What happened to 18 yr old Natalie Ciappa?

[Mom of 4]

A Massapequa couple's search for their teenage daughter after she failed to come home from a party ended in tragedy when they found her unconscious in the recreation room of a friend's Seaford home, they said.

She was later pronounced dead at a local hospital

Police released few details about the death, which they are investigating as a homicide. They did confirm that Natalie Ciappa, 18, a Plainedge High School senior who was bound for SUNY Old Westbury in the fall, was found unresponsive shortly after 11 a.m. Saturday at a house on South Street in Seaford.

She was pronounced dead at 11:39 a.m. at New Island Hospital in Bethpage, police said.



The Friday night party came near the end of Natalie Ciappa's final year at Plainedge, where she had been a cheerleader and often sang the national anthem at school basketball games, her parents said.

The Ciappas began searching for her in the morning when they discovered she had not come home from a get-together with friends, said Natalie's mother, Doreen Ciappa.

A few hours later, they found their daughter lying facedown on a couch in her friend's rec room, she said.

"It was a horrible nightmare, a parent's worst nightmare," Doreen Ciappa said. "We tried to resuscitate her, but we couldn't."

The body was taken to the Nassau County medical examiner's office for an autopsy, police said.

Yesterday, her parents recalled her as a bright, sensitive young woman who was planning to study criminal psychology.

They said she doted on her younger brothers, Nicholas, 13, and Logan, 11, and had an older brother, Jesse, 20. She cared for two pets: a rescued cat, Salem, which she adopted in the sixth grade, and her dog Buster, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel.

A gifted singer, she was invited to join Nassau's All-County Women's Chorus four years in a row, her parents said.

She loved cheerleading, which she started in kindergarten and continued until the 11th grade.

The Ciappas said they don't know how their daughter died. On Saturday morning, they called her friends to find out where she had been. When they obtained the address, they drove to the house.

Doreen Ciappa said a woman answered the door, and took them to the rec room, which had been converted from a garage attached to the house.

There they found their daughter, who was clothed and lying facedown on the couch.

"I don't know what to think, to tell you the truth," said Doreen Ciappa, 50. "I'm not going to jump to any conclusions.

Natalie Ciappa died on her father's birthday, her parents said. The family had been planning to celebrate the birthday with a trip to a horror movie convention in New Jersey.

"We're all big horror movie fans," said Victor Ciappa, who turned 49 on Saturday.

"I used to like to sing her to sleep when she was young. I used to like to read to her. I'm overwhelmed right now."

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/nassau/ny-liseaf0623,0,2204097.story

 

[~Absynthe~]

Such a pretty girl, with so much ahead of her.
There must be some sort of evidence for them to call it a homicide.

 

[Jaded]

More info and an arrest.....

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/nassau/ny-linata0624,0,3645895.story

From article:

As the father of Natalie Ciappa tried to breathe life into his 18-year-old daughter who lay unconscious on a couch, police said the teenage host of the house party in Seaford refused to help.

Instead, Seewoo Sung cleared away the empty bottles and beer cans strewn about the recreation room floor as he tried to hide the signs of the previous night's gathering, police said.

Police Monday arrested Sung, 19, of South Street, and charged him with tampering with physical evidence, a Class E felony. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 1 to 4 years in jail, police said.

"We don't know what his intentions were," he said, referring to Sung. "He refused to help. He was continuing to clean up the garage and remove evidence so that the police department and his mother did not know he was having a party."

 

[Shadow]

wow.. I hope they do hold him for tampering with evidence and I hope he does get the maximum penalty.. he could've tried to help..


~ceisdsgil

 

[Wicked_Weotch]

Poor girl. With her whole life ahead of her. Everyone else at that party was probably too drunk to care that she was slipping away.

I want to know who purchased the alcohol for that party. I also want to know where that kid's parents were while there was a shitload of underage kids drinking in their house.

 

[Dakota]

I also want to know where that kid's parents were while there was a shitload of underage kids drinking in their house.

Part of the problem is that, while underage, they are adults. The parents were probably gone for the weekend and son took advantage. Leaving adults alone in your house is generally OK. Not suspecting a party will occur is stupid.

 

[Mom of 4]

Poor girl. With her whole life ahead of her. Everyone else at that party was probably too drunk to care that she was slipping away.

I want to know who purchased the alcohol for that party. I also want to know where that kid's parents were while there was a shitload of underage kids drinking in their house.

According to this they think his mom was home.

Police said they had no evidence to indicate that Sung's mother, who they believe was home on Friday night, knew a party was being held at the house. The recreation room, where the party took place, was converted from an attached garage.

 

[Dakota]

That must be one mighty huge house for her to have not heard a thing. If that's the case, why would they have had to convert the garage?

Young adults are not know to be quiet when drinking and partying. Maybe she took out her hearing aids or doubled her dose of Ambien that night??

 

[~Absynthe~]

Seewoo Sung

 

[Mom of 4]

That must be one mighty huge house for her to have not heard a thing. If that's the case, why would they have had to convert the garage?

Young adults are not know to be quiet when drinking and partying. Maybe she took out her hearing aids or doubled her dose of Ambien that night??

No shit. Unless the property is the size of a city block she must be deaf or she was passed out.