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Police search for suspect in robbery linked to murder of Camden City Council president’s grandson

Camden police believe two men stole a cell phone that was later used to demand ransom from the family of Curtis Jenkins, III.

Bill Townsend (right), chief of detectives for the Camden County Prosecutor's Office and Assistant Chief Joseph Wysocki of the Camden County Police Department (left), discuss an arrest in the kidnapping of Curtis Jenkins III at a news conference.
Bill Townsend (right), chief of detectives for the Camden County Prosecutor's Office and Assistant Chief Joseph Wysocki of the Camden County Police Department (left), discuss an arrest in the kidnapping of Curtis Jenkins III at a news conference.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer

Camden police are looking for a man they believe was part of a robbery connected to the kidnapping and murder this week of Curtis Jenkins III, the 20-year-old grandson of City Council President Curtis Jenkins.

Brandon Beverly, 32, of Deptford, was charged with first-degree murder in connection with the slaying, but police say they do not believe he acted alone. Authorities believe he and others lured Jenkins to his death by posing as a food delivery customer, then forced him into a van and later suffocated him. Beverly was taken into custody Monday and is being held at the Camden County Jail.

Authorities have said Beverly and Jenkins knew each other, but have declined to elaborate.

Jenkins, who sold platter meals on Facebook, was last seen Sunday night after he left his Fairview home to make a delivery. He was reported missing in the early hours Monday, and his father, Curtis Jenkins Jr., told police he later got a call from a man who demanded 10 to 15 pounds of marijuana as ransom for his son. Jenkins’ father said he hung up on the caller, and the kidnappers then texted him a photograph of his son, bound and blindfolded.

READ MORE: ‘A calculated plot to entrap’: Murder charges in death of Camden city councilman’s grandson followed kidnapping, drug ransom demand, police say

The phone used to call Jenkins’ family was stolen by Beverly and another man early Monday morning in a home invasion near the 200 block of Kaighn Ave., according to the probable-cause affidavit for Beverly’s arrest. Authorities on Thursday were seeking Beverly’s accomplice in the robbery.

Police found Jenkins’ body Tuesday night in an abandoned garage in the city’s Liberty Park neighborhood, about a block from the Mechanic Street house where he lived with his father. The body was wrapped in a sheet, with a plastic bag over the head, the hands and feet bound.

In surveillance footage police released Thursday, the robbery suspect is wearing a light gray hooded sweatshirt, black pants, and white sneakers. Police described him as a black male but released no other description.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Camden County Police Department tip line at 856-757-7042 or send tips anonymously through the StopIt app.