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Police say they tried to find teen

But because the 14-year-old's mother didn't convey concern, they didn't issue an Amber Alert.

By LAUREN BAYNE ANDERSON
Published February 12, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - Police said Friday that they made every effort possible to locate Joshua Corriveau, a St. Petersburg teenager who was found dead this week in Jacksonville.

Investigators said that under the influence of William Popjes, the 14-year-old Corriveau voluntarily left the area Nov. 9 after Popjes bound his mother with duct tape to her bed.

Police say Popjes is a "con man" wanted locally on charges of false imprisonment, interference with custody, battery and schemes to defraud.

Bill Proffitt, a spokesman for the Police Department, said an Amber Alert was not issued for the teenager because his mother didn't indicate the child was in danger.

"Mom waited 12 hours; she never once conveyed to us any concern about the child's well being," Proffitt said. For an Amber Alert to be issued, "There has to be a clear indication of abduction; the child must be in danger of serious bodily harm or death."

Proffitt said the department released a "missing and dangered child alert-one" for Corriveau, which he describes as one step below an Amber Alert.

Investigators were shocked to learn the boy was found dead Thursday in a Jacksonville home, Proffitt said.

Popjes, 36, and his adopted son, Christopher James Barrow, 21, lived with Joshua Corriveau and his mother, Donna Corriveau, for more than a year before the situation soured.

Corriveau said that in September Popjes began physically abusing her. She said Popjes hit her son.

But Corriveau said her son looked up to Popjes as the father he never had.

It was when Corriveau got in an argument with Popjes that he locked her in her room, where. she stayed for 10 days with little food and water. Finally, on Nov. 9, Popjes entered her bedroom and asked her if she had anything to say. She said no.

Popjes tied her to the bed with duct tape and left with her son.

Once they left, she struggled to get loose, freeing her hands. She then left for her parents house in Wesley Chapel, where she called the police.

Popjes and Barrow have been jailed in connection with the homicide.

Ken Jefferson, a spokesman for the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, said Popjes is being held on $500,000 bail and has been charged with false imprisonment, interference with custody and simple battery, out of Pinellas county. Barrow was charged with aggravated child abuse and petty theft.

[Last modified February 12, 2005, 00:54:29]