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AWFUL: Cops were called to the home of Heather Kowalczik (inset right), where the remains of her toddler were found in the back yard. (
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A Long Island mother apparently lived with a gruesome secret in her own back yard: the buried body of her toddler.
State Police yesterday unearthed the remains of a human infant buried three feet under the yard of Heather Kowalczik, a Farmingdale mother of three, who never reported her youngest son’s disappearance or death.
The mother’s longtime boyfriend, Robert Rodriguez, who’s not the father of the 17-month-old buried child, is a “person of interest” in the case, police said.
“It is absolutely a suspicious death, and it is being investigated as such,” said State Police Maj. Patrick Regan.
Rodriguez has not been arrested, and “he is not cooperating,” Regan said.
Rodriguez’s lawyer said his client was shocked by the allegations.
The grisly find came after police were called to check on the welfare of Kowalczik’s and Rodriguez’s autistic son, Alex, 6. The two are also parents of Robert Jr., 9.
A police interview with Kowalczik revealed the dark family secret: the unreported death of her youngest son, Justin, who was born in 2009.
“I just broke down. I had to tell them what Robert did,” Kowalczik, 29, claimed to The Post.
The revelation prompted Rodriguez, 30, to flee with Robert Jr., cops say.
An Amber alert was issued, but father and son were soon found safe in Old Brookville.
Kowalczik and her family moved to Long Island from upstate Warwick two years ago. People who live near the rented home of Kowalczik, Rodriguez and the children on Hallock Road said they had never seen Justin, who police believe died shortly after the move.
Kowalczik claimed her family in Orange County knew about Justin, but didn’t know he had died.
Kowalczik declined to describe what happened to Justin or confirm who called the police to her home.
She said that the police have moved her to a “safety area” to protect her from Rodriguez.
Rodriguez was abusive and “was pretty much keeping watch of me,” Kowalczik claimed. “He [had] barricaded me in the house, [was] preventing me from making calls,” Kowalczik maintained. “He was pretty much keeping watch of me, he hit me in the head, smacked me in the face if I’d say anything.”
Alex is currently hospitalized, awaiting an operation for a feeding tube. Authorities have taken custody of Robert Jr.
“I’m sure my older son — I’m sure he’s confused. That’s all I know for right now,” Kowalczik said.
Her uncle, Siggy Kowalczik, said, “I know for a fact she would not hurt any of her children.
“She’s a sweet, gorgeous young lady. There’s people in this world that are bad. She isn’t,” he said.
Neighbor Takiera McCormack said Kowalczik told of having lost a child. “She said she had been pregnant and lost the baby in a car accident,” she recalled.
McCormack called the discovery of the corpse “totally [out of] left field.” She said Kowalczik’s family had even hosted a birthday party for Robert Jr. last August, where neighborhood kids were running around the back yard.
“All summer, we played together,” McCormack recounted.
Additional reporting by Rebecca Harshbarger and Kate Kowsh