02/20/2001 - news

Dogs home, but Benton boy still missing
By LYNN STEVENS and SCOTT AIKEN / H-P Staff Writers

BENTON TOWNSHIP -- Although his dogs are back home, the whereabouts of 12-year-old Steven Kraft II remain a confounding mystery.
For the fifth straight day, volunteer searchers set out this morning to find the boy reported missing last Thursday in Benton Heights. On Monday, more than 75 volunteers explored 6 square miles of woods, fields, streams and ponds in and near Benton Heights from the Paw Paw River to Interstate 94.
They found the German shepherd puppy he was playing with when he was last seen Thursday night, but not a trace of the missing boy -- not a scrap of clothing, not a footprint.
"We're not finding anything of his," Benton Township Detective Lt. Delmar Lange said late Monday afternoon.
He said if the boy had been outdoors since his disappearance about 7 p.m. Thursday, the cold weather would put him at serious risk by now. Temperatures have dived the past two nights, and wind chills have been well below zero. The boy was last seen wearing an aqua Charlotte Hornets jacket, tan pants, black lug boots, but no hat and no gloves.
"If someone's giving him shelter on whatever pretext, 'My mother said it was OK to stay here,' they may be thinking by now 'We're really in trouble,'" Lange said. "If so, call us. This boy needs to come home."
Steven Earl Kraft, the boy's father, spoke to his son through reporters Monday. He urged him to come home or telephone 927-2609, his home number.
"You're not in trouble," Kraft said, hoping his words would reach his son. "Your mother is worried, and I'm worried."
The elder Kraft, some of his friends and his mother, Nancy Ritlaw of Coloma, have started a $1,000 reward fund for critical information in the case.
A sixth-grader at Hull Elementary School, Steven had been suspended for fighting earlier in the week and was to have returned to school Friday, his father said. Kraft said he did not believe school had anything to do with the disappearance and everything appeared to be fine Thursday.
Kraft said Steve was last seen about 6:45 p.m. Thursday with his two dogs. Believing the boy had gone to the home of relatives down Holly Drive from his home, Kraft said he called them about 9:30 p.m. and discovered his son was not there.
He said he followed footprints and paw prints about two blocks to Harbor Haven Ministries, on Irving Drive, but did not find his son or the dogs. He said the footprints disappeared near the ministry.
Kraft said his son often played around the pond behind the church, and he searched around it several times. On Saturday night, Benton Township police using a trained bloodhound searched inside the ministry and on and around the frozen pond. Kraft said they told him the dog lost the trail around the ministry.
Since then, Kraft said, search parties organized by the family have methodically combed the area, but found nothing. More than 100 people participated Sunday, with the help of a police helicopter.
Lange said officers in the helicopter used an infrared device as well as visual scanning. They searched the Blue Creek area intensively, but found nothing.
One of the dogs returned home Sunday morning. The mixed German shepherd/chow was cold, but unhurt, sparking hope that Steve might be alive and well, too, and that the dog might help find him.
On Monday, police organized a search with uniformed officers and civilian volunteers. The searchers were divided into six teams, each assigned to a specific area within six township sections. They searched from the Paw Paw River northwest of the airport east to Sarett Nature Center and Benton Center Road, south to Interstate 94 and west to Crystal Avenue.
Helping the citizen volunteers were most of the Benton Township Fire Department, police officers and the FBI Violent Crimes Task Force. The Berrien County Sheriff's Posse brought horses. Several area residents brought all-terrain vehicles.
They found Chopper, the puppy, in the bottom lands near Blue Creek between Wood Street and Euclid shortly before noon. Police called Kraft to the scene to identify the cold, hungry puppy. Wagging its tail, the puppy looked very glad to be home Monday afternoon.
Benton Township police had received several calls Monday reporting stray German shepherds. None of those was the right dog.
Similarly, Lange said that Thursday night sightings of the missing boy turned out to be wrong, too. He said a report that placed Steve outside the Red Arrow Tap getting into a red Toyota 4-wheel drive vehicle proved to be about a different boy.
A report that he climbed into a storm sewer near his home also proved wrong. Lange said searchers walked up to 1 1/2 miles through the massive dry drain pipes where area children play. They found no evidence Steve had been there.
As they finished their assigned tasks Monday afternoon, Lange sent the searchers home for the night. He said police would evaluate Monday's efforts and decide whether to search with civilians or bring in "heavy duty" police search teams today.
"The search is going to continue until we find him," Lange promised. "It's just a matter of how much. Do we need civilians or just officers?"
If Monday's volunteer turnout was indicative, there are many civilians willing to help.
"I have a 13-year-old daughter at home," said Jay Wehrly of Stevensville. "If anything ever happened to her, I'd want people to help."
Dianne Frenan was given the day off by her employer, IPC Communications Services, to join the search.
"I'm kind of familiar with the area," said Frenan, who has relatives in the Blue Creek area.
Benton Harbor police officer Rodney Cockerel volunteered for the search.
"I'm just out here walking the grounds with everyone else," he said. "Hopefully, we can fine a trace of something."
Sheriff's Deputy Kevin Green also searched on his own time.
"I'm out here to find the little kid," Green said. "That's what it's all about."
Sister Lakes resident Charles Mursereau said, "I've got four children myself, so I know just how these people feel. I'd go nuts. It's scary, man."
Helen Haase, 20, lives a few blocks from the Kraft house at 2103 Holly Drive. She said she doesn't know the family, but she recognized the missing boy when she saw the homemade posters, and joined the search.
"This neighborhood won't quit," she said. "Not 'til that boy comes home."
Lange, in briefing volunteers Monday morning, said no possibility had been ruled out.
"We don't know if he's hiding or if he's injured," he said.
Lange advised searchers to take their time, to comb each area thoroughly.
"We're not in a race here," he said.
The mounted sheriff's posse members would be particularly helpful in open areas, Lange said. Those searching were advised to check buildings, drains and any other place a person could hide.
Several men familiar with the area through hunting said the Blue Creek area can be especially tough to navigate because of thick brush and standing water.
Jerry Dilts said he wanted to help the Kraft family.
"I've got time on my hands," the Benton Township resident said. "I can go out and beat the bushes."