Ruono and the woman held a small gathering at their Stamford home celebrating their reconciliation. She had just moved from New Jersey with her daughter to be with him and put their family back together. Those in attendance told police nothing seemed odd or not right that evening and they are shocked by what happened the following day.
The cause of the death is unclear, but Conklin says the apartment showed signs of a struggle. Police expect autopsy results to come back later Tuesday.
Police describe Ruono as 5-foot-8 and about 140 pounds, with long black hair, a medium build and a medium complexion.
Police want desperately to be able to interview the 5-year-old, but since they can't get parental consent, police are petitioning to make her a ward of the state of Connecticut. That hasn't happened yet since it's unclear which state she should be a ward of: Connecticut, where she had just moved; New Jersey, where she previously lived; or New York, where she was found."
If she becomes a ward of Connecticut, the state can grant police a forensic interview with her.
Anyone with information is asked to either call Stamford police at (203) 589-3546, or the NYPD Crime Stoppers tip line at (800) 577-TIPS.
