Arrest for murder of Cathleen McGrath, missing woman from Haddon Township
CAMDEN - A Haddon Township woman who went missing in October was seen on video entering a house in the Whitman Park neighborhood here.
But the camera never showed Cathleen McGrath, 26, leaving the home on the 1200 block of Jackson Street.
Instead, it showed the home's resident, 53-year-old Carlos Acevedo, one night later carrying a large object wrapped in trash bags to a pickup truck, a court record says.
Acevedo is charged with the murder of McGrath, whose body was found on Nov. 15 wrapped in plastic bags and duct tape less than a mile from the suspect's home, according to a probable cause statement.
The statement does not detail a relationship, if any, between McGrath and Acevedo.
However, it says investigators reviewed surveillance cameras near the suspect's Whitman Park home after McGrath was reported missing to Haddon Township police on Nov. 1.
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The video showed McGrath, last seen by her family around 2 p.m. on Oct. 27, entered Acevedo's home about six hours later.
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Surveillance video also tracks Acevedo's pickup truck to the area where McGrath's body was found on the afternoon of Nov. 15, the statement alleges.
Police responding to a 911 call were met by witnesses who had located the woman's remains near an overpass at 8th Street and Atlantic Avenue, the prosecutor's office said.
The body was wrapped in plastic bags and tape.
A search of Acevedo's home at an unspecified time found blood splatter at the top of stairs and in an upstairs bedroom, according to the statement.
"There were also positive reactions for the presence of blood on the bathroom floor and within the bathtub," it adds.
Detectives also saw plastic bags and electrical tape in the home.
The statement says Acevedo declined to talk to detectives.
He was arrested on an initial charge of disturbing human remain on Nov. 28, after detectives went to Acevedo's workplace to check on employment records.
A co-worker said Acevedo that morning had indicated he was going to Mexico for a family emergency, the statement alleges.
Acevedo, who was held in Camden County Jail after his arrest, was charged with McGrath's murder on Dec. 5, according to the county prosecutor's office.
The charges against Acevedo are only allegations. He has not been convicted in the case.
A GoFundMe appeal, which describes McGrath as "a wonderful and wild spirit," has raised more than $6,700 for a reward in the case.
"Cathleen was a kind, caring, and all around amazing friend," posted a donor identified as Alize Massey. "She will truly be missed."
It could not be immediately determined if any reward payment was being made.
Anyone with information is asked to call Prosecutor's Detective Michael Dons at 856-365-3125 and Camden County Police Detective Maria Bagby at 609-519-6947.
Jim Walsh is a senior reporter for the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daly Journal. Email: Jwalsh@cpsj.com.
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Police: Cathleen McGrath seen entering Camden home, but not leaving it
