Detectives got the call. Their murder suspect had been picked up in New Jersey.
The age, date of birth, and other records all matched up. Then detectives saw the man's picture. Police in New Jersey had arrested a man named Henry Rivera. But it wasn't Worcester police's guy.
That was more than 10 years ago.
Investigators believe that Mr. Rivera, who is wanted for his involvement in the 1996 killing of William Brooks in a backyard fight on May Street, is only Henry Rivera on paper.
Now detectives and members of the Unresolved Homicide Unit are trying to solve two questions: Who is the man they know as Henry Rivera, and where is he?
"The Henry Rivera that we have, we have no idea who he really is," said Detective Daniel F. Sullivan of the Unresolved Homicide Unit. "He had a Massachusetts license when he was here as Henry Rivera, documentation from immigration that said he was Henry Rivera - all forged, all bogus information. When he came here - for all intents and purposes - he was Henry Rivera."
The man has a murder charge waiting for him in Worcester. He is one of five murder suspects with charges filed here who have been on the run for years. Police believe their man might still be around the area. They learned he was once seen in the city in 2005.
Police believe he might use an alias of Alex Rivera. Two men with whom he allegedly committed the 1996 murder knew him as Henry Santana.
On Dec. 15, 1996, Mr. Brooks and the manager of the apartment building at 8 May St. were putting together a dog pen when they saw "Henry Rivera" and one of his cohorts. The manager told them drug dealing would not be tolerated at the building, and they had to move out, according to police reports on file in Central District Court.
Mr. Rivera and two other men returned later and started a fight with Mr. Brooks and the manager. One man shot Mr. Brooks. The manager and his dog were also shot, reports said.
The manager was shot in the head and played dead. He survived. Mr. Rivera squeezed off a shot at Mr. Brooks. He then hopped over a fence and disappeared.
Two of the men involved in the killing were arrested and sentenced to prison. Further strengthening Worcester Police's belief the man wanted here stole someone's identity, detectives learned the two men with Mr. Rivera - who were arrested and charged in the deadly fight - also had fake identities. Between the two convicted killers, they had seven fake names. It took fingerprints to figure out who they really were.
Both men were eventually deported, the detectives said.
But police could not find Mr. Rivera until they received a call from New Jersey law enforcement.
Detectives Sullivan and William T. Donovan reviewed the case, and learned a man named Henry Rivera was arrested Sept. 9, 1999, and then again in February 2000, on the fugitive from justice charge for the Worcester killing. That man was twice arrested in the Camden, N.J., area, but it wasn't the person wanted here.
"He even said (to New Jersey police) in one of the interviews, `I'm not the guy you are looking for,'" Detective Sullivan said.
On Sept. 4, 2000, the New Jersey Henry Rivera drowned during a family picnic in Pittsgrove Township, N.J.
Detectives Sullivan and Donovan had law enforcement in New Jersey interview his family, all in an attempt to figure out how their Mr. Rivera ended up with the identity of the Henry Rivera in New Jersey.
The documentation was spot on, Detective Donovan said. Immigration paperwork from the Dominican Republic, a social security number and a Massachusetts driver's license were all good enough to assume the identity of New Jersey's Henry Rivera, he said.
"The Henry Rivera that we are looking for is really their (New Jersey's) Henry Rivera," Detective Sullivan said.
It was obvious from the booking photograph taken by the Camden County Sheriff's Office the two men were different. Tattoos, height and weight were different, and they didn't even look alike. "It was clear it was not the same person," Detective Sullivan said.
Police speculate that Mr. Rivera somehow ended up in Camden, N.J., where he stole or borrowed the other man's identity.
Detectives are still looking for relatives of the New Jersey Henry Rivera, hoping they might know the man wanted here, and if the two men ever knew each other. They have a lead in Brooklyn, and continue to work with law enforcement in New Jersey.
The man who would know if he ever met up with a future murder suspect will never be able to talk to the detectives here, however.
"Unfortunately, those secrets died with him when he drowned," Detective Sullivan said.
Anyone with information on this case may send an anonymous text to 274637 beginning with TIPWPD, or submit an anonymous message online via www.worcesterma.gov/police, or call the Worcester Police Detective Bureau at (508) 799-8651.
NOTE: 1996 INCIDENT
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