FORT LAUDERDALE -- Using law enforcement profiles, public records and interviews from relatives, a newspaper found nine children declared missing by Florida's child welfare agency.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel examined 24 cases involving Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade county children primarily under age 4 whose profiles were available through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Although the paper did not have access to more detailed Department of Children and Families files, it found more than one-third of the children in four weeks -- two in less than three hours.

The state's child welfare agency has been under intense scrutiny since officials acknowledged in April that DCF had lost 5-year-old Rilya Wilson, a Miami girl missing since January 2001. No caseworker checked on her for 15 months.

As of last month, DCF could not account for 532 children the agency said had run away from foster homes or had been abducted by parents against court orders.

"It's such an indictment of the department and our system," said state Rep. Nan Rich, D-Weston, a member of the child and family security committee. "To think they're right here in our own community, listed in a phone directory or playing football, and somehow the department has not taken the resources to find these children."

Two killed, I-4 ramp closed after tanker truck crashes

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ORLANDO -- Two people were killed and five others injured early Sunday when a tanker truck collided with a retaining wall on a highway overpass sending chunks of concrete onto motorists below, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

By midday, fire crews managed to put out a blaze sparked when the gasoline tanker rolled over and slammed into the retaining wall on State Road 528, a toll road onramp that leads to Interstate 4.

But the heat from the fire damaged the 30-foot-high overpass and engineers on site were concerned the bridge was in danger of collapsing, said FHP Lt. Eddie Herrell.

The two motorists who died were inside an SUV that lost control after the chunks of concrete caused drivers to suddenly slam their brakes and swerve, Herrell said.

Herrell said the onramp where the truck hit the wall would remain closed indefinitely.

Teen hobbles for aid after shark bite in Vero Beach

VERO BEACH -- A teenage surfer walked about a half mile to a lifeguard station while bleeding from his foot after he was bitten by a shark, officials said.

Brad Milliken, 15, said he had just caught a wave when he stepped down in water 3 feet deep and felt something grip his ankle Saturday.

"It didn't really hurt that much," he told the Vero Beach Press Journal. "It just felt like finger nails digging into my skin. I thought it was (my friend) pulling on my leg."

Milliken, a high school sophomore, was treated and released from Indian River Memorial Hospital after the 3:30 p.m. attack that caused lifeguards to clear the water for the rest of the day.

Milliken received no stitches but left the hospital on crutches, saying he expects to be surfing again in two weeks.

"There's no question about that," Milliken said.

More tourists driving than flying, officials say

For the first time in decades, more tourists drove to Florida than flew during the second quarter that ended June 30, according to estimates compiled by Visit Florida Inc.

The number of overnight visitors to the state decreased 2 percent to 19.4-million compared to the same three months in 2001. The state said 50.7 percent of visitors drove, up from 45 percent in the year ago quarter.

Officials said the change confirmed that the tourist industry's recovery from recession and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks so far relied more on visitors who live within driving distance.

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Lucy Morgan

From the Times state desk