Clues still elusive in case of missing boy

Detectives are investigating a man arrested on other charges, but would not say whether he is a suspect in the disappearance of Zach Bernhardt.

By CHRIS TISCH

© St. Petersburg Times,
published July 22, 2001

CLEARWATER -- Detectives investigating the nearly yearlong disappearance of 9-year-old Zach Bernhardt have been looking into a Citrus County man who was arrested last month on charges that he solicited an undercover officer to help him abduct, rape and kill a young boy in Clearwater.

Kevin Jalbert, 42, was arrested June 22 after he told the undercover detective that he had kidnapped and murdered boys in the past and gotten away with it, according to an arrest affidavit.

Clearwater police have not publicly named Jalbert as a suspect in Zach's disappearance and refused to say what, if any, interest they have with him in the case.

They questioned his mother, Agnes Jalbert, two weeks ago. She said investigators came to her Citrus County home and showed her a photograph of Zach and asked if she knew where her son had been around Labor Day last year. She told them her son had been at his home in Citrus County.

Detectives also asked for permission to search her car for signs of blood, hair or fibers; and to look at the tires on her car to see if they matched a certain tire track, she said.

Zach Bernhardt disappeared Sept. 11 from the Savannah Trace apartment he shared with his mother, Leah Hackett. He hasn't been seen since.

In another new development, Hackett is living in North Carolina with a man from Zephyrhills, Michael Cochran, 22. Public records list her as Leah Cochran at an address in Jacksonville, N.C., though family members say she hasn't married.

Michael Cochran confirmed Hackett is living there and said she was at work Tuesday night. He declined to answer questions. Messages left for Hackett were not returned.

Though police have said they don't know what happened to Zach, his family members believe someone snatched him from the apartment, 2690 Drew St.

Police spokesman Wayne Shelor told the Times shortly after Jalbert's arrest that investigators were looking at Jalbert in connection with Zach's vanishing, but noted that Jalbert would be investigated in connection with any missing child case. Clearwater police alerted authorities across Florida to contact them if they had any cases of missing, murdered or assaulted children.

Shelor refused last week to say whether police have any leads in Zach's disappearance. The week after Jalbert's arrest, Shelor said he was not a suspect in Zach's vanishing, but he would not comment on the case last week, citing that it is an active investigation.

But Agnes Jalbert said the hourlong visit she had with detectives at her home led her to believe "they were trying to blame it on him."

She said detectives were very interested in her tan 1993 Chrysler LeBaron. They asked for permission to search the car and said they had a tire track they wanted to compare to the car's tires.

Agnes Jalbert said she told detectives she had the car in Massachusetts until late September. She provided detectives a receipt for an oil change she received there in early September.

"When I told them the car was in Massachusetts, they were shocked," she said.

Agnes Jalbert called her son "a saint" and "a good, good boy." She thinks the charges against her son are frivolous.

The state attorney's office does not: Prosecutors not only have filed the original solicitation to commit murder charge, but they added charges of solicitation to commit sexual battery and solicitation to commit kidnapping.

Jalbert has been at the Pinellas County Jail since his arrest. His bail is set at $500,000.

Carole Bernhardt, Zach's grandmother, said a detective called her when Jalbert was arrested and told her not to get her hopes up because detectives had found no connection between Jalbert and Zach.

Detectives haven't mentioned it to her since then, she said, even though they call her at least once a week to update her on the search.

Shelor said detectives had Jalbert under investigation for three weeks before his arrest. Police have not said how they learned Jalbert was allegedly looking to abduct a child, but they set up a rendezvous in Clearwater with the undercover detective.

Jalbert said he would use bleach to flush DNA evidence off his victim. Detectives found Clorox bleach and a funnel in Jalbert's vehicle.

He was arrested about 8:50 p.m. June 22 in the area of Sunset Point and McMullen-Booth roads. He was booked into jail nine hours later.

Shelor said police had found nothing suggesting violence in Jalbert's background. He has no criminal record in Florida.

Jalbert does have some Clearwater connections.

He is listed as the owner of a house at 1353 Park St. A woman who says she knew Jalbert in Citrus County lives there now. Jalbert also lived in Dunedin for about six months last year.

Jalbert's mother said he also has friends in Clearwater, including one who once lived on Drew Street in the area of Savannah Trace.

Carole Bernhardt said Leah Hackett has told her she never heard of Kevin Jalbert, nor does she remember ever meeting him. Agnes Jalbert also said her son has told her he never met or heard of Leah Hackett.

Carole Bernhardt said she appreciates that detectives are looking at Jalbert, though she is not pinning too much on the Jalbert investigation.

"Until they can prove that this guy did take somebody, whether it be my grandson, there's nothing they can do. Somebody took him. As far as this guy, I don't know."

- Chris Tisch can be reached at (727) 445-4156. Staff writer Carrie Johnson and researchers Kitty Bennett, Cathy Wos and Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

To help

Anyone with information about the disappearance of Zach Bernhardt is asked to call Clearwater police detectives at (727) 562-4422. Zach was 8 years old when he disappeared and is now 9. He was about 4-feet-6-inches tall and 60 pounds when he disappeared. He has scars on the bridge of his nose, on the upper right side of his lip and under his chin. Zach was last seen wearing boxer shorts. He disappeared about 4 a.m. Sept. 11 from his apartment at Savannah Trace, 2690 Drew St., Clearwater.

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