Who killed Robert Vicosa and his daughters? Ex-cop who kidnapped his kids found dead
SMITHSBURG, MARYLAND: Former Baltimore police officer Robert Vicosa, who recently appeared in the news for kidnapping his two daughters and assaulting his estranged wife, was found dead along with the two kids. In a tragic end to a massive scale manhunt, ex-cop Robert Vicosa's body was found in a car in Smithsburg, Maryland, alongside the bodies of his minor daughters and female accomplice Tia Bynum. According to reports, all four of them died from gunshot wounds.
Vicosa, 42, and Bynum allegedly forced drugs on his wife and threatened to kill the family on November 17 . Vicosa then kidnapped his own daughters Aaminah, 6, and Giana, 7, before going on the run. He and Bynum also robbed a woman at gunpoint in Cockeysville, stealing her car and phone in presence of his daughters. The next day, the two also held a man at gunpoint and forced him to drive them to several locations in Baltimore.
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Vicosa was previously employed with the Baltimore County Police Department but was evicted in August this year. He had worked in the police for 17 years but came under the scanner regularly for lack of discipline. He had also behaved improperly with women subordinates and often failed to show up in court. He had been demoted at his workplace before being terminated. There was a statewide hunt for Vicosa and the girls since the children's abduction.
He was spotted by cops when he was robbing a woman. Police then requested him to release his girls for the sake of their safety. "Please get these two innocent and precious children to a safe location. You can drop them off at a public safety facility or any other safe location with a responsible adult to care for them," Baltimore County Police Chief Melissa Hyatt said in a public message to Vicosa.
Not much is known about Tia Bynum, the other person killed in the shooting, except that she was also a cop at the Baltimore County PD. While she was not fired, she had faced suspension in the past.
It is also uncertain how and who exactly killed the cop, his friend, and his two young daughters. Reportedly, police were pursuing his car from across the state line in Pennsylvania when it suddenly came to a halt after veering off the road.