Day Two

In Quantico, Virginia. FBI Headquarters.

JJ took a deep breath as she clicked the remote for the next image to fill the screen; just 40 minutes before she received a frantic, frantic being the exact word, call from Captain Liam Stevenson, whose territory reigned over the Southeast area of the little city, had asked—no begged for the BAU's help in solving a total of six murders in different parts of the city. Stevenson, along with captains from different parts of the city, had grouped together and came to the conclusion that they needed extra help on the case, mainly because of how young the victims were.

After seeing the photos and reading the reports that had been sent to her, JJ quickly let Hotch know that the team had a new case and thus the meeting was called.

On the screen, the image of a boy appearing to be about 9 years old was showing.The boy had been dumped in a dumpster with severe bruising all over his body, but that wasn't what stuck out to them it was the fact that the child was naked, everyone knew the moment the picture came up that this case was going to be a bad one.

"This Tim Degalto, 9. He was last seen playing at a park a few blocks from his home on March 3rd; he was found four weeks ago,in a dumpster in the downtown area. He was found by a sanitary worker just as you see here, he had been strangled and placed in a dumpster. He is the sixth child in 6 months to go missing from the area only to turn up in random locations around the city, dead from strangulation."JJ informed them.

"Six kids in 6 months? How did the UnSub take six kids before the local police knew something was up?" Morgan spoke with a bit of resentment in his voice,not towards JJ of course, but towards the locals.

"The UnSub had buried four of the victims and they were only found recently." JJ paused. "aside from them being under 16, all six were victims of bullying, either at home or at school. But even this wasn't picked up on because it was the only thing that these kids have in common, all of them were different ages , races, come from different parts of the city, different family situations, even different schools." Another click of the remote brought up ten images, photos of the kids before their abduction and police photos of the crime scenes. "Zackary Cole, 8, he was the first victim and the youngest; seized by the state due to neglect when he was 6 months old, he was adopted by his foster parents when he was two years old. At home he was a quiet, happy kid, but at school he was the target of teasing due to a mild learning disability, he went missing from Caldwell Park just east off Blake Avenue and McKarthy Street, when Mrs.Cole looked away to set out their picnic, he was found in the same park two weeks later,"the image of a covered slide filled the screen,"also naked."

"So,he kidnaps the kids,holds them for two weeks, then strangles them?" Prentiss said more to herself than anyone as studied the photos."any sign of sexual abuse on the kids?" JJ sighs and nods her head

"Each of the kids were found to be repeatedly raped,well-fed,beaten, and found wearing nothing"Reid looked up, his face twisted in disgust.

"They were fed?"he asked, Morgan frowned a bit

"That's unusual for a sadist to fed his victims."Rossi said with confusion in his voice.

"But aside from that ,there were no other marks on the kids?" Morgan asked leaning back in his chair

"He either used something that left no marks on their wrists and ankles as well as no blunt force trauma to their heads"Reid noted to no one in particular"or they knew the UnSub."

"So, the kids trusted him enough to go with him",Rossi replied.

"But it's what the M.E. found that has the GPD baffled," JJ replied, handing everyone a copy of each child's coroner report,"and that is their stomach contents,"

"Chicken,rice,peas"Morgan read aloud" sounds like a typical meal for a family, especially children, most families would cook this for lunch or dinner."

"Food that you can get anywhere in GeorgeTown, but what about prime ribs, Caesar salad, and a Hurricane, an alcoholic drink, those you unfortunately can't just pop by Mcdonalds and order," Hotch noted as he flipped through each child's paperwork.

"Not only were these listed as his least favorite foods, but those foods are the last thing Tommy Newton ate." The image of a 10 year old boy filled the screen, he was smiling, though he was looking off camera at something distressing him,but wanted to look happy for the camera he maintained a small but pleasant smile. "Tommy went for walk in the woods just behind his house, he never came home. Four days later hikers found his body partially buried, in Spring Mountains National Recreation area, also naked."

"Guys Spring Mountains is a part of Humbolt-Toiyabe National Forest, it's about 40 miles from GeorgeTown, we're talking about over 316,000 acres that's about 1.2788 kilometers of wilderness. How is that these hikers found him so quickly?" Reid pointed out," and what's more, why so far from the city itself?" Morgan looked over at the young genus and rolled his eyes amused, Reid shrugged his shoulders.

"That would be another commonality with the victims,"JJ stated,"according to the ME, all the kids were found three hours after their deaths. And surprisingly,Tommy was found 20 minutes after the ME determined his time of death,to be exact." Rossi, who had at that point been studying the photos intently, looked up at the team.

"He's dumping the bodies in places were they will be found quickly, well-trafficked areas,"He finally said,"but these places hold no remorse or feeling of security, he wants them and whoever that finds them to suffer."

"It's possible that we have a sadistic pedophile on our hands,"Hotch noted, before looking over his team, seeing that all of them wanted end this case as fast as possible, cases involving kids always took a heavy toll, but this one seemed to scream out for their help."Wheels up in one hour." with that the team scattered,to prepare for a long flight to North Carolina and the anticipated stressful case ahead.