By Donna Porstner
Staff Writer
December 7, 2007
STAMFORD - The Glenbrook Fire Department volunteer believed to have been killed in the war is alive and well serving his country in the Middle East, a U.S. Army spokeswoman said yesterday.
U.S. Army Spc. Gabriel Maldonado, 26, is serving in Iraq with his unit from Fort Stewart, Ga., said Shari Lawrence, deputy public affairs officer for the U.S. Army Human Resources Command.
Lawrence said she spoke to Maldonado's commander, who confirmed he is a former volunteer firefighter for the Glenbrook department.
Lawrence said she also spoke to Maldonado's mother, who Fire Lt. Troy Jones said called the firehouse last Thursday to alert members of her son's death.
The mother never placed the call and was not aware her son was believed to be dead, Lawrence said.
"Imagine their surprise," Lawrence said. "Her question was, 'Why would someone do that?' and I don't know."
It's up to the fire department to investigate who placed the call because the Army's inquiry is over, Lawrence said.
"The plot may be thickening - I don't know -Ębut that's for the folks up there to deal with," she said.
Neither Glenbrook Fire Chief Frank Passero nor Jones returned calls seeking comment yesterday.
The city is not investigating the erroneous report. Though the Glenbrook firehouse is staffed by city employees and receives city funding, it's an independent, autonomous organization.
Stamford Police spokesman Lt. Sean Cooney said police are not investigating because no one has filed a complaint.
"I am not sure if this was a mistake, a mix-up, or somebody did this intentionally, and until there's an investigation we won't know," Cooney said.
Army officials became suspect after The Advocate and other news organizations reported the fire department was mourning the loss of one of its members and they had no record of anyone from Stamford killed in the war, and no unidentified bodies.
Initially, fire officials identified the dead soldier as Gabrielle Costello, who they said was a U.S. Army Ranger who lived on Rose Street in the Glenbrook neighborhood.
The U.S. Department of Defense could not confirm the report of Costello's death. A department spokesman said he could not verify whether there was anyone by that name serving in the Army, saying he could not give out that information.
On Monday, after reviewing personnel files, Passero said they may have released the wrong name. He said Jones confused Maldonado with another member, whose last name is Costello.
Despite the wrong name, members claimed to have remembered Gabrielle Costello and announced plans to hold the department's annual holiday tree lighting last Saturday in his memory. They hung black bunting on the firehouse to mourn his passing.
After fire officials provided the correct name, Lawrence said she was able to find a Gabriel Maldonado serving in the Army and initiated a health and welfare check.
The mother and Maldonado asked that the Army not give out any personal information, including where they live, Lawrence said.
Who made the phone call to the firehouse is unclear.
Earlier this week, Passero said he had no records of incoming phone calls made to the firehouse Nov. 29 and no way to trace calls.
Tom Alessi, a Belltown Fire Department volunteer who posted news of the soldier's death on his Web site www.scanct.com said he had no reason to doubt the reported death. Alessi said he was at the Belltown firehouse when a fax from the Glenbrook department came in, announcing the news. He called the Glenbrook firehouse to verify officials there sent the fax because it was not on company letterhead, which they did, Alessi said.
"I wouldn't have put it on the Web site if I didn't think it was true," he said.
He said he never thought for a minute that it could have been a hoax.
"I couldn't imagine anyone in Glenbrook doing this maliciously because what would they gain from that? It's an embarrassment," Alessi said. "Someone pulled a fast one on them."
Police Capt. Gregory Tomlin, who oversees the city's 911 center, said he listened to all incoming 911 calls and routine calls from 5:50 to 7 a.m. on Nov. 29. No one called reporting a soldier's death, or asking to be connected to the Glenbrook firehouse during that time period, he said. All phone calls to the 911 center are recorded, Tomlin said.
If a call was placed to the Glenbrook department during that time period it was placed directly to the firehouse, Tomlin said.
Alessi said he hopes Glenbrook officials comb through their phone records to determine who made the call.
"I would really like to know who called, and I think the government would too," he said. "I hope that they find out. That person should be punished."
Mayor Dannel Malloy said it was likely a prank, and "a terrible thing to do," but he said there's nothing the city can do at this point.
Malloy said he has no reason to doubt the fire department received a call from someone claiming one of their volunteers was killed in the war.
"I believe they received a call from someone and tried to treat it appropriately," he said.
It's not the first time a report of a Connecticut soldier killed in the war was deemed to be a hoax.
In 2004, a Waterbury man claimed the Defense Department called him to report his wife, who was in the U.S. Army Reserves, was killed in an explosion in Baghdad.
When the wife surfaced alive and well, Edward Valentin claimed he was the victim of cruel joke. He later admitted to making up the story and was charged with falsely reporting an incident.
Copyright © 2007, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.