Police believe baby Zara found; was abducted and murdered by father (Sayreville, New Jersey)

We posted on dad SHAMSID-DIN ABDUR-RAHEEM back in February. While Mom was in court trying to get an Order of Protection, Dad went to the grandmother's house, assaulted the grandmother, and abducted the baby. He then "allegedly" tossed the baby from the Golden Gate Parkway Bridge into the Raritan River.

Well, there doesn't seem to be much "alleged" about that last part any more. Seems the baby's body has now been found along the riverbank near Sayreville.

Hat tip to Annie.

http://www.afro.com/sections/news/afro_briefs/story.htm?storyid=1032

Originally published April 25, 2010
Police Believe Baby Zara Found
DNA testing needed for positive identification
by AFRO Staff

The body of an infant was found on April 24 by people walking at the Raritan River bank in Sayreville, N.J., according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Pennsylvania State Police believe it to be the body of Zara Malani-Lin Abdur-Raheem, missing since she was abducted by her father, Shamsid-Din Abdur-Raheem on Feb. 16.

According to the article, DNA tests will be needed to positively identify the child, but the clothing recovered was consistent with the descriptions given at the time of abduction.
Abdur-Raheem was arrested on the night of the abduction and is in custody, awaiting trial on attempted murder and other charges related to the incident.

Zara, 3 months old at the time of the abduction, was at home with her maternal grandmother while her mother, Venetta Benjamin, was at court filing for an order of protection against Abdur-Raheem. Abdur-Raheem. According to the Inquirer account, Abdur-Raheem forcibly removed the baby, allegedly striking and choking the grandmother and then hit her with a vehicle as he fled the scene. Before arriving at his father's home, it is alleged that Abdur-Raheem tossed the baby from a Garden State Parkway bridge.

Abdur-Raheem, a student at Richard Stockton College in New Jersey, was arrested in his father's home, after his dad contacted the police. According to the Inquirer Abdur-Raheem told his father what he'd done, which prompted his father to turn him in.

In February, an extended search was done along the parkway and in the Raritan River in hopes of finding the baby, but it was unsuccessful.