FL Amber Alert (1/19/05)

[linuxgeek]

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??

Unfortunately, at least in Florida, they leave it to the sex offender to register as such when he/she comes to the state. I have no clue how the Florida system wouldn't flag this guy as having a record in other states. I would hope the state level systems would be setup to cross index with other states.

 

[JustSkye]

Unfortunately, at least in Florida, they leave it to the sex offender to register as such when he/she comes to the state. I have no clue how the Florida system wouldn't flag this guy as having a record in other states. I would hope the state level systems would be setup to cross index with other states.

Then many need to sit up and raise cain... so to speak, and make it happen. Haven't they learned yet???

 

[linuxgeek]

Then many need to sit up and raise cain... so to speak, and make it happen. Haven't they learned yet???

The level I know to address it to first is the individual state legislators. Ultimately, it may need to go to the federal level so that there is a central point to administer and maintain the database.

It may even be something which is in the works in the FBI, but on a backburner due to the focus on homeland security in 9/11.

 

[linuxgeek]

Federal level lookup:

http://www.house.gov/writerep/

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

 

[babydoll2u]

Has there been no further updates on this child Linux?
I've been watching but haven't seen anything.....

 

[BuffRudy]

I shouldn't have read this. This is horrible. If this kid is found alive, he'll never be the same again.

 

[babydoll2u]

I shouldn't have read this. This is horrible. If this kid is found alive, he'll never be the same again.

very very true....

 

[linuxgeek]

Has there been no further updates on this child Linux?
I've been watching but haven't seen anything.....

Going to see what I find this morning. As of the 11p news last night, the sheriff office planned to do more searching of the ONF in the daylight and also put out a request that the kid just be left in a populous area so he can call for help.

 

[linuxgeek]

This is apparently the group the guy is known for camping out with in the ONF.

 

[linuxgeek]

Article printed today from an Ocala newspaper.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Article published Jan 20, 2005
Young boy missing
Family friend allegedly took boy, 11, from Dunnellon school

OCALA — Last month, 11-year-old Adam Kirkirt moved into the mobile home his father shared with a friend he met while incarcerated in the Marion County Jail.

That friend, Frederick Fretz Jr., 42, would drive the Dunnellon Elementary School fifth grader to and from school, bring him fishing about twice a week and take him camping. Adam's father, Ivert Kirkirt said everything seemed fine.

But Kirkirt did not know that the friend he trusted with his son's safety was a sex offender, who in 1991 was convicted of a sexual assault on a 10-year-old boy in Pennsylvania.

He did not find that out until Fretz picked Adam up at school Tuesday afternoon and disappeared with him. Now the Marion County Sheriff's Office has issued an Amber Alert, a nationwide search bulletin that the boy is missing and endangered.

Marion County Sheriff Ed Dean said the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement have joined deputies to search around the clock to locate Fretz and Adam.

They have scoured campsites in the Ocala National Forest and the area around Dunnellon Elementary with no trace of the two. The Sheriff's Office has also issued a warrant to arrest Fretz for failure to register as a sex offender, spokesman Capt. Dennis Strow said.

Ivert Kirkirt and his estranged wife, Dorraine Kirkirt, each made a public plea for Fretz to return their son home safely.

"I just want to tell him to bring my son home. I want him where he belongs," Ivert Kirkirt said. "I trusted you. You know he means everything to me. Please bring him back. Please be the friend I thought you were."

Dorraine Kirkirt, 39, said in December Adam moved into the gray and white single wide his father and Fretz rented in Oakwood Mobile Manor, so she could take on a second job to earn extra money after she was evicted from her Dunnellon home.

"I thought he would be safe with my husband," she said.

She said she last saw Adam on Monday night, when they went to the circus at the Marion County Livestock Pavilion. She said her message to Fretz was "just to bring him back."

"Even if he just drops him off somewhere, he'll know what to do. He'll find his way to a phone and contact us. . . . I know he's scared," she said. "His family loves him always, no matter what, and we're looking for him."

Dorraine Kirkirt said her son is "your normal 11-year-old" who likes Pokemon, comic book heroes like Spider-Man and The Hulk and video games, including his new Nintendo system. Ivert Kirkirt said his son is an outgoing, bright boy who likes riding his bike, playing catch with the football and fishing.

"If you let him, he would fish 24 hours a day," he said.
Fretz and Adam were last seen traveling in a white four-door 1993 Chevrolet Lumina with a temporary tag reading K930950 on the left side of the rear window.

At about 2:10 p.m. Tuesday, Fretz left a vague phone message for Ivert Kirkirt telling him he had a job offer to work on a car, but on the way there his car had broken down somewhere along State Road 40. Ivert Kirkirt, a mechanic, did not receive the message until he got home from work around 4:30 p.m. He contacted his wife and later the Ocala Police Department.

Adam is described as 5 feet tall and weighing about 100 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing black pants, a white T-shirt and a black sweatshirt with a Spider-Man symbol on it.

Fretz is described as 5 feet, 11 inches tall, weighing 240 pounds, with blonde hair, which he recently cut from shoulder length to a short buzz-cut, and has blue eyes. He has also shaved off his facial hair. Fretz has worked shining chrome on tractor trailers at the truck stop at Interstate 75 and County Road 326.

Ivert Kirkirt and Fretz met in the Marion County Jail jail last year. Ocala Police arrested Fretz for a domestic battery for allegedly punching a former girlfriend, Bessie Ann Ade, during an argument at their home in Oakwood Mobile Manor, just north of the 3300 block of West Silver Springs Boulevard.

That charge was later dropped after Ade left town. But Fretz pled guilty to marijuana possession, after a plastic bag of the drug was found on him during booking at the jail.

He served 56 days, according to court records. At that time, Ivert Kirkirt was in jail on a probation violation for an aggravated battery conviction involving a June 2004 argument in Dunnellon in which he struck his wife, choked her 17-year-old son and hitting her 21-year-old daughter with his vehicle, according to a sheriff's report.

Ivert Kirkirt said that in jail he and Fretz realized they knew each other years ago in New Jersey and decided to move in together after they were released. He said they could split the rent and Fretz could drive to go shopping because Kirkirt did not have a valid drivers license.

Kirkirt said he is on house arrest because of the probation violation, but he is allowed to go to church, and Fretz would attend with him.
He said when Adam moved in, Fretz would often discuss the Bible with him and the two grew to develop a friendship. Ivert Kirkirt also informed Dunnellon Elementary administrators that Fretz would pick up and drop off his son.

"This is not a situation where some stranger walked on campus and grabbed a child," Marion County School district spokesman Kevin Christian said.

"This person was known to school administration, introduced to them by the child's father, who said this person came come to this school to pick up and drop off my son."

Sheriff Ed Dean would not go into detail on Fretz's 1989 arrest for sexual assault on a 10-year-old boy, but said there were similarities to the way he gained Ivert Kirkirt's trust.

"The situation here parallels what happened in Pennsylvania very closely, befriending the family," Dean said.

Fretz was in prison from 1991 to 1996 on that conviction.

Dean also acknowledged that Fretz should not have been released from jail and put on misdemeanor probation without someone running a record check, which would show his prior conviction and the fact he had registered as a sex offender in Pennsylvania and Arizona.

"There were lots of steps through this process where his prior sex offense should have come to light," he said.

Dean said Fretz, who spent nearly two months in the Marion County Jail following his September 2004 arrest, was released before the records check was run on him. He said from now on, jail staff will run such checks even after an inmate has bonded out or been released.

Meanwhile, some neighbors in Oakwood Mobile Manor say the news about Fretz leaves them nervous about the safety of the many children who play outside in the community.

"It makes you cautious, like you don't know who to trust around here," said Cynthia Honor, 23, who lives across the street from the mobile home Kirkirt and Fretz shared.

Honor said her 3-year-old and 6-year-old nephews visit often, and she was now worried about them playing outside there.

Diane Thorenton said she had brought her three children — ages 1, 3, and 6 — to a baby-sitter who lives in Oakwood each day.

"Until I find out this person is no longer around, they will not be back," she said.

A manager, who declined to giver her name, said park management has started doing background checks on people who purchase mobile homes in the community, but has no control over an owner renting to tenants.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Frederick Fretz Jr. or Adam Kirkirt is asked to call the Marion County Sheriff's Office at (352) 732-9111 or 911.

 

[linuxgeek]

Wish this were a simple search and rescue. At least then civilians could get involved in the search.

 

[linuxgeek]

More Public records links: http://www.publicrecordfinder.com/states/florida.html

 

[Willing and Unsure]

Wish this were a simple search and rescue. At least then civilians could get involved in the search.

I have to agree with you there. it is pretty sad that there are people out there that just dont have the respect for other people to do something like this. It is ridiculous if you ask me and the guy that took the kid should be punished in ways that are unheard of just to get the point across that you just shouldnt do something like this.

 

[linuxgeek]

His last arrest was for DV & possession, but I suspect there was more to it than what the public record shows. I wouldn't expect a guilty plea to a straight DV charge to lead a defendant encure the costs of a "RAPE CRISIS PROGRAM ".

At least they consider the kidnapping a violation of his year probation.

His last criminal court proceeding

 

[~*sunkyssed_kym*~]

You're the best, LG!

LG, this thread is well done! As always, you've gotten the info out to the Lit community. With so many people knowing the facts, we can only hope someone, somewhere will see or know something. This slimebag can run, but he won't be able to hide!

~kym~ hoping Adam is safe

 

[_Milky_Whites_]

OK, I know we shouldn't point fingers at the parents, especially in a situation like this. But there are soooo many things wrong with this whole situation!! I hope more than anything that they find this kid. God only knows what that ugly mother-fucker is doing to him. Then I hope some nice civilian slowly castrates the perv with a rusty kitchen knife and leaves him to die.
In the meantime, I think the parents have some lessons to learn. First, don't send your son to live with your ex who has been charged with assaulting you and your older children! And as a father, don't trust some strange ex-con from way back with your son! Geez, when the fuck will people learn?

 

[~*sunkyssed_kym*~]

I agree MW, the mother might have had a bit more concern for her son, but perhaps there's circumstances we know nothing about. That being said, if he was my child, I'd do whatever possible to keep him by my side.

~kym~ a mother's

 

[linuxgeek]

Lit may not be a community which has access to do a lot in a case like this, but every set of eyes help. Especially with LE at this point having no leads where this guy could have gone with the kid. Could be hiding out in the ONF. Could have headed across county.

The localized AAs I don't generally post because the people who can help the most likely are getting better information from local media & LE than I could ever hope to get to them.

 

[~*sunkyssed_kym*~]

imho LG, I think you help those of us who are impacted by breaking news here in Fla. One need only look at this past hurricane season to see that.
I came to the GB to see if anyone had posted an alert and was rewarded by your thread. As you wrote, the more eyes, the better!
peace LG
~kym~ give yourself a pat on the back for me, huh?

 

[linuxgeek]

Is what happens when ya have an info junkie with a gene for public service.

Someone joked in another thread they would receive thousands of emails if kept alerted to what is going on just on Lit. Well, there is a reason I have the majority of the RL alerts I get go to a personal mail server instead of the one provided by work. Then there are the ones I have sent directly to the cell phone...

 

[linuxgeek]

Not sure if I like that you have to register to use this site:

http://childsafenetwork.org/net/ff_csafe?pt=3xroi&o=ca/

but depending what they provide and how they check out, may be useful.

 

[linuxgeek]

So far, no additional news--not a good thing. They have had around 90 tips called in, but all have been dead ends.

 

[linuxgeek]

updated article

Accused Kidnapper Lied About Criminal Record
Deputies Interview Campers At Rainbow Gathering In Ocala National Forest

POSTED: 5:37 pm EST January 20, 2005
UPDATED: 6:46 pm EST January 20, 2005
OCALA, Fla. -- As investigators continue to search for a missing Marion County boy, disturbing details are emerging about the man believed to have kidnapped the boy.

About 30 Marion County sheriff's deputies combed the woods and fields of the Ocala National Forest Thursday, searching for Adam Kirkirt, an 11-year-old Marion County boy who has been missing for two days.

With few clues on which to go on, investigators focused on one of the passions of Frederick Fretz, WESH NewsChannel 2 reported.

Fretz likes to camp, and his tent and sleeping bags -- along with he and the boy -- are missing.

Deputies went campsite to campsite Thursday at the annual Rainbow Gathering at Ocala National Forest.

"His background shows that he's a woodsman. He likes being in the woods. He loves to camp," said Maj. Chris Blair of the Marion County Sheriff's Office.

Before Fretz disappeared with Kirkirt, he told the boy's father that he might like to go to the Rainbow Gathering this year. It's an informal gathering of people who call themselves hippies from the 1960s and 1970s.

"I think he's here, but I think he's hiding out," one camper told police.

Kirkirt was last seen on Tuesday, leaving Dunnellon Elementary School with Fretz in a white Chevrolet Lumina. Fretz, a convicted sex offender, was living with Kirkirt and his father.

NewsChannel 2 has learned that Fretz never filed as a registered sex offender in Florida and he also apparently lied to a state court about his past.

According to court records, Fretz pleaded guilty on Dec. 6, 2004, in Marion County to misdemeanor charges of domestic violence battery and possession of fewer than 20 grams of marijuana. On the guilty plea form, Fretz swore to the court that he did not have a criminal record.

Though he answered "no," Fretz had in fact been convicted on two felonies and one misdemeanor for sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy in Shamokin, Penn., in 1991.

No one -- not the sheriff's office, not the state attorney's office, not his own attorney and not the state probation and parole office -- checked. Had they checked, they would have discovered that Fretz served five years in prison after being found guilty.

According to several court officials who did not want to be named, the reasons they didn't check are simple: a huge court backlog of cases, inexperienced attorneys and the fact that his charges in Florida were so minor that when no active warrants came up, few people bothered to check further.

Even if the judge in the case or the attorneys had flagged his prior conviction, it's likely Fretz would not have had to serve any addition jail or prison time, according to officials.

The Rev. Karl Wiggins has been Fretz's minister at Kendrick United Methodist Church since last August. He said Fretz has been a faithful church attendee and has turned away from the errors of his past.

"I would like to think that this is all just a misunderstanding. I'd like to hope that Fred comes back and Adam comes back as well," Wiggins said.

Fretz and Kirkirt were last seen in 1993 Chevy Lumina with temporary Florida tags. The tag, number K930950, is taped in the rear window. Kirkirt has a mole on his left cheek.

If you've seen them or the car, call 911 immediately.

According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in Tallahassee, it's unusual for an Amber Alert to go on longer than 48 hours.

Since 2000, there have been 80 Amber Alerts issued in Florida and 18 children have been recovered.

 

[linuxgeek]

src

Article published Jan 21, 2005
Hunt continues for missing boy, alleged abductor
Police focus on forest camps, truck stops in search for clues

OCALA - The search for 11-year-old Adam Kirkirt and the convicted pedophile he is believed to be with stretched through its third day Thursday, as law enforcement officers searching the Ocala National Forest found a perhaps unusual ally in the the Rainbow Family of Living Light.

Before his disappearance, Frederick Fretz, 42, had said he planned to go camping at an upcoming gathering of the Rainbow Family, a group of forest dwellers who preach peace, but draw the ire of law enforcement for their drug use.

Marion County deputies and officers with the U.S. Division of Forestry and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission trekked to Rainbow Family campsites deep in the forest, near the Lake County line, passing out fliyers with updated photographs of Adam and Fretz. Sheriff's Lt. Bill Sowder said the search of the forest stretches from Lake County to Putnam and Volusia, and the Rainbow Family pledged cooperation.

A Rainbow Family member who goes by the nickname name of "Cowboy Oger," 33, said he recognized Fretz from a trip to the forest about a year ago.

"I'm very angry about anybody like him being associated with us," he said. "We don't want him."

Another man, who identifies himself only as Jacob, said the Rainbow Family "would help out in any way we can, because it's the right thing to do."

"Anybody that messes with kids, we don't tolerate that," the 30-year-old said.

Adam was last seen Tuesday afternoon when Fretz, a friend and roommate of Adam's father, picked him up at Dunnellon Elementary School. Fretz and the boy's father, Ivert Kirkirt, became friends last year while prisoners at the Marion County Jail, and later moved in together in a single-wide mobile home at Oakwood Mobile Manor. Ivert Kirkirt said he did not know of Fretz's past history, including a 1991 conviction in Pennsylvania for a sexual assault on an 11-year-old boy.

After 56 days in jail for misdemeanor marijuana possession and a domestic battery arrest, that charge was dropped, and Fretz was released. Before his release, the Sheriff's Office did not run a record check, which would have revealed his Pennsylvania conviction and the fact he had registered as a sex offender in that state and Arizona.

When he entered a plea agreement on the marijuana possession charge, Fretz also attested that he did not have a prior record, according to court records. Fretz spoke to a parole officer after the marijuana possession conviction, according to the Sheriff's Office, but never formally registered for misdemeanor probation. He also never registered as a sex offender afterwhen moving to Florida. He previously lived in the Panhandle community of Marianna. A felony warrant was issued Wednesday on a charge of failing to register as a sex offender.

At a Thursday morning press conference, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Sheriff's Office officials said law enforcement agencies across the nation have been on the lookout for Fretz and Adam through an Amber Alert. While they would not go into much detail on the investigation, Sheriff's Maj. Chris Blair said Fretz is known as an outdoorsman and the search would concentrate on state parks and federal preserve lands. He said they received several dozen tips from people who say they spotted Fretz's white 1993 Chevrolet Lumina, but they have "nothing concrete yet" on where he might be. He also said investigators have focused on truck stops. Fretz makes money polishing the chrome on tractor trailers and has a citizens band (CB) radio in his car to contact truck drivers about work, using the handle "Silverfox."

At the press conference, the pastor of the church Fretz and Ivert Kirkirt attended made a plea for him to return the boy.

"We know you've done wrong in the past, but the Lord forgives and we forgive as long as you bring Adam back immediately," said the Rev. Karl Wiggins of Kendrick United Methodist Church.

Wiggins said Fretz and Ivert Kirkirt came to be known as "Fred one and Fred two" at the church (Kirkirt's middle name is Frederick). He recalled how Fretz used to ride his bicycle to the church and would often arrive early to discuss the Bible.

"He seemed to be a very friendly person, very well read in the Bible," Wiggins said. "He knew Scripture and he was not afraid to tell you when you were wrong (about a Bible passage). . . . To me it makes no sense that he would do what he did."

Adam is 5 feet tall, weighing about 100 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing black pants, white sneakers, a white T-shirt, and a hooded black pullover sweatshirt with a Spider-Man logo. He has a mole on his left cheek and a gold post earring in his left ear.

Fretz is 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighs 240 pounds, and has cropped blond hair and blue eyes., He has scars on his back, right and left forearms and on his face. His 1993 white Chevrolet Lumina had a temporary Florida tag reading K930950. Anyone with information on their whereabouts should call (352) 732-9111 or 911.

 

[linuxgeek]

src

Car Sought In Boy's Disappearance Found

POSTED: 12:03 pm EST January 21, 2005
UPDATED: 12:25 pm EST January 21, 2005
A white Chevrolet Lumina wanted in connection with the disappearance of Adam Kirkirt was found in northern Georgia Friday morning.

Kirkirt, 11, was last seen on Tuesday, leaving Dunnellon Elementary School with Frederick Fretz in the white Chevrolet Lumina, WESH NewsChannel 2 reported.

Fretz, a convicted sex offender, was living with Kirkirt and his father, Ivert. Instead of returning to their mobile home in Ocala, Fretz left a phone message for the father.

"We're broke down, don't know where, don't want to spend the night in the frickin' car," the phone message said.

Close to 90 tips have come in to police, but all have resulted in dead ends. Police believe Fretz has an extensive criminal history and served five years in prison for sexually battering an 11-year-old boy.

Fretz served time with Ivert Kirkirt in the Marion County Jail last year. Then they became roommates, and Adam moved in in December. Sources said Fretz would sometimes take Adam camping.