Calif. body found could be missing man from county
Jeff Kennedy is waiting for the awful truth.
But he's afraid he already knows the answer to whose remains were found Thursday buried on the property of a home in Long Beach, Calif.
“It's my son,” the Butler Township man said. “I'm resigned to that. It's him. I just need the positive identification.”
Investigators including the Long Beach Police Department and the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office are examining the remains and an identification is pending.
Police acknowledged they could belong to 32-year-old Zachary Kennedy, a graduate of Butler High School, who was reported missing Oct. 27.
The remains of a human body, detectives said, were uncovered after police went to the property with a search warrant as part of an ongoing investigation.
They are keeping tight-lipped about the investigation.
Zachary's father fears foul play was involved and suspects his son's lifestyle may have contributed to his death.
'You'd just like him'
Kennedy, 55, who works at the U.S. Postal Service Bulk Mail Center in Warrendale, admitted his son battled a drug problem and had an “open relationship” with a gay partner.
But the love for his son never wavered and he remembers a soft-spoken child with a persuasive manner and an abundance of charm who never lacked for friends.
“He was the type of kid who you'd meet and you'd just like him,” Kennedy said. “He had no enemies.”
While police and forensic investigators work on the other side of the country, family and friends try to focus on their good memories of Zachary.
“He was a free spirit,” said Patty Geddes of Butler Township, a friend of 12 years.
“He was a really sweet, adorable kid,” said his aunt, Sue O'Donnell of Slippery Rock. “He wouldn't hurt a flea. He had a heart of gold.”
“Zach was a good talker,” his dad said. “He would schmooze you and you'd just learn to like him.”
He was 3 years old when his father and mother, Kennedy's ex-wife, Kathleen Minto Iarrapino of Center Township, divorced. He and his younger sister, by two years, lived with their mother, who moved to Saxonburg.
Zachary attended Knoch High School until he turned 16, and opted to live with his father in the Butler area.
While attending Butler High School, he was a member of the swimming and diving team. He was an OK student, his dad said.
“If he applied himself, he would have been a good student,” Kennedy said. “But he didn't, and he was a 'C' student.”
But he showed ambition in other ways. During high school, he worked part-time for a couple years at the Regal Cinema at Moraine Pointe Plaza in Butler Township.
“He loved movies,” O'Donnell said of her nephew. “He was a movie freak.”
Around that time, Kennedy also learned what he always suspected: Zachary was gay.
“I told him I'd always love him,” his father recalled, “no matter what he chose.”
'He went right into heroin'
Toward the tail end of Zachary's high school time, Kennedy discovered his son was doing drugs.
“He went right into heroin,” Kennedy said. “I sent him into rehab twice.”Zachary for a time appeared to have “kicked it” and was clean. The habit, however, would resurface.After high school graduation, Zachary attended Slippery Rock University, briefly.“He may have finished one semester,” Kennedy said. “I don't remember what he majored in.”He apparently had no career plan, or at least he never shared how he wanted to make a living.For a year or two, around 2005 and 2006, Zachary worked as a server at the Ginger Hill Tavern restaurant and bar in Slippery Rock, which O'Donnell owns.About 10 years ago, he followed a female friend out to California, against his family's advice and wishes.“He left with $13 in his pocket,” his father said.Unbeknownst to Kennedy, it would be the last time he would see his son.“I think he just wanted a change in his life,” O'Donnell said of her nephew's decision to move. “I think like a lot of these kids, he just wanted to see the world.”'It's a totally different lifestyle out there'Once he landed in California, he stayed with his female friend until her boyfriend forced him out of the home.After that, Kennedy assumed his son, for a while, was living on the street.At some point, he got involved in a relationship with an older man, with whom he lived up until he turned up missing.The two men were together for about seven years in what Kennedy described as an “open relationship.”Kennedy said he never met his son's partner but they were in contact via Facebook and sometimes telephone.He spoke to Zachary by phone once or twice a month but they texted one another frequently.Kennedy has a theory why his son never returned home to see him after taking to the West Coast.“I think he was kind of ashamed because of his lifestyle,” his father said. “I think he was doing drugs there. I think he was embarrassed to come back.”Zachary seemed happy in California, Kennedy said, but his son also had health problems: he had hepatitis and he was HIV-positive.Geddes, who had kept in touch with Zachary on Facebook and by text, saw him in September when she flew to California to visit other friends. The two met for dinner.“It had been a long time since I had seen him,” she said. “He was quiet.”He told Geddes that he had been working odd jobs but he never mentioned anything specific. That didn't necessarily strike her as unusual.“It's a totally different lifestyle out there,” she said, referring to California.She didn't sense any trouble with her friend.“He seemed OK with his personal situation and where he was at,” she said. “It was a nice dinner.”'I'm waiting for that last word'Only a few weeks after that happy reunion, Zachary would turn up missing.His father would eventually become engrossed in the world of people seeking their missing loved ones.He networked with advocates of the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System and other similar groups.He and Zachary's mother about six weeks ago went to the state police barracks in Butler Township to give DNA samples, which were forwarded to a national database for provisional identification purposes.Additionally, he turned over Zachary's dental records to authorities in the event his son's remains were found.Kennedy also made himself available to media outlets to get his story out. In January, he was featured on NBC's “Dateline” newsmagazine.He would grow particularly reliant on the primary detective working the case of his missing son.“We were in constant communication, everyday,” he said. “By phone or email, even on weekends.”The detective shared whatever investigatory developments he could. On Thursday, he notified Kennedy that police were serving search warrants, which were issued after investigators spoke to an informant.One warrant was for a home on West Eighth Street in Long Beach where Zachary was reportedly last seen alive.An excavation began there Thursday morning. Soon after they started digging, authorities said, investigators turned up what they believed were human remains.“Markings” including tattoos suggest the remains are of Zachary.“It was a little weight off my shoulders,” Kennedy said in describing how he felt after hearing the news. “It kind of relieved me. But then I broke down for a second.“Now I'm numb. I'm waiting for that last word (the official identification), but it's him.”The coroner's office conducted an autopsy and an identification is pending. Kennedy does not expect official confirmation until Monday or Tuesday.Investigators have not divulged any clues about how Zachary died. Kennedy said he's anxious to find out.He's also anxious to have his son's remains returned here for burial.“But,” he said, “it's not the way I wanted to bring him home.”
