Murdered Mother, Missing Infant
The tragic case of Monique Rivera & Andre Bryant
Monique Rivera, a 22-year-old mother of three sons, decided to take her children for a walk on Tuesday, March 28, 1989. The older boys — 7-year-old Tim and 4-year-old Thomas — happily skipped along the sidewalk near their home in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Monique carried her youngest son, Andre, who was just six weeks old. As they were walking around the neighborhood, two women driving by seemed to recognize Monique. After pulling the car over on the side of the road, the two women got out and approached Monique and her sons.
Monique recognized one of the women as someone she had gone to middle school with, and they were soon deep in conversation. The women said they were on their way to McDonald’s for lunch and invited Monique and her children to go with them. Monique happily accepted the offer, and she and her sons settled into the backseat of the car for the short ride to McDonald’s. The women seemed very interested in baby Andre; at the restaurant, they each took turns holding him and cooing over him.
After they finished lunch, the women asked Monique if she wanted to go to some clothing stores with them. They had apparently stolen some credit cards and planned to go on a shopping spree. Although Monique initially declined, the…