By Travis Andersen, Michael Levenson and John R. Ellement, The Boston Globe
Authorities on Monday identified the three women whose bodies were found last week at the Springfield home of a man currently being held on kidnapping charges.
Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni’s office identified the women as Ernestine Ryans, 47, and America Lyden, 34, both of Springfield, and Kayla Escalante, 27, of Ludlow.
The women’s remains were found at 1333 Page Boulevard in Springfield, where Stewart R. Weldon, 40, had been living until his arrest on May 27. Weldon’s mother owns the home.
Ernestine Ryans’ brother, Anthony Ryans, said his sister moved from Hartford to Springfield earlier this year with her 12-year-old daughter and was reported missing on March 22.
(Authorities on Monday identified the three women whose bodies were found last week at the Springfield home of a man currently being held on kidnapping charges. Courtesy of The Boston Globe and YouTube. Posted on Jun 4, 2018)
He said a few reported sightings of Ernestine in the Hartford area gave some family members hope she was still alive but the family knew in “our heart of hearts” that she was probably gone.
That worry was confirmed on Sunday, when police knocked on the door at the home of Ernestine Ryans’ mother in Connecticut and told her that her daughter’s body had been discovered on Weldon’s property, a street or two away from where Ryans had been living.
Ernestine Ryans struggled with drug addiction, and Anthony Ryans said he fears Weldon was preying on vulnerable women.
Ernestine Ryans also had a 25-year-old daughter who lived in Pennsylvania and was a “good mom,” Anthony Ryans said.
“She had her demons, but she was a good person, a kind person, and a lot of people had nothing but positive things to say,” Anthony Ryans said Monday. “It’s a big loss for the family and the community as a whole.”
Gulluni said at a news conference Monday that investigators do not yet know how or precisely when Ryans and the other two women died.
He confirmed that two of the women had been the subject of missing persons reports in the “distant past” that he said were thoroughly investigated.
“We are obviously investigating these deaths as suspicious, at the very least,” Gulluni said.
In a separate statement, Springfield police said that Lyden was reported missing on Dec. 1 by a party who “stated that she had not been seen by friends or family since June 2017.
Ms. Lyden did have previous missing person reports filed about her in the past.”
Police said Ryans was reported missing on March 18 of this year.
“The person who reported her missing stated that Ms. Ryans had not been seen by family since March 8th, 2018,” the statement said.
“She also stated that Ms. Ryans had gone missing before, but never for this long, which is why she reported her missing to the police.”
Springfield police said the department’s Major Crimes Unit “extensively tried to find these women as referenced in our case notes, and in the case of Ms. Lyden we released information on social media and through our local media outlets.”
Lyden, also known as America Canales, was reported missing in December, and had not been in contact with her family since June 2017, Springfield police told WWLP, a local TV station, last year.
She was described as 4 feet 11 inches tall and 95 pounds with black hair and brown eyes.
(Stewart Weldon was arrested Sunday following a chase after police tried to stop him for having a broken tail light, authorities said. Courtesy of ABC News and YouTube. Posted on Jun 1, 2018)
On Monday, a teenager who identifed herself as Lyden’s daughter posted a photo of the two of them together that was taken on the girl’s fifth birthday.
“My favorite picture of us,” the teen wrote. “it wasn’t supposed to end like this mommy.”
Gulluni said Monday that authorities have spoken with relatives of all three women, and he asked that their privacy be respected.
“Needless to say, they are distraught and heartbroken,” Gulluni said.
Weldon hasn’t yet been charged with any crimes related to the discovery of the three victims’ remains. He’s being held on a combined $2 million bail for allegedly kidnapping two different women in separate cases.
Asked during Monday’s news conference if investigators believe Weldon is a serial killer, Gulluni said, “I am not going to issue that kind of declaration at this point,” adding that the investigation remains “very active” and police are expected to remain at the Page Boulevard property “for many days to come.”
(Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni held a press conference on Monday, June 4, 2018 to put names to the three bodies found last week at 1333 Page Blvd., home to Stewart Weldon, who was in custody on kidnapping charges. (Courtesy of Don Treeger, The Republican, MassLive. Posted on Jun 4, 2018)
Weldon was arrested late on the night of May 27 during a traffic stop after he violently resisted Springfield officers.
A badly injured woman who was riding with him told police Weldon had held her captive for a month and repeatedly beat her with a hammer and raped her, court records show.
After his arrest and arraignment in that case last week, another woman came forward to allege that Weldon had kidnapped her in February, according to officials and legal filings.
A handcuffed Weldon, clad in a brown hooded sweat shirt, appeared in Springfield District Court on Monday for arraignment in the second case.
He stared ahead grimly as a not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf to charges in the February case of kidnapping and assault to rape.
No details of the allegations were released during Weldon’s brief arraignment.
But in a motion to impound police reports in the matter, Assistant Hampden District Attorney Maximilian J. Bennett wrote that the deaths of the three people whose bodies were found at Weldon’s residence are being investigated “as potential homicides.”
Weldon, 40, hasn’t been charged in connection with the discovery of the bodies.
(Stewart Weldon, the subject of an intensifying investigation that included the discovery of three corpses at his Page Boulevard home last week, pleaded not guilty to new charges of kidnapping and assault to rape in Springfield District Court Monday morning. Courtesy MassLive and YouTube. Posted on Jun 4, 2018)
“There are additional charges that may be brought based on the investigation,” Bennett wrote in his motion, which a judge approved Monday.
“The details contained in these documents [regarding the February kidnapping case], if made public, could potentially taint additional witness interviews.”
Bennett said police “have been engaged in a sprawling investigation and have additional witnesses to interview. Disclosure now, at this sensitive time in [the] investigation, could compromise the integrity of the investigation, and interfere with the privacy rights of the parties involved.”
A booking sheet in the new case alleges that Weldon committed the kidnapping and assault to rape on Feb. 1. A spokesman for the district attorney said the alleged victim came forward after Weldon’s arrest last week and the subsequent search of his residence.
The search has included the use of ground-penetrating radar and generated heavy news coverage.
Weldon wore a grim expression Monday in court. He’s due back in court June 29.
His public defender, Matthew Fleischner, said “Mr. Weldon has entered his plea of not guilty and looks forward to addressing” the charges “as well as addressing bail at a later date.”
