Neighbor: Arrest of Brendan Creato’s father ‘a relief’

David Creato, Jr., the same man who called 911 to report his 3-year-old son's disappearance in October, has been charged with the boy's murder. He faces arraignment Tuesday afternoon as the Haddon Township community swallows the latest update.

The boy's body was found in the woods a half mile from his home on Oct. 13, hours after David Creato called authorities to report his son was missing.

Since then, it had been nearly three months with zero answers - no suspect, no cause of death determined - but a grand jury returned an indictment Monday charging 22-year-old Creato with first-degree murder and second-degree endangering the welfare of a child - his own child, Brendan.

The arrest, while disturbing, comes as a relief to nearby residents.

"I'm glad it's closed and they could put this boy to rest," said Kathy Smith. "He deserves that."

Smith said she had been waiting for this day, knowing it would come eventually.

"It was more than obvious," she said. "Think about it. A 3-year old walking all the way down to the river in the middle of the night? Kids are terrified of the dark."

An initial autopsy proved inconclusive. Toxicology tests reportedly came back negative. Even with the arrest, authorities have been tight-lipped on the manner of Brendan Creato's death, and they insisted no additional comments would be made to protect the defendant's right to a fair trial.

"It's a relief that man who did something like that is getting taken away, but also it's scary to think something that terrible could happen right in your neighborhood, 30 seconds from your house," said Colin Jones, a local teenager. "Obviously if he's arrested, they have some kind of evidence, and I just hope that whoever's at fault here, they get what's coming to them."

David Creato was arrested Monday afternoon in Washington Township, authorities said, and was being held at the Camden County Jail.

An arraignment is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.