FL Amber Alert (1/19/05)

[linuxgeek]

Amber Alert Text

news src

Police Continue Search For Missing Boy

POSTED: 5:52 am EST January 19, 2005
UPDATED: 12:36 pm EST January 19, 2005
DUNNELLON, Fla. -- An Amber Alert was issued early Wednesday morning for 11-year-old Adam Kirkirt.

Adam is 5 feet tall and weighs 100 pounds. He was last seen wearing black pants and a Spiderman sweatshirt. Investigators believe he's with 42-year-old Frederick Fretz. Police said they may be traveling in a white Chevrolet Lumina with temporary Florida tag number K930950.

Adam was last seen Tuesday leaving Dunnellon Elementary School with Fretz (pictured, below). According to police, Fretz is a known sex offender in both Pennsylvania and Arizona.

It was a routine that Adam and Fretz had gone through every day for about the last three months. Fretz would pick up Adam at school and bring him home because Adam's father doesn't have a valid driver's license. But Tuesday afternoon, Adam's dad came home and neither his son nor Fretz ever showed up.

Helped by the FBI and Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Marion County sheriff's deputies started an all-out blitz early Wednesday morning by going door to door to put out an Amber Alert on available media to help find Adam.

In the meantime, Adam's dad, Ivert Kirkirt, sat by the phone waiting for any news about his roommate or missing son.

"My son is my life. I don't know. I want him back," Kirkirt said.

Ivert Kirkirt first met Fretz in New Jersey then again at the Marion County Jail, when both men were arrested last year. The two then shared a mobile home when they got out of jail.

Even so, Kirkirt said he had no idea Fretz was a convicted sex offender in Pennsylvania. Fretz had actually registered as a sex offender when he moved to Arizona, but apparently Fretz did not register when he moved here to Florida.

"I spoke to his probation officer Wednesday morning. They didn't even know he was a sex offender," Ivert Kirkirt said.

A phone message Fretz left on Ivert Kirkirt's answering machine said he had just picked up Adam but was having car trouble. No one has seen Fretz or Adam since.

"We checked as much as we could check in the west end of the county both by vehicle and by air, and at this point, we've been unable to locate the child or the suspect," Marion County Sheriff's Office Capt. Dennis Strow said.

Detectives admitted this all could be merely someone broken down with an 11-year-old boy, although they said they strongly doubt it. Anyone with information is asked to call the Missing Children Information Clearinghouse at (888) FL-MISSING.

 

[lavender]

How in the world is it that the probation officer doesn't know that this dude was a sex offender registered in another state?

Geez.

 

[linuxgeek]

Downfall of not having all the states' databases interconnected. Basically need a federal database they can all upload to.

 

[linuxgeek]

Florida's Sexual Predator Database

 

[linuxgeek]

KY DB

 

[linuxgeek]

This one seems to have all the states' lists:

http://www.sexoffender.com/search.html

 

[Equinoxe]

I don't know why I came into this thread, it only made me sad.

 

[BigGator5]

I've added a ticker to my journal, under my links page.

 

[linuxgeek]

I don't know why I came into this thread, it only made me sad.

yeah, it sux that things like this happens. At least the Amber Alerts significantly up the odds that the end story will have some happiness.

 

[Citra]

Downfall of not having all the states' databases interconnected. Basically need a federal database they can all upload to.

Yep!! I just heard today that most States Police Departments can't track 911 cell phone calls.

 

[linuxgeek]

track in which aspect?

 

[BigGator5]

Yep!! I just heard today that most States Police Departments can't track 911 cell phone calls.

You mean, "trace"?

 

[Killswitch]

Downfall of not having all the states' databases interconnected. Basically need a federal database they can all upload to.

Oh come off it.

In this day and age if they dont have reciprocal databases they should all be fucking shot.

Maybe we could take some of the trillions of dollars of AmeriKKKas money that Bush is spending on his buddies to buy a server and implement this database.

 

[Shrimps'n'Peas]

 

[linuxgeek]

Maybe we could take some of the trillions of dollars of AmeriKKKas money that Bush is spending on his buddies to buy a server and implement this database.

Probalby could do it for just the cost of the hardware & the time to write the web access tools. Of course it's gov, so using free software & OS options wouldn't be an option.

 

[Killswitch]

Probalby could do it for just the cost of the hardware & the time to write the web access tools. Of course it's gov, so using free software & OS options wouldn't be an option.

Take it from the homeland security budget.

If Washington can be expected to pay for popcorn stands with their allotment then the feds can cough up a few hundred grand from theirs to implemenet a tool that actually will help protect the kids.

They never could have protected that 17 year old kid that Laura Bush murdered with her car though.

 

[linuxgeek]

If something counts as homeland security, I see making the presence of sexual offenders & predators being something that does.

With it just being a database system, getting it up and running should be trivial. Getting all the states to provide their data, that may be a challenge. But it would be better than expecting a perdator to register with whatever state they move too.

 

[linuxgeek]

Marion County Sheriff Press Release

AMBER ALERT UPDATE
1/19/2005
4:00 P.M.

Information was received that Fretz had gotten a buzz cut hairstyle in the last few weeks. He has no facial hair. A reconstructed image was made from the original photo showing him with longer hair.

More current photos of Adam have been made available. Identifying mark is a mole on his left cheek.

Fretz was arrested in 1989 in Pennsylvania for sex offenses against a minor. He received a prison sentence which he served from 1991-1996. He moved to Arizona, where he registered as a sex offender per law. His supervision on this charge has been satisfied and he is no longer on probation.

When he moved to Florida, he was required to register as a convicted sex offender, which he did not. He was arrested by Ocala Police Department in September 2004 for a charge of domestic battery and possession of marijuana. He was placed on parole and required to register with the Office of Probation and Parole. He has spoken with his parole officer, but has not made an appointment to formally register.

MCSO investigators are being assisted by agents from Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement, Ocala Police Dept. and the FBI. All leads are being investigated to the fullest extent. Anyone who may have seen Fretz and Adam Kirkirt, or know their whereabouts can call MCSO at 352-732-9111.

The Amber Alert web site for FDLE has been updated with the following pictures; this information can also be found on our web site: www.marionso.com

The vehicle is a 1993 4-door white Chevy Lumina with a temporary tag of K930950.

This tag is taped to the left side of the back window. There is no known direction of travel for Fretz.

No communication with Fretz or Adam has been made since Tuesday, 1/8/05, afternoon.

Sources have advised that Fretz would take Adam camping in the Ocala National Forest. A team of investigators have been searching the campsites. MCSO Aviation Unit has also been checking the campsites and the area surrounding Dunnellon Elementary School all day.

http://www.sheriff.marioncountyfl.org/pio/releases/011905_files/image002.jpg http://www.sheriff.marioncountyfl.org/pio/releases/011905_files/image004.jpg

 

[Celtic Princess]

Want to know what's more sad than knowing the boy is gone?


Being fairly certain that they're not going to find him alive. Fretz has served time for a crime he no doubt committed again, only this time its much worse. He has no reason to let the boy live.
*sigh*

I'll cross my fingers anyway.

 

[linuxgeek]

Growning up on the SE corner of the ONF, I can say there is a lot of forest out there to disappear into. It doesn't bode well. Hopefully someone saw something that the radio & tv reports will make them realize so they can report it. All it takes is one good lead.

 

[Celtic Princess]

One lead would be nice. *sigh*


I'm just... not optimistic. It's been hours. Hopefully, he'll continue to be stupid and take the boy on the road.

 

[JustSkye]

Yep!! I just heard today that most States Police Departments can't track 911 cell phone calls.

This is true. I have made a few when working alone and not near a phone... and I completely got another state or at least another city other than what I was in. They had to redirect the call to my city!

 

[JustSkye]

One lead would be nice. *sigh*


I'm just... not optimistic. It's been hours. Hopefully, he'll continue to be stupid and take the boy on the road.

Sadly, according to statistics, if they don't hear or find anything within the first few hours ... it doesn't ever bring good news.

I also find it hard to believe that the probation officer couldn't have known he was dealing with a known sex offender. Don't you have the criminal's background and previous charges and terms of probation on hand and in a file when they are to recieve them??? How the hell could he not have known??

 

[linuxgeek]

This is true. I have made a few when working alone and not near a phone... and I completely got another state or at least another city other than what I was in. They had to redirect the call to my city!

With older cell phones, the best they can do is get a list of what cell towers your signal is being picked up from and how strong it is and kinda triangulate a general location. Newer phones, not sure starting when or which manufactures & models, there is a GPS in the phone whether the user has access to it or not which will feed the callers exact location to a 911 system setup to recieve the data.

 

[Celtic Princess]

Sadly, according to statistics, if they don't hear or find anything within the first few hours ... it doesn't ever bring good news.

I also find it hard to believe that the probation officer couldn't have known he was dealing with a known sex offender. Don't you have the criminal's background and previous charges and terms of probation on hand and in a file when they are to recieve them??? How the hell could he not have known??

No, most probation officers don't get a full criminal history of their parolee. They're worried about the crime they were convicted of that sent them to that particular officer.
Also, keep in mind that most probation officers are seriously over loaded. If I remember my numbers correctly, most Florida probation officers keep track of no less than 150 people. That's a ton of criminals to not only know where they are, but know what they've done in the past. Things fall through the cracks. It's an imperfect system.

That's why law enforcement officers urge everyone to research convicted child molesters. Look up everyone who comes in contact with your child or comes into your home. It's better to know before hand than to find out the hard way.