NC slaying suspect’s parents offer sympathy

RALEIGH, NC (AP) — The parents of a North Carolina man accused
of killing an Illinois woman and taking her body to Virginia say
they are grieving the loss of the 18-year-old victim and cannot
speculate on the circumstances of her death.

John Mascaro said Thursday that he and his wife, Sylvia Mascaro,
considered the victim “like a daughter.”

Mascaro’s son, 19-year-old Enrico Luciano Mascaro, was charged
in the death of Danielle Dennis-Towne after her body was found in
his trunk July 15.

The Mascaro’s issued the statement offering condolences to
Dennis-Towne’s family, who they describe as family friends.

John Mascaro had reported the two young people missing from the
Mascaro’s Nags Head home.

Authorities say Dennis-Towne died of a gunshot wound to the
head.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)