02/24/2001 - news

Search for boy shifts to Milwaukee
BY MICHAEL ELIASOHN/ H-P Business Writer

BENTON TOWNSHIP -- The search for 12-year-old Steven Earl Kraft Jr., missing from his Benton Township home since Feb. 15, has been extended to Milwaukee, according to police investigators.
And on Thursday, divers from the Berrien County Sheriff's Department conducted on on-ice and underwater search for the boy, but found nothing.
Jim Roberton, Federal Bureau of Investigation supervisory senior resident agent, said at a Friday afternoon news conference that "leads that have come up" led the FBI to get its agents in Milwaukee involved in the search, but there is no evidence the boy has been taken there. Steven has relatives in the Milwaukee area.
"The matter has been referred (to the Milwaukee FBI office), but we really have no further comment to make on it," Cathy Fahey, media representative at that office, told The Herald-Palladium.
"Our hearts go out to the family," Robertson said. "Our highest priority is returning Steven to his family."
He said investigators have had the complete cooperation of the family and from the public. The missing boy is the son of Steven Earl Kraft and Chyrille Ganczak.
Detective Lt. Delmar Lange of the Benton Township Police Department said eight sheriff's department divers checked four or five ponds and in Blue Creek Thursday.
He said an average of 10 inches of ice on the ponds kept the divers from going in that water, but they checked for possible fractures in the ice, and they were able to enter the water to check along 3 miles of Blue Creek. "They didn't find him in the water or indications of him in the ponds they checked," Lange said.
The lieutenant said the main focus now is following up on leads and reviewing sites already searched to decide whether they should be searched again next week.
Asked if police are still receiving tips, Lange responded, "They're steady." Anyone with possible information should call the Benton Township police, 926-8221.
Lange said approximately 10 square miles have been searched, about as far as Steven could be expected to walk after disappearing, and family members have searched even farther.
Some areas have been searched two, three or four times.
He said there are no plans to recruit volunteers to search again, unless it's felt another large ground search is necessary, but police are not discouraging family members to continue looking on their own.
Lange said a local team of 12 investigators from the township police, FBI, sheriff's department and state police, not including agents in Milwaukee, are working on Steven's disappearance. The number could increase or decrease, depending on the need. "It will continue as long as we feel it is necessary," Lange commented.
If Lange is an indicator, the investigators are putting in long hours. "I don't get much sleep and when I do, I don't sleep well," he said after the formal news conference was over.
Robertson was asked about reports that Steven Kraft's father had even given a lie detector test by police.
"I don't want to get into details (of the investigation)," he responded. However, the FBI agent added, without saying whether such a test had been given, that use of a polygraph would be routine in such investigations.
Steven and his family live at 2103 Holly Drive in the Benton Heights section of Benton Township. He was last seen about 6:45 p.m. Feb. 15 outside with his two dogs, both later found. His father said earlier this week that he thought his son was with nearby relatives, so didn't discover until about 9:30 that night, when he called, that his son wasn't there.
Steven was wearing a Charlotte Hornets aqua blue jacket, a tan shirt and tan pants when he disappeared.
He is a fifth-grader at Hull Elementary School, across Territorial Road from the Benton Township hall and police station.
Principal Leo Cloman said FBI and township police investigators were at the school Tuesday to question students and returned again Friday.
"It's just a complete puzzle," he commented.
"The police say they've searched the whole general area. There's nothing .... 'Where is he?,' I ask myself that every day."
Cloman said counselors were at the school Wednesday to talk to students if they wanted to. "We had a few kids who wanted to come down."
Cloman described Steven as quiet and well-mannered. The missing boy was scheduled to return to school the day after he disappeared after a five-day suspension for fighting.
The principal said another boy had started the fight -- "Steven was basically defending himself." -- but he had no choice except to suspend both of them.
"He's a pretty intelligent kid," who liked to draw, said Steven's teacher, John Vojtko.
"I have three or four kids in my room who live in that same neighborhood (as Steven) and saw absolutely nothing," Vojtko said. "It's not that big a neighborhood."