Wyatt Smitsky, 4 - child went missing Friday, September 4, 2009; body found the following day in a septic tank, and the cause of death was determined to be homicide
Green Township, PA
Beaver Co. Boy's Cause Of Death Determined
KDKA TV - 10/06/09
The cause of death has been determined in case of a 4-year-old Beaver County boy, who was found dead in a septic tank last month. According to Beaver County Coroner Terry Totalovich, the cause of death was asphyxia due to drowning.
Giuseppe Rosselli, the family's attorney, says the results come as no surprise to the family. "We didn't expect there to be any blunt force trauma," he said. "We've stated from the beginning that the most likely scenario is that the child fell in and was unable to get himself out."
The manner of death could not be determined because the sequence of Smitsky's death is still unknown. Previously, the Beaver County District Attorney said Smitsky could have moved the lid of the septic tank himself.
{complete case coverage below}
D.A. says boy could have moved septic tank lid
Beaver County Times - 09/15/09
A state police officer released incorrect information about the death of a 4-year-old Greene Township boy when he described the lid of a septic tank where the boy’s body was found as a manhole cover too heavy for the boy to move, the Beaver County district attorney said Monday.
The lid was in fact a 14-pound sheet of corrugated metal, light enough for 4-year-old Wyatt Smitsky to move unassisted, District Attorney Anthony Berosh said.
“I believe a 4-year-old could have moved it,” he said.
He said state police Lt. Thomas Dubovi, who addressed media after Smitsky’s body was discovered, erred in describing the septic tank lid as a manhole cover.
Berosh said the lid was a 3- by 4-foot sheet of tin or light metal covering a 23-inch opening to a 1,000-gallon septic tank. The metal was bowed, he said, but he was unsure how it became bent.
“In other words, it’s not anywhere close to being a manhole cover,” Berosh said. “We’re trying to determine whether the lid was on or off and when it was on and when it was off.”
Wyatt Smitsky, who measured 11 inches shoulder to shoulder, easily could have fit through the opening.
It was unclear Monday what happened to the tank’s original lid. Septic tanks are typically covered with a heavy concrete or metal lid similar to a manhole cover. The Times has received unconfirmed reports that the tank’s original lid was broken at some point, and the metal sheeting was used as a temporary cover.
The tank servicing the home of Wyatt Smitsky’s parents, Johnny and Terri Smitsky, at 635 Georgetown Lane is in the yard of a neighbor. Searchers drained the full tank and discovered the body at the bottom on Sept. 5, about 18 hours after Wyatt’s family reported him missing.
Family, friends say goodbye to 4-year-old Wyatt Smitsky
Beaver County Times - 09/10/09
Wyatt Smitsky would have grinned or given Barb Reed his ornery smile when she told her 4-year-old neighbor that the Spider-Man flip-flop he’d lost weeks ago was now in her garage.
Terri and Johnny Smitsky Jr. bought their son a new pair, but Wyatt would have been thrilled to know that he had two pairs of Spider-Man flip-flops to wear when he ran around the Greene Township countryside with his sisters, Tallylynn and Paige.
Reed, whom Wyatt called grandma, never got to tell him about that flip-flop in the garage.
On Saturday, his body was discovered in a septic tank near his Georgetown Road home, about 18 hours after a family member reported him missing.
He was last seen Friday afternoon playing with his sisters outside their home. He was wearing a T-shirt, blue denim shorts and his new pair of black-and-red Spider-Man flip-flops. State police continue to investigate the death as a homicide.
Thursday morning, Reed and her husband, John, and many of the several hundred family and friends gathered at Hookstown Free Methodist Church wore green ribbons to honor the little boy.
Wyatt told his parents at the Hookstown Fair two weeks ago that green was his favorite color, Reed said. That came as no surprise. Afterall, Wyatt was a green John Deere kind of kid.
He had his own mini-John Deere pedal tractor. His paternal great-grandparents, Tom and Shirley Smitsky, had real John Deere tractors on their nearby farm, Reed said.
Siblings Removed From Home Of Boy Found Dead In Septic Tank
WTAE TV - 09/08/09
The attorney for the father of a 4-year old boy found dead in a septic tank told Channel 4 Action News a judge has ordered the boy's two siblings to be removed from the family's home.
The attorney said the judge made the ruling on Tuesday, even though the two children, ages 3 and 6, were taken into state custody on Saturday.
Wyatt Smitsky's body was found in a septic tank on Saturday.
The 4-year-old, who had a congenital heart defect requiring medication, disappeared while playing outside his home in the 600 block of Georgetown Road in Greene Township early Friday evening.
After extensive search efforts by hundreds of volunteers and officials, hazardous materials crews discovered Wyatt's body in a neighbor's septic tank.
Video of the septic tank where crews recovered the boy's body shows the tank is blocked off now.
A neighbor told Channel 4 Action News' Ashlie Hardaway the tank was being serviced prior to Wyatt's disappearance.
Channel 4 was there on Saturday when crews brought state police a thin metal sheet that neighbors said was the lid for that septic tank.
Family, Friends Remember Boy Found Dead In Septic Tank
WTAE TV - 09/07/09
Family and friends are mourning the boy found dead after a lengthy search in Beaver County.
Wyatt Smitsky's body was found in a neighbor's septic tank on Saturday.
The 4-year-old, who had a congenital heart defect requiring medication, disappeared while playing outside his home in the 600 block of Georgetown Road in Greene Township early Friday evening.
"Terrible accident. That's what I hope it's what it is. You just, you just don't know," said Kristine Lackovich of Greene Township.
But police have said they believe the child was the victim of a homicide.
An autopsy completed Sunday morning on the boy did not provide a conclusive answer as to how the boy died, and more tests are needed, the coroner said.
"Everyone loves everyone, everyone knows one another in Hookstown. So, it's kind of hard. What are we doing now? It's almost created a divide in a sense. People want answers," said Jeremy Olszewski, a family pastor.
On Sunday, hundreds of people showed up at the Hookstown Free Methodist Church to remember the young boy's life.
Autopsy inconclusive on boy found in septic tank
AP News Hosted by Google - 09/06/09
A western Pennsylvania coroner says more tests are needed to determine the cause of death for a 4-year-old boy whose body was found stuffed in a septic tank.
Berks County Coroner Teri Tatalovich-Rossi tells the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the autopsy on Wyatt Smitsky was performed Sunday. But she says more tests are needed to determine how he died.
State police say homicide charges are expected after the results are complete. Smitsky was reported missing by his family around 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Authorities say the boy's body was found around 12:45 p.m. Saturday after searchers drained a septic tank on property near his home in Greene Township, Beaver County, about 25 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.
Greene Township 4-year-old found dead; homicide ruled
Beaver County Times - 09/04/09
olice questioned relatives of a missing 4-year-old Greene Township boy for hours Saturday after determining that the boy had been murdered and his body dumped in a septic tank near his home.
State police said they have identified a suspect and anticipate filing homicide charges after consulting with the Beaver County district attorney. They would not identify the suspect, however. Lt. Thomas Dubovi said charges would probably be filed at some point after an autopsy is performed on the body of Wyatt Smitsky. The autopsy is scheduled for this morning.
Smitsky, who had a congenital heart disorder and required medication, was the subject of an intense search by up to 500 volunteers and law enforcement officers, including the FBI, Friday after his family reported him missing. He is the son of Terri and John Smitsky of 635 Georgetown Road. The road connects Hookstown and Georgetown.
His body was found in the septic tank around 12:45 p.m. Saturday. Dubovi said the septic tank, located between the Smitsky house and a neighboring home, was covered by a heavy metal lid, similar to a manhole cover. It would have been impossible, he said, for the boy to lift it.
According to state police, Smitsky’s family reported him missing around 7:30 p.m. Friday after he had disappeared about an hour earlier. They told police he had been playing in his yard with two sisters, Tally 6, and Paige, 3. The report touched off a massive search that included local firefighters, residents, state police and the FBI, which routinely investigates crimes against children.
The search continued through the night and ended around 3 a.m. It resumed around 10 a.m. Saturday. Authorities suspected foul play early on. “There was information that wasn’t matching,” Dubovi said. “There was some suspicion that there was something wrong there.”
He said searchers looked in the septic tank because it was a place that had not been checked. Police began questioning relatives, including the boy’s parents, after the body was found. “The whole family has been questioned,” Dubovi said. “We’ve interviewed the mother. We’ve interviewed the father.”
4-year-old missing in Greene Twp.
Beaver County Times - 09/04/09
uthorities were searching Friday night for a missing 4-year-old Greene Township boy who has a heart condition. Wyatt Smitsky wandered away from his home at 635 Georgetown Road about 6:30 p.m., state police said.
He was reported missing to the Beaver County Emergency Services Center at 7:30 p.m. Police were not treating the case as an abduction. Rather, they said it appeared that Wyatt walked away from home and got lost. The boy was last seen playing outside his home. Police said he has a congenital heart defect and requires medication.
Wyatt is 4 feet tall and skinny, with blond hair and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing a brown military-type T-shirt, blue denim shorts, and black and red Spider-Man flip-flops. Police ask that anyone with information call them at (724) 773-7400.
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