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Vol. 3 – No. 12 ♦
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November 17, 2018 – November 23, 2018
Inspectors Find Kennel Conditions Inhumane, Charge Owner with Cruelty 161 Dogs Reported Living in Squalor, 44 Others in Freezer By Douglas D. Melegari
Staff Writer
Photo Contributed
Adam Eric Reed.
TODDLER TRAGEDY
Two-Year-Old Drowns in Pond Near Mobile Estates Home By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer
SOUTHAMPTON—A family from Estates Drive in Southampton Township has been left heartbroken after their twoyear-old son, Adam Eric Reed, apparently drowned in a pond off James Avenue last Friday. It is not known exactly when the toddler entered the body of water, located about 200 yards away from where he lived, but New Jersey State Police said they received a 911 call from his mother, Amber Reed, just before 11 a.m. on Nov. 9 reporting the child missing. “W hen Troopers ar r ived, they searched the area and discovered an unresponsive two-year-old in a pond a short distance from a residence,” said Sgt. Lawrence Peele, a New Jersey State Police spokesman. “Troopers retrieved the juvenile from the pond and performed
CPR until EMS arrived,” Peele said. Peele said the child was found “within 15 minutes” of state police arriving at the Reed residence, located in the Mobile Estates section of Southampton. He was transported to Virtua Hospital in Mount Holly where he was pronounced dead. “It is still under investigation how the child got into the pond,” Peele said. Amber Reed tearfully recounted Wednesday in an interview with the Pine Barrens Tribune the moment she realized her son had disappeared from her home. “I was in the other room with his little brother, came out, and didn’t hear any playing noises,” she said. “I saw the front door open and ran outside to search the front yard.” Amber Reed said she called police and her husband, Adam Asher Reed, when she could not locate her son. “She called me at work and told me he
was missing,” the father said. “I rushed home, but by the time I got home, the police were already here and I joined the search for him.” Adam Asher Reed said a neighbor, soon approached him to say his son was found in the pond, and State Troopers were performing CPR on him. “My wife and I went over there and at that point he was already gone,” the boy’s father said between sobs. Amber Reed said she didn’t know what led police to search the pond, or how they were able to find him afterwards. Surveillance video provided by neighbors after the incident gave the family answers as to why their son left home. “Neighbors saw him on security surveillance carrying a little pumpkin down the street and going trick-orSee TODDLER/ Page 13
SHAMONG—A Shamong Township resident who gradually transformed a residence into a kennel with dozens of dogs over the last decade, and whose operation opened a Pandora’s box of controversy about land-use rights earlier this year when reports of abuse came to light, was charged this week with animal cruelty. The charges against Donna Roberts were filed after New Jersey State Police detectives responded to her residence at 539 Oakshade Road to assist the Burlington County Health Department with an inspection. It was in that home that authorities found Roberts had 161 dogs living in “inhumane conditions” and another 44 dead dogs packaged in plastic bags and stored in freezers. The inspection of Rober ts’ proper ty See INHUMANE/ Page 18
Rep. MacArthur Calls Challenger Kim Official Winner of 3rd District Race By Bill Bonvie
Staff Writer
MOUNT HOLLY—More than a week after Election Day, 2018, Democrat Andy Kim, a former Obama administration official who campaigned on a promise to restore civility to politics, was officially named the winner in New Jersey’s neck-and-neck 3rd Congressional District race. Kim’s opponent, two-time Rep. Tom MacArthur, threw in the towel hours after the Associated Press called the race for the Democrat. According to a concession statement issued late Wednesday by MacArthur, “enough provisional ballots have been counted to make the outcome clear,” even though nearly 7,000 See WINNER/ Page 13
INDEX Automotive................... 19 Hobbyist....................... 11 Opinion........................... 8 Business Directory....... 14 Holiday Gift Guide........S1 Worship Directory........... 9 Community Events......... 9 Local News..................... 4 Health........................... 10 Marketplace.................. 16
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