Post by Atticus Pizzaballa on Oct 24, 2024 9:42:38 GMT -5
So what really happened
by Mary KielarWed, October 23rd 2024 at 4:45 PM
Updated Wed, October 23rd 2024 at 11:51 PM
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — CNY Central is pulling back the curtain after deciding not to run a story earlier this week, despite interviewing the person involved and gathering video for it.
Our team was notified about a stolen Ford F-150 truck in the parking garage of the Marriott Courtyard on Fayette Street in Downtown Syracuse. Thomas Rice, the owner of the truck, said he was on his way back from Connecticut and stopped in Syracuse to celebrate his nephew's wedding over the weekend, and would eventually be returning home to North Carolina. On Sunday Morning, he went to the hotel parking garage and found an empty parking spot. His truck was not there. "Initially it was disbelief," Rice told CNY Central.
Inside the truck, Rice said, were his father's ashes, as well as other personal items he took from his home. He said his dad passed away at 92 years old on October 9. CNY Central learned Rice was planning to have a remembrance ceremony for his dad along with the rest of his family in November in North Carolina, and that he'd be buried alongside his mother in a columbarium. "He loved his family, he had five great-grandchildren," said Rice.
The manager of the hotel confirmed to the I-Team that the cameras in the parking garage were down and they were working on getting them fixed. That meant there was no footage of whoever stole the truck.
When CNY Central finished interviewing RIce, the next step in the process meant calling Syracuse Police to check on the status of the investigation and if Rice filed a police report. A spokesperson told the I-Team that Rice disclosed to officers that he had two guns in the truck as well.The spokesperson said that information was "off record" given the immediate concern for officer and public safety.
When the I-Team asked him about weapons in his truck, Rice said there were two guns he had taken that belonged to his dad. He said he'd cleaned out his dad's house and planned to take that along with his other belongings back home to North Carolina.
The request police made of the CNY Central News team was not unusual; we could report what we chose to but the department asked we do not include information about the missing guns claim so that detectives could have every opportunity to recover the firearms before they landed in the wrong hands.The CNY Central News team decided it was not ethical to only report a story about a man's stolen truck and his father's missing ashes if we could not yet disclose the potential threat to public safety that stolen or missing guns may present.
While CNY Central did not publish the story on any platforms, two other local media outlets reported the story with no mention of the guns being in the truck:
UPDATE: Truck stolen in Syracuse found with the ashes inside
Stolen pickup, and father’s ashes, are recovered in Syracuse
On Tuesday night, Syracuse Police officers located the stolen Ford F-150 truck.The ashes that Rice sought to recover were still in the vehicle.The handguns that he told police and CNY Central about, were not.
That same Syracuse Police Department spokesman tells CNY Central that investigators are now looking through any physical and video evidence they can locate to determine if in fact the two guns were in that vehicle from the start; in short, seeking to validate Rice's claim.Without serial numbers, photos, registrations, or other tangible evidence of those guns, local police are hard-pressed to enter the weapons into a state or federal database for stolen or missing firearms.Police had already confirmed that Rice's father did not have any firearms registered to his name in New York or neighboring states.
Given this new information, CNY Central is making the editorial decision to disclose everything we've learned about this story since Rice first contacted our newsroom and other local news teams in Syracuse.What was "off the record" on Monday is now considered "on the record" in the view of this news team because there may or may not be stolen firearms in the hands of criminals in this community.In coming to this conclusion, we note that the immediate concern expressed by SPD for officer and public safety remains but there is no longer a benefit to giving police a 'head start' in trying to locate those firearms.In fact, while the department's spokesperson admits the investigation remains open it's also true that absent additional physical evidence to work with, officers don't even know specifically what firearms they are looking for.Lastly, while Rice has appeared to be truthful and transparent to the point of admitting to police and our news team that he may have committed a felony crime by bringing these guns into the State of New York, there remains the possibility that something he has not yet shared changes this story once again.
At this time, the community should know that Rice's truck is recovered, he has his father's ashes back, and it's also possible that two missing handguns have fallen into the hands of a criminal.
cnycentral.com/news/local/a-missing-truck-a-loved-ones-ashes-and-two-missing-guns-what-really-happened-firearms-stolen-investigation#
How did they get out of the garage!!!
A missing truck, a loved one's ashes and two missing guns: what really happened
by Mary KielarWed, October 23rd 2024 at 4:45 PM
Updated Wed, October 23rd 2024 at 11:51 PM
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — CNY Central is pulling back the curtain after deciding not to run a story earlier this week, despite interviewing the person involved and gathering video for it.
Our team was notified about a stolen Ford F-150 truck in the parking garage of the Marriott Courtyard on Fayette Street in Downtown Syracuse. Thomas Rice, the owner of the truck, said he was on his way back from Connecticut and stopped in Syracuse to celebrate his nephew's wedding over the weekend, and would eventually be returning home to North Carolina. On Sunday Morning, he went to the hotel parking garage and found an empty parking spot. His truck was not there. "Initially it was disbelief," Rice told CNY Central.
Inside the truck, Rice said, were his father's ashes, as well as other personal items he took from his home. He said his dad passed away at 92 years old on October 9. CNY Central learned Rice was planning to have a remembrance ceremony for his dad along with the rest of his family in November in North Carolina, and that he'd be buried alongside his mother in a columbarium. "He loved his family, he had five great-grandchildren," said Rice.
The manager of the hotel confirmed to the I-Team that the cameras in the parking garage were down and they were working on getting them fixed. That meant there was no footage of whoever stole the truck.
When CNY Central finished interviewing RIce, the next step in the process meant calling Syracuse Police to check on the status of the investigation and if Rice filed a police report. A spokesperson told the I-Team that Rice disclosed to officers that he had two guns in the truck as well.The spokesperson said that information was "off record" given the immediate concern for officer and public safety.
When the I-Team asked him about weapons in his truck, Rice said there were two guns he had taken that belonged to his dad. He said he'd cleaned out his dad's house and planned to take that along with his other belongings back home to North Carolina.
The request police made of the CNY Central News team was not unusual; we could report what we chose to but the department asked we do not include information about the missing guns claim so that detectives could have every opportunity to recover the firearms before they landed in the wrong hands.The CNY Central News team decided it was not ethical to only report a story about a man's stolen truck and his father's missing ashes if we could not yet disclose the potential threat to public safety that stolen or missing guns may present.
While CNY Central did not publish the story on any platforms, two other local media outlets reported the story with no mention of the guns being in the truck:
UPDATE: Truck stolen in Syracuse found with the ashes inside
Stolen pickup, and father’s ashes, are recovered in Syracuse
On Tuesday night, Syracuse Police officers located the stolen Ford F-150 truck.The ashes that Rice sought to recover were still in the vehicle.The handguns that he told police and CNY Central about, were not.
That same Syracuse Police Department spokesman tells CNY Central that investigators are now looking through any physical and video evidence they can locate to determine if in fact the two guns were in that vehicle from the start; in short, seeking to validate Rice's claim.Without serial numbers, photos, registrations, or other tangible evidence of those guns, local police are hard-pressed to enter the weapons into a state or federal database for stolen or missing firearms.Police had already confirmed that Rice's father did not have any firearms registered to his name in New York or neighboring states.
Given this new information, CNY Central is making the editorial decision to disclose everything we've learned about this story since Rice first contacted our newsroom and other local news teams in Syracuse.What was "off the record" on Monday is now considered "on the record" in the view of this news team because there may or may not be stolen firearms in the hands of criminals in this community.In coming to this conclusion, we note that the immediate concern expressed by SPD for officer and public safety remains but there is no longer a benefit to giving police a 'head start' in trying to locate those firearms.In fact, while the department's spokesperson admits the investigation remains open it's also true that absent additional physical evidence to work with, officers don't even know specifically what firearms they are looking for.Lastly, while Rice has appeared to be truthful and transparent to the point of admitting to police and our news team that he may have committed a felony crime by bringing these guns into the State of New York, there remains the possibility that something he has not yet shared changes this story once again.
At this time, the community should know that Rice's truck is recovered, he has his father's ashes back, and it's also possible that two missing handguns have fallen into the hands of a criminal.
cnycentral.com/news/local/a-missing-truck-a-loved-ones-ashes-and-two-missing-guns-what-really-happened-firearms-stolen-investigation#
How did they get out of the garage!!!