Mother whose two boys were swept out of her arms in superstorm was left screaming on street for 12 hours by neighbors who refused to help her

  • Police find bodies of Glenda Moore's sons Connor, 4, and Brandon, 2
  • Mrs Moore battled to hold on to the boys but they were sucked away
  • She knocked on door but was told: 'I don't know you. I'm not going to help'
  • Another neighbor refused to answer and she spent night crying on street

By Daniel Bates, Michael Zennie and Rachel Quigley

PUBLISHED: 10:07 EST, 1 November 2012 | UPDATED: 18:50 EST, 1 November 2012

Police searching for two young brothers who were ripped from their mother's arms during Superstorm Sandy have found their bodies.

The remains of Brandon, two, and Connor Moore, four, were discovered only yards from where they went missing in Staten Island, New York.

The boys' mother Glenda Moore, 39, is said to have spent 12 hours screaming in the street after they were swept away, but residents would not help her look for them.

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Tragedy: Glenda Moore (centre) with her husband Damien on their wedding day in 2009

Tragedy: Glenda Moore (centre) with her husband Damien on their wedding day in 2009

The boys were sucked away by floodwater after Mrs Moore's car stalled and became stuck just before 6pm on Monday near the 400-block of Fr. Capodanno Boulevard in South Beach.

Mrs Moore, a nurse, tried to hold on to them but was overpowered by the force of the storm.

 

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Police found the young brothers about 30 yards off the corner of McLaughlin Street and Father Capodanno Boulevard.

'Terrible, absolutely terrible,' police commissioner Ray Kelly said. 'It just compounds all the tragic aspects of this horrific event.'

Police officers wearing wet suits leave a site where the body of a two-year-old child killed during Superstorm Sandy was discovered in Staten Island

Police officers wearing wet suits leave a site where the body of a two-year-old child killed during Superstorm Sandy was discovered in Staten Island

The site: Offices walk through the long grass to the site where the young body was found in Staten Island

The site: Offices walk through the long grass to the site where the young body was found in Staten Island

The boys were reported missing in the aftermath of Sandy, which hit the borough hard with flooding

The boys were reported missing in the aftermath of Sandy, which hit the borough hard with flooding

The boys were about 20 yards apart from each other, under water, buried by trees and debris, law enforcement sources told the New York Post.

After the storm cleared on Tuesday morning, officers, dogs and other searchers - armed with shovels, sticks and pitchforks - had been scouring those marshlands off Father Capodanno.

A team of scuba divers were also there to search the marshy area.

At 10:15am today, police in wetsuits found Brandon waist-deep in water. His brother was found close by shortly after.

After the boys disappeared, Mrs Moore knocked on a nearby door for help but was told: 'I don't know you. I'm not going to help you.'

Mrs Moore then tried another neighbor near her Staten Island home, but when she rang the bell they turned off the lights and refused to answer.

About 20 police officers from the NYPD Scuba Unit fanned out across a Staten Island marsh on Father Capodanno Boulevard in search of the boys

About 20 police officers from the NYPD Scuba Unit fanned out across a Staten Island marsh on Father Capodanno Boulevard in search of the boys

As the storm raged around her, the nurse took shelter in a doorstep, screaming and staring at the waters which had just snatched away her children.

Twelve hours later, at dawn when the weather calmed down, she found the strength to walk down the street and flag down a passing police car to raise the alarm.

Her cousin Nancy Jean, 41, fought back tears as she described the ordeal.

'I can’t believe the way she was treated by the people she went to for help,' she said.

'The first person she knocked on, she begged them and said: "Please call 911".

'They told her: "I don't know you" and closed the door. She tried another door but they turned the lights off.

‘I can’t imagine what she was thinking then. She sat down for 12 hours and was just screaming. She was out of it. When it got to morning she went and found a police car and told him what happened.’

A friend of the mother who lost two young sons to Superstorm Sandy today urged the public to 'keep them in your prayers, they're going to need it'.

The woman said Glenda Moore is 'in pain, she's hurting' after the death of Connor, four, and Brandon, two when their car was hit by a giant wave.

The woman, who was dressed in black, was speaking outside the home of Mrs Moore's mother Maria in the Kensington neighbourhood of Brooklyn, New York.

Aged in her 50s, she said: 'Keep them in your prayers, they are going to need it. It's a shock for everybody right now.

'I'm so emotional. I have children almost the same age. She [Glenda] is in pain. She's hurting.'

The mother told police that as the water started to rise, her car stalled and she got out of the car clutching the two-year-old son in her arms and her four-year-old son by the hand before they were washed away

The mother told police that as the water started to rise, her car stalled and she got out of the car clutching the two-year-old son in her arms and her four-year-old son by the hand before they were washed away

Asked about the boys, the friend said: 'They were joyful, they were very happy. They were very good kids'.

When MailOnline knocked on the door a female relative with a Jamaican accent opened a first floor window and said: 'We're not saying anything'.

Other relatives could be seen entering the semi detached $200,000 home and breaking down in tears as they were given hugs.

Mrs Moore’s aunt, who declined to give her name, also told the New York Daily News: ‘They answered the door and said, "I don't know you. I'm not going to help you".

‘My sister's like 5ft 3in, 130 pounds. She looks like a little girl. She's going to come to you and you're going to slam the door in her face and say, "I don't know you, I can't help you"?'

The aunt also said Mrs Moore told her she was knocked into the freezing waters herself by the power of the storm.

‘She was holding on to them, and the waves just kept coming and crashing and they were under.

‘It went over their heads… She had them in her arms, and a wave came and swept them out of her arms.

‘She [Mrs Moore] said she got shoved, and then the wave just took the car and flipped it over. She was knocked down.’

The aftermath of Sandy in Southshore, Staten Island. The area was severely damaged by strong winds and flood coming from the ocean

The aftermath of Sandy in Southshore, Staten Island. The area was severely damaged by strong winds and flood coming from the ocean

Battered yachts in Southshore, Staten Island. Authorities have found the bodies of both boys

Battered yachts in Southshore, Staten Island. Authorities have found the bodies of both boys

Tragedy struck on Monday as Mrs Moore was trying to flee her home to get to Brooklyn where her mother Maria Lemaire, 64, lives.

As her Ford Explorer stalled on the Father Capodanno Boulevard in South Beach, she got out of the vehicle and freed both boys from their seat belts.

She was holding on to them, and the waves just kept coming and crashing and they were under. It went over their heads… She had them in her arms, and a wave came and swept them out of her arms. Then the wave just took the car and flipped it over. She was knocked down.
 

She grabbed them and put one under each arm - but lost her grip as a huge wave pounded over their heads.

Mrs Moore is married to Damien, 39, who works at the New York Sanitation Department. They have no other children and are ‘devastated’ at the loss of their sons.

Miss Jean said: ‘They were beautiful boys. They were regular kids, they were just two and four years of age. They were always well behaved.

‘I saw them on Monday morning because I watch them when their mother goes to work.

‘They were really happy and I know Glenda had bought them some Halloween costumes and was going to take them out on Halloween.’

The aunt added: ‘They're the most beautiful children ever. One's a redhead, the other a dirty blonde.'

Reached at her home in Brooklyn, New York, Glenda’s sister Sophia, 42, said: ‘I’m sorry, I have no comment’.

Ms Moore told police her car stalled and she became stranded in the marsh when the left her home in search of higher ground as the storm worsened.

Officers from the NYPD Scuba Unit fanned out across the Staten Island marsh on the Boulevard in search of the boys.

'Cops were in there hip deep trying to get them,' a witness said.

VIDEO: Watch the police search for the two missing boys

 

Comments (349)

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Absolutely disgusting. Yes, if it was a white woman, I guarantee you she would of got some help. Some Americans are still living in the dark ages. Shame on you.

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The man she claims wouldn't help her was interviewed and he said a man came to his door not a woman and that man threw a planter through his window and was acting like a crazy person,I doubt many people here would open their doors to that.. either

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The mother made some very bad choices that night, which ultimately ended in tragedy. But not to help someone during the storm speaks to the complete lack of humanity some people have.

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I believe that the people who refused to call 911 should be held responsible just like you would if you were a hit and run driver.

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This is tragic. I just saw the man who refused to help on CNN... A selfish idiot with no feelings.

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Those people she reached out to should be ashamed of themselves. How awful that they could of helped her and her children and choosed not to.... My heart goes out to her and her family. I will pray for them.

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Where was the father all this time? You'd think they should have moved somewhere safer long before the stom hit. So sad.

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She should have evacuated her small children in advance of the storm. Having been caught by the storm she shouldn't have tried to drive in it. Having tried to drive in the storm, she should have avoided a route that took her through water. Having been warned to evacuate, decided to drive with her boys, in a savage storm, and been caught in a broken down car in an area inundated with strongly flowing water, she shouldn't have opened the doors of the car. If she decided that she had no choice, she should have taken the boys one by one to higher ground. My sympathies are with her and her husband and their families, but that doesn't change the facts.

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What kind of people are those neighbors to do nothing when another person needs help!?! I hope something like this never happens to her neighbors. God Bless those two young lads and thier parents/extended family. "Bad things happen when good men and women stand idle".

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How tragic. Does anyone know why they were out in the storm? It is doubly tragic if it could have been prevented.

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