Dispatchers unable to trace 911 cell-phone call

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- A man who was kidnapped and later killed called 911 twice on his cell phone during his ordeal but dispatchers were unable to trace the call, authorities said.
Reinaldo Zayas, 25, was kidnapped Monday night and was found stabbed to death inside his own van the following night, police said.
Zayas, though bound with duct tape and apparently being tortured, was able to call police -- once in an 18-minute call in which he could be heard screaming and begging for his life, deputy police commissioner Charles Brennan said Thursday.
The 911 dispatcher tried to gather information during the call that would help pinpoint Zayas' location and sent officers to a spot she thought he might be located, but the search proved fruitless, Brennan said.
Police said that a relative of Zayas' reported that someone called them several times to demand money after Zayas was abducted.
Although the technology to trace 911 calls from cell phones is available, few places in Pennsylvania currently use it. The so-called Emergency 911 Phase II technology allows operators to trace a call to within 100 yards.
Legislation was proposed last year that would have created a surcharge on cell phone service that could be used to fund enhanced 911, but the bill died in the Senate.