The pathologist suspects the boy was eaten while still alive. But most such tragedies involve dogs confined on their owners' property, most often pit bulls or Rottweilers kept as pets. By all accounts, the dogs that killed Rodney had the run of the neighborhood. It's a bedraggled neighborhood in north St. Louis, blocks of low-income apartments next to stately but crumbling brick houses. There aren't any businesses to speak of.
Deserted buildings pock the streets.
The dogs knocked over garbage cans in search of food. And while they didn't seem overly aggressive, mail carrier Barraka Nephilim was worried enough to pick up a brick or a large stick whenever he delivered letters near the park. They were mangy little mutts. In the week before Rodney died, animal control received two complaints about the dogs. Officers responded but couldn't find any strays.