A businessman offers a $5,000 reward in the Zach Bernhardt case, but police turn it down, saying they have a policy not to offer money for information.

By CHRIS TISCH

CLEARWATER -- A few days after 8-year-old Zach Bernhardt vanished from his mother's apartment in September, local businessman Michael Capestany called Clearwater police with a proposition.

Capestany offered to donate $5,000 as a reward for anyone who came forward with information that helped find the boy. Capestany's theory was that money could motivate tipsters to come forward with information.

"Money is the root of all evil, but it motivates people," said Capestany, a general manager of the Car Shack on Seminole Boulevard in Largo.

But Clearwater detectives, neck-deep in a mystery that police officials say baffles them to this day, refused Capestany's offer.

"To me, this was very weak," Capestany said last week. "When a child is missing, you throw everything out the window and do what you can. Putting out a reward isn't going to hurt."

The Clearwater Police Department has had a longstanding policy not to offer money for information that might aid investigations, said Wayne Shelor, the department's spokesman.

"We're not funded to do it," Shelor said.

The department isn't prepared to accept donations and plow them into reward offers. If people call wanting to donate money, police will encourage them to establish a fund through the family of the victim or missing person, Shelor said.

Carole Bernhardt, Zach Bernhardt's grandmother, said friends have warned the family to be wary of charity from others. So far, the family has asked that donations be sent in Zach's name to organizations that help find missing children.

Zach, who turned 9 on Dec. 18, vanished from his Savannah Trace apartment at about 4 a.m. Sept. 11. Police say they don't know whether Zach was abducted or ran away, whether he is alive or dead.

None of his clothes were missing or packed when he vanished. There were no signs of a struggle. His mother, Leah Hackett, took a 15-minute walk that morning; when she returned, she told police, her son was gone.

Bernhardt thinks Zach was taken by a stranger.

She knew nothing of Capestany's offer until she was told about it Friday by a reporter.

Bernhardt said she would consult with family members and police before deciding whether to pursue a reward fund based on Capestany's offer.

"I don't know what harm or good it would do," she said.

Zach's family has been complimentary of investigators. Bernhardt said family members last week visited detectives who are investigating Zach's disappearance and gave them baskets of candy, cookies and nuts for Christmas.

"We couldn't give Zach anything, so we gave to the guys who are working for him," she said.

The Clearwater Police Department is not unique in its approach to rewards. Most law enforcement agencies in the Tampa Bay area rely on the Crime Stoppers program to offer rewards, said Debbie Carter, president of the Crime Stoppers of West Central Florida, which oversees the program in eight Suncoast counties.

Since 1988, about 5,900 cases in the Tampa Bay area have been solved through the program, said Susan Fraley, Crime Stoppers coordinator for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

Carter and Fraley said police run into a slew of prickly problems if they offer rewards.

Where will the money be kept? What happens to the interest? What happens to the money if no one comes forward? What if more than one tipster offers help? What if the donor decides to balk on his or her pledge? Will the money be paid upon arrest or conviction of a suspect?

Crime Stoppers, which allows donors to remain anonymous, can provide the push people need to come forward. About half of tipsters collect their reward, Carter and Fraley said.

"The reality is law enforcement is faced with a lot of apathy, and people don't want to get involved," Fraley said. "Money can talk, and it can get people to come out of the woodwork."

But Crime Stoppers is limited by bylaws that allow the organization to dangle no more than $1,000 for information. For information on Zach's whereabouts, for example, the reward is up to $1,000.

The agency caps the reward amount because it doesn't want assisting law enforcement to become a get-rich scheme, Fraley said.

Law enforcement agencies in Manatee County can offer larger rewards through a private organization established earlier this year. The group, called the Goldstar Club, has offered $5,000 rewards in 31 unsolved cases, most of them homicides.

The program was launched after the September 1999 slayings of a mother and her two young daughters in their home. A suspect was arrested about five weeks after the killings, but Sheriff Charlie Wells wanted to establish a program that offered large rewards for particularly violent crimes.

Maj. Ron Getman, commander of the Florida Highway Patrol troop in Bradenton, formed the non-profit club, which solicits money from the public but is not linked to any law enforcement or government organization.

Before the Goldstar Club was formed, people who wanted to donate more than $1,000 to help solve a specific crime were stymied, Getman said.

"We had the public wanting to donate to a fund, but there was no mechanism," Getman said.

The organization has raised about $20,000 through fundraising efforts.

The organization paid out $6,000 earlier this year after the conviction of a suspect in a homicide in which a rock tossed off a Manatee County overpass killed a motorist. Crime Stoppers paid another $1,000 reward in that case.

Two tipsters came forward with information that led to arrests in that case after the large rewards were offered. The tipsters split the money.

"I think you could probably safely say the tips came in because of the rewards that were offered," Getman said. "Because of the information, we were able to make arrests and get convictions.

"We feel it's a great resource," Getman added of the club. "It's a situation where you have to utilize every resource available to you. The reward system is simply another tool available to them."

Getman said he can understand why police agencies don't want to get involved in the reward business. "They don't want to handle the money, and I don't blame them," he said.

But he said he would consider a reward in the case of Zach's disappearance, if he were asked and the money were donated.

Authorities recently have posted two billboards in the area asking the public for information about Zach's disappearance. Clearwater police also set up an electronic sign near Savannah Trace Apartments asking people to call with tips.

Capestany said he just wants to do whatever he can to help find Zach Bernhardt.

"We should do something like that, especially with a child," he said.

* * *

Anyone with information about the disappearance of Zach Bernhardt may call Clearwater police at 562-4422 or Crime Stoppers at (800) 873-TIPS. Callers can remain anonymous and can be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000. Zach has blond hair and blue eyes. He was 4-feet-6 and 60 pounds at the time of his disappearance.

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