02/22/2004 - news

Case of missing Benton Township child is still open
By SCOTT AIKEN / H-P Staff Writer

BENTON TOWNSHIP -- Three years after 12-year-old Steven Kraft vanished, police have not given up on finding him.
"We're still following up on leads and working the case," said Benton Township Detective Tom Vaught. "Somebody knows what happened."
Vaught said township police stay in touch with the FBI about the case and get leads from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Steven, a sixth-grader at Hull Elementary School, stepped outside his family's home at 2103 Holly Drive on the evening of Feb. 15, 2001, to play with two family dogs. He did not return.
Police, joined by hundreds of volunteers, used helicopters, horses and dogs to search a large area but found no trace of the boy. In the days after Steven's disappearance, police and volunteers combed a 6-square-mile area in the massive search but found no clues. Divers searched a pond and a 4-mile stretch of Blue Creek in May 2001 without luck.
In November 2002, police combed the area north of the Southwestern Michigan Regional Airport. Divers, meanwhile, checked three shallow backwoods ponds.
A poster bearing his picture was widely distributed. Information about Steven has been posted on missing children Web sites and on nationally televised NASCAR truck races.
All the publicity brought calls but no sign of Steven.
He was last seen wearing a tan and white striped shirt, tan parachute pants, black boots and an aqua and purple Charlotte Hornets jacket.
Vaught said township police regularly spend time on the case and welcome information. Anyone who has information that might be relevant is asked to call Benton Township police at 925-1135, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-342-STOP.