Seven Villages, Janet Joakim

A short life in the Cape’s underside

Death of 16-year-old closes a grim family cycle
By Keith O’Brien, Globe Staff | January 12, 2009

HYANNIS – Long before he was shot, stabbed, dumped into a shallow hole, and set afire last month in Hyannis, Jordan Mendes, an alleged drug dealer at 16 years old, was just a boy, watching police storm into his grandmother’s home.

It was April 21, 2000, just before 10 p.m. Barnstable Police, along with other agencies, had spent a year investigating a cocaine distribution ring organized by Jordan’s father, Manuel Mendes, and now they were moving in, entering through an unlocked door, guns drawn.

Inside, police seized cocaine, marijuana, and bundles of cash, including $70,000 stashed away in the attic and another $10,000 in a closet. The drug ring – considered to be one of the largest on the Cape at the time – was busted. Manuel Mendes was sitting handcuffed on the couch, bound for prison, while his son, Jordan, then just 8, made a simple request of Continue reading story in yesterday’s boston globe…