Network show to air abduction segment

CLEARWATER -- Detectives have received about 225 tips in connection with the New Year's Eve abduction of a young boy, and are hoping more will be on the way after a segment about the kidnapping appears on America's Most Wanted tonight.

The show will air on Fox at 9 p.m. It will feature a chronology of the crime, along with interviews with witnesses and the boy's mother, said Gina Long, crimes against children producer for the show, which has helped capture almost 700 criminals.

Long said producers were interested in the abduction because of its rarity, and because the show has previously profiled another case from Clearwater: The Sept. 11, 2000, vanishing of Zachary Bernhardt. Both cases occurred at the Savannah Trace Apartments, 2690 Drew St.

Police have said there is no apparent connection between the two cases.

In the New Year's case, the kidnapper took the child from a playground, then left him alive in a trash bin near Bushnell 10 hours later.

"It's very rare that a stranger abducts a child and lets the child go," Long said. "That's a miracle, in the show's eyes."

Clearwater Detective David Dalton will fly to Washington, D.C., to assist as telephone tips come in to the show.

Police said they have received 225 leads in the case, none that has resulted in any conclusive evidence. Police also have distributed fliers about the case to businesses and gas stations along the I-75 corridor.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement profiler Wayne Porter also was brought in on the case Friday to help develop new information.

Anyone knowing anything about the abduction can call Clearwater police at 562-4422.

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