07/08/2004 - news

Boy still missing but not forgotten
By SCOTT AIKEN / H-P Staff Writer

BENTON TOWNSHIP -- Police are hoping an offer of a cash reward will jog someone's memory and lead to the discovery of a boy who vanished from his Benton Heights neighborhood more than three years ago.
Benton Township police announced Wednesday that a California-based foundation is offering $5,000 for information leading to the safe return of Steven Kraft, who was last seen on Feb. 15, 2001.
Steven was 12 at the time he disappeared and a sixth-grader at Hull Elementary School. He would now be 15.
Detective Tom Vaught, speaking at an afternoon news conference, said police continue to get tips on the case and follow up every lead.
He said the reward might cause somebody to recall a bit of information that could provide police with a needed break in the case.
"It's my belief that somebody in this community has some idea about what happened to Stevie Kraft," Vaught said. "We have a lot of hope that we can resolve this case."
A $2,000 award was offered at the time of Steven's disappearance, but that money is no longer available.
Accompanied by his two dogs, Steven went out of his family's home at 2103 Holly Drive to play on a chilly evening while his mother made supper. The boy did not return although the dogs were found.
A search by hundreds of police, firefighters and citizen volunteers failed to turn up a trace of Steven. Volunteers covered a 6-square-mile area in follow-up searches but came up empty-handed. During the ensuing months, police conducted searches focused on specific areas.
Vaught, along with township Detective Lt. Robert O'Brien and FBI Special Agent Al DiBrito, told reporters officers are committed to solving the case.
"I think all of us have held hope," Vaught said. "We're not in the habit of failing."
Anyone who has information that might be relevant, even if he or she thinks it is not important, should call police, Vaught said.
Police presented a photo of Steven that was age-progressed by a computer to show how he might look today.
"It's really weird to see him age when he's not here," Jodi Bopp, Steven's sister, said of the photo.
Bopp, 21, said she believes her brother will turn up alive. Until there is solid evidence to the contrary, she said, "Why should I believe otherwise?"
Steven was known to neighbors, and relatives lived nearby on Holly Street, which runs off Euclid Avenue. There is little traffic on the dead-end street, and Bopp said her brother was familiar with the area.
Police investigated the possibility that he was abducted or ran away, but they have not been able to establish what happened to him.
Bopp said she talks with police once or twice a month and does what she can to help the investigation. Her parents now live in Hagar Township, she said.
The reward is being offered by the Carole Sund/Carrington Memorial Reward Foundation, Modesto, Calif. The foundation was formed to help families such as those of Steven Kraft, according to executive Director Kim Petersen.
Carole and Juli Sund and Selvina Pelosso were three sightseers who were later found murdered near Yosemite National Park in February 1999. While the search was under way, Carole Sund's parents offered rewards for the safe return of the women and information about the rental car they were using.
The parents, Francis and Carole Carrington, believe that the reward offer led to the car's being found, the first important break in the case.
Foundation rewards have helped in the arrest of 19 murder suspects and one person suspected of attempted murder and child molestation. O'Brien said police work regularly on the Steven Kraft case, which has been publicized on at least two television programs.
Resolving the case is important to the family, the community and to police.
"Somebody asks us a half-dozen times a week," O'Brien said. "This is very much on everybody's mind here."
The national publicity brings in leads. In February a caller reported seeing Steven at Chicago's Midway Airport. The youth in question was from Stevensville and on his way home from a spring break trip.
"It's a very solvable case. We just need a break," DiBrito said.
Steven was last seen wearing a tan and white striped shirt, tan parachute pants, black boots and an aqua and purple Charlotte Hornets jacket. He had light brown hair and at the time of his disappearance was 5 feet 1 and weighed 95 pounds.
Tips can be reported to the Benton Township Police Department, 926-8221; the FBI office in St. Joseph, 982-0390; or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 1-800-843-5678.