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FLORIDA BOY, 13-YEAR OLD CLAY MOORE, KIDNAPPED, ESCAPES

ARREST WARRANT FOR SUSPECT VICENTE IGNACIO BELTRAN MARINA

Clay Moore, 13, abducted Sketch of suspect Child escapes, reunited with family, suspect arrested

                          Clay Moore's father, Tim Moore, left, hugs         Jerry Moore, second from right, hugs his son, Tim Moore, shortly after the family
                          a friend while he waits for news about his           found out that Tim's son, Clay, had been found safe after being abducted.
                         13-year-old son's abduction on Friday at
                         the Kingsfield Lakes subdivision

THE SUSPECT

A medium-built, heavily tanned or dark-skinned man in his 20s or 30s with a mustache who stands about 5-foot-6.

THE VEHICLE

An older model, dark red metallic-colored pickup, possibly with extended cab, with white or faded yellow pinstripes and blue cloth seats.

IF YOU CAN HELP

Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the Manatee Sheriff's Office at (941) 747-3011 Ext. 3596, or (866) 634-8477.

Articles:

2/26/07 - Kids head back to scene of kidnapping

2/26/07 - Search continues for teen's kidnapper

2/25/07 - Police credit victim in helping ID kidnap suspect

2/25/07 - Fla. Kidnap Suspect Sought on Warrant

2/25/07 - Clay Moore was kidnapped for ransom

2/25/07 - Authorities find truck used in abduction

2/25/07 - Sheriff Names Suspect In Teen's Abduction

2/25/07 - Warrant issued for Florida kidnap suspect

2/25/07 - Deputies enlist the help of migrant farmworkers

2/25/07 - Parents warned as police search for Florida kidnapper

2/24/07 - Abduction: Another American Community Has Changed

2/24/07 - Danger grows as abductors get bolder, take risks

2/24/07 - Boy escapes bonds; gunman sought

2/24/07 - Tears, then welcome relief at Clay's school

Videos:

Watch video - Arrest warrant issued

Watch sheriff explain how police found the boy

Watch police explain how Clay was kidnapped

Watch police describe what they found at suspect's house

Kids head back to scene of kidnapping

February 26, 2007

PARRISH – After a horrific day of events on Friday, nervous parents escorted their children to a bus stop where one of their school mates was abducted.

Many of the parents are still on edge and concerned after 13-year-old Clay Moore was abducted at gunpoint from the bus stop in Parrish last week as their children watched. Now, they say they'll watch their own children extra-closely.

There was a collective sigh of relief when Moore was found safe on Friday afternoon. He managed to break free from his captor and use a good samaritan's cell phone to call his family. He was also able to give authorities an exact description of his abductor.

The search is still on, however, for the kidnapper who took Moore. Deputies say they do know the name of the man who is responsible for the abduction, and they've issued a warrant for his arrest.

Vicent Ignacio Beltran Moreno, 22, is wanted for armed kidnapping and aggravated assault. Authorities believe he planned to try and use Moore to get ransom money.

Deputies raided Moreno's home on 17th Street Court East in Bradenton on Sunday, hoping to find valuable clues that would lead to his capture. They say they found a ransom note, but no sign of him.

"He knew exactly what he was doing," said Dave Bristow, spokesman for the Manatee County Sheriff's Office. "He knew the area, so we're thinking yes, he's from this area. We're hoping he's still here."

Investigators say they are confident they'll track Moreno down, but they believe it's likely that he may have left the state. They say they've learned he used several different aliases, and they believe he had been working at a strawberry farm near where Moore was found.

Search continues for teen's kidnapper

February 26, 2007

PALMETTO – The search is still on for the man suspected of kidnapping a Bay Area teen at his school bus stop on Friday.

Clay Moore, 13, was among a group of children waiting for the bus that morning when a man in a red pickup truck pulled up. He ordered Clay into the truck, pointing a gun at his head.

According to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office, Clay was able to escape while the kidnapper was preparing a ransom note. However, his captor is still on the loose, and a manhunt is underway internationally to find him.

Vicente Beltran-Moreno

Detectives say Vicente Beltran-Moreno is the man who abducted Clay, and say he lived in the area with his girlfriend. Investigators say they believe he's left the area, and he may even be in Mexico.

Investigators believe Moreno tied Clay up on a farm in eastern Manatee County, and the boy used a safety pin he had on his clothes to get free before his captor could return. He was able to find a good samaritan with a cell phone, and used it to call his mother.

On Monday morning, Clay's school mates returned to class for the first time since the incident. There were two deputies and plenty of parents on hand as the children gathered to wait for their bus.

"It's just a precaution, because the kids are a little freaked out right now," said Clarissa Snook, a parent who brought her child to the bus stop. "So are the parents and everyone in the community."

Clay was not among the students who boarded the bus on Monday. He's still at home with his family, recovering from the events of Friday.

Police credit victim in helping ID kidnap suspect

February 25, 2007

PARRISH, Florida (AP) -- Florida police are crediting a 13-year-old boy with providing an accurate description of his abductor, leading authorities to the suspect's home and the red pickup truck believed to have been used in the kidnapping.

The information given to police by Clay Moore, 13, allowed authorities to get an arrest warrant for Vicente Ignacio Beltran-Moreno, 22, the Manatee County Sheriff's Department announced Sunday.

"He was right on the money with the information that he gave us," Sheriff Charlie Wells said at the Sunday morning news conference. (Watch police describe what they found at suspect's house )

Police believe Beltran-Moreno has fled Florida. They provided no information on his possible whereabouts.

Clay told police he was abducted at gunpoint on Friday morning from a school bus stop in Parrish, about 30 miles southeast of St. Petersburg, Florida.

He was taken to a wooded area and tied to a tree, but managed to escape some five hours later, walked a "considerable distance" and borrowed a farm worker's cell phone to call his mother, Wells said.

After talking to Clay, police identified the suspect as Beltran-Moreno and set up surveillance at his Manatee County home at around 4 p.m. on Saturday, Wells said. (Watch police explain how Clay was kidnapped )

During their investigation, police recovered a ransom note, possibly intended for Clay's parents, that contained unspecified threats, Wells said.

"It was his intention, the suspect's intention, to leave Clay Moore tied in the woods until he got his money," Wells said.

Wells said he was "shocked" after reading the note, which he did not detail.

Police do not believe the suspect had specifically targeted Clay. Wells said Clay "was just at the wrong place at the wrong time."

Because of the teen's ability to recall details about the suspect and where he was taken, Wells said, "the bottom line is that the man kidnapped the wrong kid." (Watch sheriff explain how police found the boy )

Beltran-Moreno, who is from Mexico, is believed to have fled Florida in the wake of the manhunt, according to Wells. Police said they saw no activity during their surveillance of his house.

Wells said law enforcement authorities in other states, which he did not name, have been notified.

The sheriff thanked his deputies for putting in long hours in the ongoing investigation, but noted that "our work isn't over."

"We've just got the arrest warrant, we've got the evidence, but we want him," Wells said. "I think we do have a sporting chance to bring him back to Manatee County and have him stand trial for this crime."

Beltran-Moreno is currently employed in Manatee County as an aluminum contractor building screen enclosures, the sheriff said.

He once worked as a "contract picker" on a farm near the wooded area where Clay was bound to a tree for several hours before his escape, Wells said.

Police hope to release a photograph of the suspect, which they say is very similar to the already-released police sketch based on Clay's description, Wells said.

During Sunday's news conference, the sheriff showed a photograph of the red Ford Ranger pickup truck now in police custody.

Sheriff's department spokesman Dave Bristow said parents should keep close tabs on their children, especially while the suspect is at large. Anything suspicious should be reported, he said.

"We're extremely concerned, [but] I don't think it's time for anybody to panic."

CNN's Jason Morris contributed to this report.

Fla. Kidnap Suspect Sought on Warrant

Sunday, February 25, 2007 10:36 AM EST

PARRISH, Fla. - A warrant was issued Sunday for a man suspected of kidnapping a 13-year-old boy at gunpoint from a school bus stop in a foiled ransom scheme, authorities said.

Detectives searched a house early Sunday and found enough evidence to seek an arrest warrant for Vicente Ignacio Beltran Marina, Manatee County Sheriff Charlie Wells said in a press conference Sunday.

Police have been searching for a suspect since Clay Moore was abducted Friday morning, taken to the woods about 20 miles away and bound to a tree. Clay escaped hours later and walked until he found a farm worker with a cell phone.

Manatee County Sheriff Charlie Wells tells reporters Friday, Feb. 23, 2007,
in Parrish, Fla., that 13-year-old Clay Moore was safe. Moore, who was
abducted at gunpoint while waiting for his school bus Friday morning,
was later found nearly 20 miles away. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)

Investigators believe Marina has left Florida, Wells said. A ransom note and a red pickup truck believed to have been used in the kidnapping was found in the search, he said.

Wells said investigators believed Marina intended to hold Clay in the woods until he had received his money. But the boy used a safety pin, his teeth and hands to untie himself and escape, investigators said.

"This man kidnapped the wrong kid," Wells said. "This is an observant kid. He's courageous."

Police put the house under surveillance Saturday afternoon, then executed a search warrant early Sunday.

Parrish is about 30 miles southeast of St. Petersburg. The bus stop where the abduction occurred was at the entrance to a subdivision off a rural road in eastern Manatee County.

A service of the Associated Press(AP)

Clay Moore was kidnapped for ransom

February 25, 2007

Watch video - Arrest warrant issued

Manatee County Sheriff Charlie Wells announces that an arrest warrant has been issued for the man believed to be responsible Wells said the 13-year-old’s suspected abductor is Vicente Ignacio Beltran Marina, who is believed to have fled the state.

Authorities find truck used in abduction

February 25, 2007

By STAFF REPORT

BRADENTON -- Police have found the truck used to abduct a 13-year-old Parrish boy Friday, and say they know the man who committed the crime.

Police early this morning raided the suspect's home at 3719 17th St. Court East, in Bradenton. The truck was there but the man was not.

The man took Manatee School of the Arts student Clay Moore Friday morning as the boy waited for his school bus near his Parrish home. Clay told police the man forced him into the truck at gunpoint and bound his hands and feet with duct tape. The man then took Clay to a wooded area on an East County farm and secured him to a tree using duct tape. The man left and Clay was able to escape get out of the duct tape and escape.

Manatee County Sheriff Charlie Wells has called a press conference for 9 a.m. to release the suspect's name and disclose details on the case.

For more on this story, continue to check HeraldTribune.com.

Sheriff Names Suspect In Teen's Abduction

POSTED: 10:07 am EST February 25, 2007

PARRISH, Fla -- In what was called a kidnapping for ransom, the Manatee County Sheriff has named a local farmworker as the man believed to have abducted 13 year old Clay Moore Friday as he waited at a school bus stop.

During a morning news conference Sunday, Sheriff Charlie Wells announced that deputies had executed a search warrant early in the morning that produced enough evidence to charge Vicente Ignacio Beltran Marina with the kidnapping.

Among the items found was a red pickup truck believed to have been used in the alleged abduction.

However Wells says that Marina has not been found and may have left the state.

Clay Moore was taken from a bus stop Friday morning as he and other middle school students waited for their bus in the Manatee County community of Parrish.

The boy was found safe that afternoon, telling authorities that he had been tied to a tree in the woods, but managed to escape after freeing himself.

During the news conference, Wells stated that the suspect planned to leave Clay tied up until he got money from his parents.

Warrant Issued for Fla. Kidnap Suspect

February 25, 2007
By Associated Press

PARRISH, Fla. - A warrant was issued Sunday for a man suspected of kidnapping a 13-year-old boy at gunpoint from a school bus stop, authorities said.

Police have been searching for a suspect since Clay Moore was abducted Friday morning. He escaped hours later with just scratches and scrapes.

A judge signed an arrest warrant Sunday for the man they believe kidnapped the teen, Manatee County sheriff's spokesman Dave Bristow said. No one had been arrested and police did not immediately identify the person named in the warrant.

A man ordered Clay to get into a pickup truck, bound him and took him to a wooded rural area about 20 miles away. Clay freed himself after he was left alone and then walked until he found a farm worker with a cell phone.

Parrish is about 30 miles southeast of St. Petersburg. The bus stop where the abduction occurred was at the entrance to a subdivision off a rural road in eastern Manatee County.

Deputies enlist the help of migrant farmworkers

February 25, 2007
By Michael A. Scarcella

Sheriff praises victim's strength, says kidnapper had 'evil' in mind

EAST MANATEE COUNTY -- Clay Moore returned Saturday to rural farmland here, showing detectives the thicket of woods where a man bound and gagged him during a brazen daylight abduction a day earlier.

Authorities are using Clay, the essential witness, to help piece together a time line and to flush out clues to narrow the search for the man who snatched the boy at gunpoint from a school bus stop Friday.

Family members said Saturday that the 13-year-old Parrish boy is doing well, and his friends and family are thankful he was not injured during his hours-long ordeal Friday.

Authorities questioned migrant workers who live in trailers on farms in East Manatee to glean any information they might have. Sheriff's deputies armed with fliers bearing the sketch of the abductor showed the image to workers.

Manatee County Sheriff Charlie Wells oversaw witness interviews Saturday in an office at Falkner Farms on State Road 64 East, a mile or so from the woods where Clay's abductor bound the boy with duct tape and tied him to a tree.

"This is a slow process, running down leads," Wells said. "We're still trying to make sense of this whole thing."

Wells said detectives were following several leads, but declined to discuss the details of the investigation.

Questions linger about why the man chose Clay and why the abductor left the boy alone in the woods more than 20 miles from his home in the Kingsfield Lakes community in Parrish.

Wells said he believes the abductor is familiar with Manatee County and that the man purposely brought the boy to a destination in the woods.

The man had "evil" intentions, Wells said, but ruling out any one motive would be premature and speculative.

Clay was bound in tape and tied to a tree, a family member said, before he wriggled to freedom using a safety pin taken from his abductor's pickup truck.

The boy wandered through woods not knowing where he was, authorities said.

A farmworker was refueling a tractor Friday afternoon when the skinny teenager emerged from dense woods, lost, scared and hungry.

The farmer spoke broken English. Clay wanted a cell phone. He called his mother about 1:30 p.m., more than four hours after he was taken away at gunpoint on Old Tampa Road at Douglas Hill Place in Parrish.

Saturday morning Clay directed law enforcement officers to his position in the woods. Sheriff Wells, who met Clay for the first time Saturday, told the boy he was proud of his strength.

Authorities all around praised Clay, who waited awhile after his abductor drove away before freeing himself from the tape he was wrapped up in.

"It sends chills up my spine to think he was out there," Manatee County sheriff's Sgt. William Riley said Saturday. "He was the reason we found him."

Riley was among the deputies who first met up with Clay after he escaped from the woods along S.R. 64 near the Kibler Ranch.

The boy was relieved, Riley said, when deputies arrived. Clay guzzled water and downed a McDonald's lunch that a deputy gladly gave up.

Clay was reunited with family members at Manatee Memorial Hospital, where authorities took the boy for an evaluation. He suffered minor cuts at some point during the abduction.

Police and family members can only speculate on the intentions of a man who would snatch a boy and stash him in a woods with a sock taped over his mouth.

"I truly believe he was left there to come back to once everything died down," said an aunt, Lisa Rumsey, who was with Clay and his family late Friday.

Clay, a student at Manatee School for the Arts in Palmetto, and his family are trying to return to some kind of normal routine.

His best friend spent much of Friday evening at the Moore house in Kingsfield Lakes. Clay fielded calls from relatives.

"I just told him that I loved him so much," said one of Clay's grandmothers, Rebecca Kelle, who lives in Indiana. "He proved himself to be very brave. We thank God nothing more happened. We were just thrilled how he kept his wits."

Sheriff's deputies are expected to step up patrols in Kingsfield Lakes. Parents, meanwhile, vowed to be fixtures at neighborhood bus stops in the coming weeks.

On Saturday, Aimee Smith was at a Kingsfield Lakes playground with her youngest children -- a daughter who is 2 and her 4-year-old son -- chatting with a neighbor about the abduction.

Smith had reached a point where she felt comfortable allowing her kids to play alone in the backyard. But after Friday's dramatic crime, Smith said she will no longer allow unsupervised play time.

"You watch your children, but you tend to be lax until something happens," said Smith, 30. "I believe in talking to the kids. I tell them you're safe when you're near Mommy and Daddy. But they need to know that there are bad people out there."

Authorities said they intend to find the man who abducted Clay and charge him with armed kidnapping -- a crime punishable by life in prison.

_______

Herald-Tribune staff writer Latisha R. Gray contributed to this report.

Parents warned as police search for Florida kidnapper

February 25, 2007

PARRISH, Florida (CNN) -- Police warned parents to closely watch their children Saturday as authorities searched for the kidnapper of a 13-year-old boy.

The teen, Clay Moore, was safe at home after being abducted at gunpoint Friday from a Parrish, Florida, school bus stop. Clay later reportedly used a safety pin to escape from a field where he had been left bound and alone.

Dave Bristow of the Manatee County Sheriff's Department warned parents in the area, south of Tampa, to watch their children carefully and report anything suspicious to police.

Although Bristow said authorities are "extremely concerned," he cautioned parents not to panic.

The Sarasota, Florida, Herald-Tribune reported that Clay's aunt, Lisa Rumsey, said her nephew was visibly disturbed by his ordeal, but doesn't appear to be physically harmed. (Watch police explain how Clay was kidnapped )

The teen was abducted at gunpoint by a man driving a red pickup truck, who forced Clay into the vehicle in front of other children, police said.

Police told Clay's family the kidnapper bound the boy's hands and feet with tape, shoved a sock in his mouth and then taped his mouth, Rumsey told the newspaper.

The abductor drove Clay to a field and tied him to a tree, where, later, he escaped by cutting the tape with a safety pin he had on his sleeve, according to the Herald-Tribune.

Clay then walked a "considerable distance," until he encountered a farm worker who let the teen use a cell phone to call his mother, police said.

"God watched over him and brought him back to us," Rumsey told the newspaper. (Watch sheriff explain how police found the boy ) Police release drawing of suspect

Police released a sketch of the suspect. Bristow said authorities are about "90 percent sure" the man is Hispanic, but he also could be white.

The suspect is believed to be in his 30s; about 5 feet, 7 inches tall with a medium build. Asked whether the boy was able to describe the man's voice, Bristow said, "Unfortunately, they didn't talk a whole lot, so he didn't get a whole lot on that. They were only together probably a half an hour."

The vehicle the suspect used to drive Clay to a remote area was described as a dark red, metallic, four-door pickup with a blue cloth interior and a faded yellow or white pinstripe down the middle of the exterior, said Bristow.

He said it apparently was an older-model truck, perhaps 1980s.

"The car description still is probably the best thing we have to go on," Bristow told CNN. 'Extremely traumatic day'

In a written statement, Clay's family said they were "very happy he is safe and back home."

The family statement, released late Friday, said, "We ask that everyone will work together to help locate the individual responsible so he can't do this to someone else."

The message thanked police and others involved in the investigation and "everyone for their prayers and support." The statement also asked the news media for privacy as "we spend time with Clay after this extremely traumatic day."

Danger grows as abductors get bolder, take risks

February 24, 2007
By Anna Scott

Clay Moore's abduction from a school bus stop Friday morning was the third in an eerie string of child-snatching and attempted kidnapping incidents around the region this week.

In each unrelated case, the abductors showed bold disregard for being caught by committing the crimes in front of witnesses on busy public streets.

On Thursday morning in Pinellas County, a 16-year-old girl was chased by a man who caught up to her and two other girls at their bus stop and asked for sex. They called 911 from a cell phone, and the man was caught and arrested.

Outside Southside Elementary School in Sarasota on Thursday morning, a man attempted to lure an 11-year-old girl into his car with a story about a lost dog. The girl ran away screaming, and police later used her description of the car to make an arrest.

And on Friday morning, a man used a gun to abduct 13-year-old Clay from a crowd of students at a Manatee County bus stop. He was found alive four hours later in a farm field.

"The brazenness of these cases, especially Clay Moore, is what is of greatest concern to us," said Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

"The vast majority of cases seem less compulsive. These guys are usually very careful. They tend to be very manipulative. They use seduction scenarios instead of threat of force."

Schools teach children not to get in cars with strangers. They teach them to run away, to yell "fire" so someone will look and come to their aid, to fight back until they can't fight anymore, to remember descriptions of the kidnapper and the car.

Those tactics saved the Pinellas teens and the Southside student. But when a gun is involved, as in Clay's case, sometimes there's nothing more a child can do, Allen said.

"We tell children to do everything possible to stay out of that car," he said. "Once you're in the car you're under his control. When a gun is involved, the temptation is to do what he says.

"The reality is, there are no silver bullets. Could Clay have done anything to get away from a guy with a gun bent on taking him? Probably not."

Of the estimated 58,000 abductions by strangers nationwide each year, 48 percent of those involved perpetrators taking children to vehicles.

"Reckless flagrant abductions, where the criminal is not trying to be sneaky, I've seen a lot more of those," said Bradenton private investigator Chuck Chambers, who worked on the case of Carlie Brucia, a Sarasota girl who was abducted behind a car wash and found dead in 2004.

"In the old days, they would do it under cover of darkness, wearing a mask," Chambers said. "Now they're just like wolves after the prey. We need to come up with a different tactic to fight that."

Chambers suggests community surveillance programs to monitor children before and after school. Parents should team up and take turns watching children and videotaping strangers in the neighborhood.

He said that while a group of bystanders might not deter a criminal, the threat of being caught on tape might be a deterrent.

Southside Principal Sharon Marks said she had never seen anything as overt as the attempt to lure one of her students Thursday.

"You hope the day never comes," she said. "When our day came, we breathed a sign of relief. It's a reminder that it's nice to get a second chance."

SAFETY TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Teach your child to say no if a stranger asks for personal information or tries to give gifts without your permission.

Play the “What If” game to help children think about potentially dangerous situations.

Tell your child not to go up to a stranger’s car, but instead to stand back and talk. If the stranger gets out to talk, your child should run immediately to a safe place.

If your child is ever grabbed by a stranger, he or she should fight, kick, bite, scratch or do whatever it takes to get away. Tell your child to never give up.

For more information or safety tips, visit the FMCIC Web site at www3.fdle. state.fl.us/MCICSearch.

SOURCE: Missing Children Information Clearinghouse

American Chronicle

Abduction: Another American Community Has Changed

February 24, 2007
By Whym Rhymer

On Friday (2/23/07) morning in Parrish, Florida's Kingsfield Lakes subdivision, in southwest Florida's Manatee County, the students of the Manatee School for the Arts were just getting to their bus stop and, as he usually was, 13-year old Clay Moore was zooming around on his skateboard to kill time until the bus arrived. It was a normal, beautiful morning but then it turned bad.

A red extended cab pickup pulled up alongside Clay, a man with a gun got out, forced Clay into the pickup and, amidst the screams and shouts of Clay's schoolmates, he drove away with their friend. The man drove Clay directly to a wooded area where he used duct tape to tie Clay hand and foot to a tree and shoved a sock in his mouth to prevent him from calling for help -- he then just drove away, leaving Clay bound and gagged. As far as we know at this stage there was very little conversation between the man and Clay and the man's intentions can only be guessed at (your most vile guess, however, is probably your best guess).

Fortunately, Clay had a safety pin attached to his shirt sleeve; he managed to get the pin open and use it to tear the duct tape -- in a short time he was free and running for help. Thanks to a farmer in a field on his tractor and the farmer's willingness to let Clay use his cell phone to call home, the police who were at Clay's home talking to his parents were soon on their way to pick him up.

We are left once again to ask ourselves: what sort of madness has invaded our society and what is it doing to us? An abduction in front of witnesses by a man who makes no attempt to cover his face, hide his gun or otherwise mask his intentions either tells a tale of extreme arrogance or extreme desperation driven by some force we (if we are lucky) will never understand firsthand.

Clay is home now but another American community has changed permanently. Kids in Manatee County and well beyond will no longer be free to go 'wherever' and do 'whatever' or generally enjoy life as a kid should be able to enjoy life. Their parent's fears and, indeed, their own fears of what might happen to them if they meet some "stranger" has a far greater effect on them than they may now realize. Many opportunities to meet many wonderful people will be lost; curiosity, which is natural in every child, will be dampened by caution and, as a result, knowledge will be lost; trust and openness will be concepts that become more and more foreign every day until no 'new face' will be welcome in the community.

One unstable individual, interrupting the normal flow of life on one sunny morning in southwestern Florida, can do (and has done) all that.

Boy escapes bonds; gunman sought

February 24, 2007
By Anthony Cormier and Michael A. Scarcella

PARRISH -- Clay Moore's terrifying ordeal began Friday when a stranger with a gun snatched the 13-year-old boy from a bus stop.

Clay Moore's father, Tim Moore, left, hugs         Jerry Moore, second from right, hugs his son, Tim Moore, shortly after the family
a friend while he waits for news about his           found out that Tim's son, Clay, had been found safe after being abducted.
13-year-old son's abduction on Friday at
the Kingsfield Lakes subdivision

His captor drove Clay 20 miles to a wooded area, where he bound his feet, duct-taped him to a tree, and stuffed a sock in his mouth before taping it shut and leaving.

As Clay tried to wriggle free, his family and an entire community were stricken with worry over what might be happening to the boy. Memories of murdered children like Carlie Brucia, Coralrose Fullwood and Jessica Lunsford were still fresh in their minds.

But Clay didn't wait for his abductor to return. Instead, he wormed his way out of the duct tape, using a safety pin to help cut through it.

Then he pulled the sock from his mouth and began walking through the woods. After a few hours, he found a farmer who gave him a cell phone, and he called his mother.

Family members celebrated, authorities focused on finding Clay's abductor and two communities -- the Kingsfield Lakes subdivision in North Manatee and the Manatee School for the Arts -- rejoiced over Clay's safe return.

"It's miraculous, to tell you the truth," Manatee County Sheriff Charlie Wells said.

But the relief was temporary, as deputies Friday night continued to search for the man who had snatched Clay as he stood with friends waiting to start another school day.

"We're on the same manhunt that we were," Wells said. "Our suspect is still at large. We will be doing everything we can to locate him and bring him to justice."

The brazen 8:50 a.m. abduction in front of a dozen children at the bus stop on Old Tampa and Douglas Hill roads jarred neighbors and compelled an immediate re-assessment of security in Kingsfield Lakes.

Clay was skateboarding with friends at the bus stop when a man in a red truck pulled up. He got out and, at gunpoint, ordered Clay into the vehicle.

Clay's friends screamed and scattered.

Clay, a Manatee School for the Arts student with shaggy blond hair and an affinity for writing and drawing, was nearest to the road.

"Sir, I don't know you," Clay said, according to friends who were there.

"He just picked him up and took off. He was gone. He didn't know what to do. It was crazy," recalled Rabah Jaffal, 14, who said the abductor wore black gloves and carried a silver-and-black gun.

With helicopters overhead, police officers from local and state agencies as well as the FBI joined a manhunt that took them to forests, waterways and farmlands.

Police stopped more than two dozen vehicles similar to the abductor's red pickup. Officers distributed fliers bearing Clay's image.

During a grim afternoon news conference, Wells acknowledged that in rural Manatee County, "There's a lot of places to hide."

The Manatee School for the Arts and three elementary schools near the abduction were locked down.

Moore was taken by the abductor to a wooded area about 30 minutes away; the driver took him there without stopping, authorities said.

Wells said there was minimal conversation during the trip. He said the suspect had an "evil" intention by binding Clay.

Clay waited for the man to leave before trying to free himself.

Detectives questioned Clay before reuniting him with his parents late in the day.

Wells said the abductor is likely familiar with Manatee and that the woods were likely a planned destination.

Clay was taken to Manatee Memorial Hospital after his rescue; authorities said he suffered only minor cuts. Wells said the motive for the abduction wasn't clear, and wouldn't comment on whether sex was involved.

Clay and his parents arrived home shortly before 5 p.m. in an unmarked police cruiser with tinted windows. The car pulled into the garage and the door closed.

His little brother Ethan, 7, peeked his head through the blinds of a house window. "Clay's OK, everyone," he shouted to neighbors and friends outside.

The blinds were drawn. Deputies and a victim rights advocate were still inside the home.

Clay's aunt, Lisa Rumsey, said as she left the house that the family was relieved. Clay was visibly shaken up, she said, but he did not appear to be physically injured.

Rumsey said police told family members that the abductor tied Clay's hands and feet with tape. His sock was shoved in his mouth, and his mouth was then taped.

Rumsey said the man brought Clay to a field off State Road 64, then tied him to a tree. He was able to break free and cut the tape using a safety pin that he had on his sleeve, she said.

"God watched over him and brought him back to us," Rumsey said.

Kingsfield Lakes resident Kurt Traynor said he believes he saw the abductor's pickup at about 8:45 a.m. by the playground adjacent to Clay's home.

The truck looked suspicious. He had never seen it in the neighborhood before. Traynor thought maybe the man was trying to steal mulch that had just been delivered to the neighborhood.

"This definitely was not a random act," said Traynor. "He was staking out the house."

The suspect is a dark-skinned man in his 20s or 30s, with a bushy mustache, who was last seen driving a red pickup.

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Herald-Tribune staff writers Christina Sanchez and Chris O'Donnell contributed to this report.

Tears, then welcome relief at Clay's school

BY CHRISTOPHER O'DONNELL

PALMETTO -- Manatee School for the Arts prides itself on its Bohemian atmosphere.

It's a home for hundreds of unconventional students, like some of the girls who sport bright pink hair, or a few boys who feel comfortable enough to wear eyeliner.

That carefree environment is one reason that, unlike most area high schools, MSA doesn't have a dedicated sheriff's deputy on campus.

And even on Friday, as scores of police officers were responding to the abduction of the wise-cracking kid students know simply as Clay, staff did their best to keep the school day as normal as possible. D
Clay Moore is an eighth-grader at Manatee School
for the Arts. More than 100 parents took their
children out of school early Friday.

But as each hour passed without news of 13-year-old Clay Moore's safety, students became increasingly distressed. They knew that Clay had been snatched at gunpoint at a school bus stop Friday morning.

Some students, including a few who had witnessed Clay's abduction, were counseled by the school district's crisis team.

Others sought the arms of their favorite teachers.

"He's fine, baby doll," Dean of Students Linda Evans said softly into the ear of one crying girl as they hugged in the school lobby. "We're taking care of him."

Hundreds of worried parents phoned the school to check if their children were safe. About 125 parents took their children home early, some breaking into tears as they embraced their children in the lobby.

"I just wanted to see her," said Lori Lorisi, who picked up her daughter. "She takes the bus home from school. I didn't want to take any chances."

Other parents expressed anger that a child could be abducted in daylight, in front of other children.

But at around 1:30 p.m., school staff got good news. Principal Bill Evans relayed the news over the PA system that Clay had been found, apparently unharmed.

"I'm very relieved," said Ricky Miller, an eighth-grader who is in some of Clay's classes. "I was hoping he was going to be OK."

Teachers and staff admitted that it had been tough to bottle up their anxiety in front of students.

"It's like you don't breathe for five hours; you do everything you have to do but you can't let the kids know," Evans said.