Thomas Butcavage dead, Former Prostitute Says He Saw Person - obituary

As police continue their search for a New Jersey resident who went missing 24 years ago, a former prostitute has spoken out for the first time about a disturbing video allegedly played to her by those involved. “People need to know what I saw that night,” Daniel Kerr said. Cole, a former prostitute, claimed Thomas Butkavic Jr. was his regular client. Butkavich, a convicted sex offender, was one of those involved in the disappearance of 11-year-old Mark Himbo in 1991. Some who knew Bukavac believed he closely resembled a sketch of a man who spoke to Himbo near his home in Middletown, New Jersey, shortly before his disappearance.

Kerr told NBC10 that on the night of Feb. 14, 1993, he and Bukavic were at their Haverford Township apartment. At the time, he said Bukavich showed him a graphic video that still traumatizes him to this day.

“A young boy was tied up, handcuffed and had a ball gag in his mouth,” Cole said.

Kerr told NBC10 that Bukavic sexually assaulted the boy in the video, whom he believes is Shimbo.

“I remember looking at the little boy’s face and his eyes,” Kerr said. “I mean, have you ever seen fear? Only through the eyes. Oops, that little boy was scared to death.”

Kerr later recalled an unsettling conversation he had with Bukavac when he saw the video.

“I said, ‘This looks like that little boy from South Jersey,'” Kerr said. “Tommy told me it was him. He confessed to me and said it was him. I said, ‘What did you do to him?’ He said, ‘Well, I did the same thing as everybody else.’ And I got rid of them.” “What do you mean what’s left?” He said, “Well, I have five or six kids.”

Cole said he contacted police the next day and told them what Bukavac allegedly showed him.

“He kept assuring me, ‘I need you. You have to help me have a baby,'” Kerr said.

Cole’s tip-off led police to search Bukavic’s home, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. However, Bukavic has denied any involvement in Shimbo’s disappearance and has never been charged in connection with the case. Six years later, he pleaded guilty to multiple sex crime charges involving the young Chester County boy. He remains in prison.

During another attempt to crack Himbo’s case in June, investigators identified Bukavic as one of several people interested in the disappearance. Kerr, who is terminally ill, told NBC10 he decided to speak publicly for the first time about Bukavic after seeing our recent coverage of the case.