‘Listen, we got your son,' kidnappers told father of Curtis Jenkins III, he said in 911 call

In a 911 call hours after his son was abducted, the father of Curtis Jenkins III told police the kidnappers wanted money in exchange for his safe return.

Curtis Jenkins Jr. reported his son — the grandson of Camden City Council President Curtis Jenkins Sr. — missing shortly after 2 a.m. on July 1 to Camden County Metro police. He appeared to maintain his composure during an audio recording of a second call two hours later to report that his son had been kidnapped. The Inquirer obtained an audio recording of the call through New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act.

“I just received a phone call from somebody and they had my son, basically,” Jenkins told the dispatcher. “They want something from me for my son.”

The dispatcher asked: “What are they asking of you, sir?”

“For money,” Jenkins responded.

The dispatcher asked whether the kidnappers said anything else. He replied: “I hung up on them as soon as they said it.”

The dispatcher asked Jenkins to repeat exactly what the male caller said to him. Jenkins said he received the call about five to 10 minutes before he called police.

“They said: ‘Listen, we got your son,'” Jenkins relayed. “They said 'You got to give us 15 to 10 pounds.’”

The dispatcher responded: “15 to 10 pounds?” Jenkins said, “Yes.” (Authorities later said that reference was to marijuana, which has a street value of about $1,000 a pound.)

Moments later, Jenkins told the dispatcher “They just sent a picture of my son tied up.” Jenkins told the dispatcher the text was sent from the same number as the first call.

The exchange between Jenkins and the dispatcher lasted for about 5½ minutes. The dispatcher ended the call, telling Jenkins she was sending police officers to his home in Camden’s Liberty Park neighborhood.

Curtis Jenkins III, 20, was found dead in an abandoned garage on Liberty Street, a block from his home, a day after he was reported missing. He was covered in a sheet, blindfolded, with his hands bound behind his back. Authorities said he was asphyxiated.

The 911 call sheds new light on details surrounding the abduction. It also raises some discrepancies.

Jenkins said he was at SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia playing baccarat when his sons’ friends called him around midnight and told him that his son was missing. Jenkins said he drove to Camden to the 2700 block of Congress Road, where his son, who operated a food delivery business, went to make a delivery about 11 p.m.

In an interview with The Inquirer on the day his son’s body was found, Jenkins said he did not immediately report his son missing because he wanted to first visit the address where his son was last seen. Family members told police they received a call about 4 a.m. from someone who advised “that they had” Jenkins III and he would not be released until the family met their ransom demand, court records show.

Jenkins said the kidnapper called his girlfriend and then demanded to speak with him. He said he hung up when the caller demanded drugs.

“It’s something I never had. It’s something I don’t have so it’s kind of scary,” Jenkins said. “I can’t even explain why someone would do this to my son.”

Brandon A. Beverly, 32, of Woodbury, has been charged with felony murder and identified as the mastermind of a plot to lure Jenkins III to Fairview, where he was abducted.

A second suspect, Jalen Carr, 22, of Sicklerville, has been charged in a home invasion linked to the murder. Authorities say a cell phone traced to the robbery was used to make the ransom call.

Last week, a judge ordered Beverly and Carr held in custody to await trial.

Authorities have said Beverly and Jenkins III knew each other, but have not elaborated. A member of the Jenkins family identified Beverly’s voice as the one on the ransom call, authorities said.

Jenkins III was lured by a caller to deliver a platter on the night he disappeared. A witness told investigators Beverly and several other men forced Jenkins into a van and drove around the streets of Camden with Jenkins III held captive.

When his demand was not met, authorities say, Beverly became frustrated and killed Jenkins. A witness who told police where to find Jenkins’ body said Beverly confessed to the crime, saying “things got messed up.”

Authorities and Jenkins Jr. and other family members have said that they did not know why the kidnapper demanded drugs. Beverly has an extensive criminal record that began when he was a juvenile, including seven felony convictions as an adult, mostly for drug charges, authorities said.

When asked about the marijuana demand after a detention hearing for the two suspects, Council President Jenkins described his grandson as a positive young man who was not involved with drugs or the streets. He said questions about the marijuana demand should be posed to police.

“It doesn’t make sense to me, especially as quick as he lost his life,” he said.