LYNN, Mass. — It’s hard for me to believe Jesus De La Cruz has been missing for 25 years. The disappearance of the sweet-looking six-year-old boy was one of the first stories we covered for WFXT-TV when we launched our 10 p.m. news just two weeks earlier. Night after night, the Jesus De La Cruz case dominated our newscasts. People everywhere were praying that Jesus could be found and return home.
It never happened.
This fall, the FBI, partnering with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, unveiled an aged enhanced image of what Jesus De La Cruz might look like today at 31 years old. It was a shock, at first, to see Jesus as a young man, but it was also comforting to think that maybe he is out there somewhere. Never say never.
The new image prompted us to take a fresh look at the Jesus De La Cruz case for New England’s Unsolved. We wanted to find out where things stand today. And we thought, by publicizing the case again, maybe someone will remember something that they never before reported.
We also took another look at Robert Levesque, he remains a person of interest in the Jesus De La Cruz investigation. Police believe Levesque is the last person to see Jesus on the streets of Lynn on September 28, 1996. Neighborhood kids told investigators they last saw Jesus with a neighborhood man who offered the boy a bicycle. They said Jesus was walking with the man the last time they saw him. The kids told police they recognized the man as the owner of a unique-looking dog that had a “white” eye. Today, police say that man was Robert Levesque. At the time, Levesque’s attorney said his client had nothing to do with the disappearance of Jesus De La Cruz. To this day, despite a search of Levesque’s apartment and his car, Robert Levesque has never been charged in the case.
Recently, I set out to find Robert Levesque. He lives in Lowell. And he has been in and out of trouble for years. Most of his arrests are for relatively minor offenses. But there was one that stood out. In 2009, Robert Levesque was arrested for stealing a Lowell Fire Department car and leading police on a chase. Authorities say Levesque was dressed as a Lowell Fire Department official when they arrested him.
[ 25 years ago today, Jesus de la Cruz disappeared in Lynn ]
In July 2021, police had a strange encounter with Levesque in Lowell. On July 14, Lowell and State Police were called to Heritage Park where a man was operating a white Ford Crown Vic Interceptor, complete with emergency lights and a siren. The lights and siren were on, and people complained the man, who was walking around the bandstand, might be impersonating a police officer. When police arrived, they found the man wearing a Fox 25 News jacket. The man allegedly told responding police he was a Fox 25 News Photographer. The man was Robert Levesque and he has never been employed by WFXT-TV. Responding police did not cite Levesque but ordered him to remove the emergency flashing lights.
I traveled to Lowell and tried to talk to Levesque. I spoke to his landlord, told her why I wanted to talk to him and left my card with complete contact information. Robert Levesque never contacted me.
Lynn Police tell me, 25 years later, Robert Levesque has not been removed as a person of interest for Jesus De La Cruz. Investigators are concerned that in the last few years, Levesque has impersonated a Lowell Fire Official, a police officer, and a Fox 25 News photographer. Maybe it means something, maybe it doesn’t, my invitation to speak to Robert Levesque remains open.
So here we are, 25 years later, still looking for Jesus De La Cruz. We all know people don’t vanish off the face of the earth. Someone knows something. If you do, contact Lynn Police at (781)-595-2000. You can also reach out to the Boston FBI at 1(800)-634-4097.
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