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June 3, 2002: Robbie's parents file a lawsuit against the city of Santa Fe and its police department, alleging the initial handling of the case might have cost the boy his life.
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7-year-old Robbie Romero is last seen near his home in the Bellamah neighborhood in south Santa Fe.
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Police and FBI agents dig in the backyard of the Romero house and set up roadblocks nearby.
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June 15, 2000: Ronnie Romero, Robbie's oldest brother, is arrested on an outstanding warrant on misdemeanor charges of assault and battery against family members.
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June 17, 2000: A woman calls 911 claiming Ronnie Romero confessed to responsibility for his brother's death.
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July 13, 2000: Police begin three-day search of he Caja del Rio landfill for Robbie's body.
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July 16, 2000: Ronnie calls police, implicates his "girlfriend" in Robbie's disappearance.
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Aug. 24, 2000: Police search Fenton Lake for Robbie's body.
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Sept. 6, 2000: Robbie's mother, Evelyn Romero, reports her son, Ronnie, failed a lie-detector test regarding Robbie's disappearance.
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Sept. 26-Oct. 10, 2000: Police again search the Caja del Rio landfill for Robbie's body.
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Nov. 4, 2000: Evelyn searches the Cerrillos community — with friends — after receiving information from a psychic in Florida.
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Nov. 20, 2000: Ronnie is sentenced to a treatment facility.
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Nov. 25, 2000: Police supervisor Jerry Archuleta is demoted from lieutenant to sergeant for his handling of the case.
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Dec. 29, 2000: Police release a 30-second commercial with footage of the missing 7-year-old.
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The police department fires Archuleta.
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Sept. 13, 2002: The FBI announces that tests on remains found in the northwestern part of New Mexico on the Navajo Reservation are inconclusive.
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Oct. 7, 2002: Robbie's father, Rudy Sr., dies.
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Nov. 7, 2003: A judge refuses to order investigators to hand over their file on Robbie's disappearance to the boy's mother.
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Feb. 19, 2004: Archuleta sues the department for alleged civil-rights violations.
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The Court of Appeals says police must hand over their case file to the Romero family.
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Evelyn releases an age-progressed photo of Robbie and says she believes he's still alive.
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The New Mexico Supreme Court says the Santa Fe Police Department acted appropriately in demoting Archuleta.
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Ronnie takes and fails his third polygraph test.
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Ronnie tells police Robbie's body is "60 feet deep."
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Police begin a three-day search of the Caja del Rio landfill for Robbie's body.
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Jan. 19, 2006: A grand jury begins hearing testimony from Romero family members and others connected to the case.
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Jan. 25, 2006: Ronnie pleads guilty to charges related to an incident the previous summer in which he was "acting crazy" at his mother's house and later stabbed a nurse with a needle.
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Evelyn and other family members testify before the grand jury.
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The New Mexico Supreme Court rules the city of Santa Fe must open its police files to a state District Court judge to determine what information should be released to the family.
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Ronnie is acquitted on a charge of battering a police officer, and a judge declares a mistrial on a charge of violating parole.
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A state District Court judge sentences Ronnie to spend about the next six months in prison for violating conditions of his house arrest agreement.
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Robbie's mother and brother say in a lawsuit that the Santa Fe police are harassing them.
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Ronnie is sentenced to jail for a year for violating his probation for the sixth time.
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Police recover a bag of bones from the backyard of the Romero family; the bones were later found to be remains of a dog.
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Ronnie dies in jail. During an autopsy, a balloon of suspected to contain black tar heroin is found in his rectum.