The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 12

12-A Monday, Jan. 16, 1984 Philadelphia Inquirer 12-year-old Atlantic City boy is held in slaying of friend, Last el ay today whole city had stayed up all night. looking for her son. In every neigh borhood, she said, people were searching the streets, lots and alleys. looking for the boy.

"He was an she said, lean ing her face on her hands. "He was really looking forward to his Holy Communion. "You figure you'll wake up and it will be over. x-i Three nuns, teachers at Our Lady Star of the Sea School, stopped by to comfort Mrs. Grant.

Sister Shamus Zeher, principal of the school, described Grant, a second grader, as an "outgoing, lovable, friendly little boy. He always had a smile on his face. He was a favorite with the kids in the school." Gary Grant Sr. coached basketball there, KILLING, from 1-A evidence that Mason and Grant, who were neighborhood acquaintances, had quarreled before the slaying. Grant, the son of Detective Gary Grant a 10-year member of the city's police force, was reported missing Thursday afternoon by his mother.

May, after he failed to return home for dinner. He had gone out to play with friends about noon, as school had been canceled. His parents, who are separated, have two other children, daughters ages 12 and 11. Police then sought the public's help in finding the child, and teams of neighbors and police combed the neighborhood. The body was discovered at 3:30 p.m.

Saturday by Robert Hughey, commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the owner of the property where the body was found. Hughey, of Margate, went to the warehouse after hearing of the search and found the body, police said. Barber said Hughey had told him that the warehouse and lot were a popular playground. Yesterday, in the Italian-Irish working-class neighborhood where Grant lived, cousins and friends of both Mason and Grant said they did not believe that Mason had committed the crime. A short and slender blond youth, he was so timid, his relatives said, that he was known by the nickname "Boo." Gary Grant Jr.

and Mrs. Grant said her son could hardly wait to be in sixth grade so mi Xfc L-J that he could be on the team. "I'd like to find out if Gary died right away," Mrs. Grant said after trying to locate his godfather to be a pallbearer, wondering aloud whetm er his life might have been saved had he been found earlier. Her voice trailed off.

"If it was bad enough to kill him," her sister said, "I'm sure it was right away. I don't think he suffered." Body found in vacant lot stranger." In a modest second-story apartment in the 2500 block of Arctic Avenue, May Grant, 30, sat numbly at the kitchen table yesterday, dressed in an ivory nightgown and purple socks, her face gaunt and pale. Mrs. Grant said her son and Mason were not best friends. "He was not allowed with that boy," she said.

She said that she and her sister Eileen Todd had searched the field where Grant's body was found, but they did not find him. "We weren't looking for him to be lying down," Ms. Todd said. "We were looking for him to be alive," Mrs. Grant said, her hands shaking.

After his body was discovered, both parents had to be treated for shock at the Atlantic City Medical Center. Mrs. Grant said it seemed as if the More national and international news on Pages 10-C and 8-E. COLLEGE DEGREE vti?) life Work (Academic Experience BACHELORS MASTERS D0CTDRAH Call (800)423-3244 or Send Detailed Resume for Free Evaluation PACIFIC WESTERN UNIVERSITY 16200 VENTURA BLVD. ENCINO, CALIF.

94436 aen All stores Monday 10 ti Mate FILTERED BY NATURE except Philadelphia. HOME AND FAMILY FASHIONS AT WONDERFUL SAVINGS COME SEE COME SAVE NOW 3500 YEARS! Geologists report that the pure and delicious spring water emerging from the Mountain Valley Spring today in Hot Springs, first entered the ground as "He's a nice kid," Grant's cousin Bruce Herrin, 11, said of Mason. "No chance, no way that he could have killed him." "No matter what," said Eleanor McGrath, 9, Mason's cousin, "everyone knows 'Boo' did not do it." The children said that on Thursday, Mason and Grant were to have met on Stenton Avenue to go to see friends. Gary Grant Sr. has said that his son spoke vaguely of a 2:30 p.m.

"appointment" on Thursday, but the son did not make clear what that was, according to information circulated during the search. "My cousin wouldn't do that," Eleanor McGrath said, her brown eyes gleaming. "He's only 12 years old. He's scared of his own shadow." She, Bruce Herrin and other cousins and friends said that Mason and Grant were close friends who were united by a love of hockey. They described Grant as a "good kid," and said Mason was a "rowdy, playful kind of person" who had been subdued by the violent death of a family member two years ago.

The children said they believed that someone else must have killed Grant someone whom Grant knew, because, as Herrin said, "a little cop's kid would never go with a rain about 3500 years ago. Salt free. Moderately hard. Delivered to your home or office. Call (215) 423-1212 tMountaiitcSller6Ster FROM HOT SPRINGS, ARK.

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