Zachary Bernhardt,8 (at the time),missing 9/11/2000, Clearwater,Fla

[nanabillie]

http://www3.fdle.state.fl.us/mcicsearch/Flyers/Flyer2PicCAP.asp?ID=191&case_nbr=
http://www3.fdle.state.fl.us/MCICSearch/images/MEPICLOGO.jpgAMBER ALERTZACHARY BERNHARDT ENDANGEREDhttp://www3.fdle.state.fl.us/MCICSearch/GetImage.asp?FIN=236850
Child
http://www3.fdle.state.fl.us/MCICSearch/GetImage.asp?FIN=236849
Age-progressed to 14 years old
DATE MISSING: 9/11/2000MISSING FROM: Clearwater,FLCOUNTY: Pinellas
BIRTH: 12/18/1991 AGE DISAPPEARED: 8 yrs 8 monthsRACE: White HEIGHT: 4' 06" WEIGHT: 60 SEX: Male HAIR: Blonde EYES: Blue
NARRATIVE:
Zachary was last known to be sleeping in his bed on the night of September 10, 2000. At approximately 4 a.m. on September 11, 2000, he was discovered missing, and is missing under suspicious circumstances. He goes by the nickname Zach. He has a scar under his chin, a scar between his eyes on the bridge of his nose, and on the right side of his top lip. FDLE MISSING ENDANGERED PERSONS
INFORMATION CLEARINGHOUSE
1-888-FL MISSING
1-888-356-4774

Internet: http://www.fdle.state.fl.us If you have any information concerning the whereabouts of
this endangered person, please contact the

Clearwater Police Department at 727-562-4200 or 911

or the Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse.

[nanabillie]

http://www.sptimes.com/News/121800/NorthPinellas/_Mystery_deepens_as_b.
(http://www.sptimes.com/News/121800/NorthPinellas/_Mystery_deepens_as_b.shtml)http://www.sptimes.com/mastheads/tampabay.gif (http://www.sptimes.com/Tampabay.shtml)


Mystery deepens as birthday passes

The missing boy is 9 today, but investigators can give no solace to his family. Is he alive or dead?
By CHRIS TISCH
© St. Petersburg Times, published December 18, 2000
CLEARWATER -- It's an annual tradition that on a day near Christmas, Carole Bernhardt's 15 grandchildren gather for a family holiday party.
Bernhardt's daughters and their children exchange gifts. The younger kids scream and play.
The grandchildren gathered again Sunday. But one child was not there.
That child received no gifts from his aunts, uncles and cousins; he ate no cake and ice cream to celebrate his ninth birthday, which is today.
That little boy, Zachary Bernhardt, has been missing since Sept. 11, when he vanished from his Savannah Trace apartment in Clearwater.
Police say they are stumped. They don't know whether Zachary was abducted or ran away, whether he is alive or dead.
Family members say they are just as puzzled. The mystery adds to their woe.
"I try to figure it out, to make sense of something that doesn't make sense," said Denal Donnelly, Zachary's aunt. "I think it's more the uncertainty, the not knowing."
Another family member also wasn't expected at the party Sunday.
Zachary's mother, Leah Hackett, hasn't ventured into public much since her son's disappearance. Hackett reported that she went for a 15-minute walk around the complex at about 4 a.m. When she returned, her boy was gone.
She quakes and cries when she sees little boys, particularly ones with sandy blond hair like Zachary's. To pick up her children at a dance once, Donnelly said, she took Hackett, who broke down upon seeing the crowd of children.
"I can make it sometimes a day without crying, but I don't think she can make it a day without crying," said her mother, Carole Bernhardt. "She misses him.
"It will be 99 days (today)," she said.
The ordeal has left the family in limbo. How can a little boy simply disappear? Where is he? Is he okay?
"When it's cold or it rains, I wonder if he's in shelter or in the rain," Donnelly said.
Every bite she takes, every drink she swallows and every smile she can manage to crack makes her wonder whether Zachary can do the same.
"When you get a drink of water, you think, "Does he have one?' " she said. "You're afraid to laugh."
A team of six detectives continues to work full time on the search for Zachary. Initially, 50 investigators were assigned to the case. The current contingent is a fresh batch of officers who are retracing the steps of the investigation, searching for holes or new leads.
Almost 700 tips and leads have been chased. A segment about Zachary that appeared on America's Most Wanted last month generated only a handful of leads, none of them useful.
The investigator in charge of the search, Lt. Mark Teunis, declined an interview request last week. He also declined to disclose additional information about the search other than what already has been released, said Clearwater police spokesman Wayne Shelor.
Family members, who compliment the investigators, said that for the most part, they have been left in the dark. Donnelly and Bernhardt said they understand that the police must keep some information secret from everyone.
Zachary's family also has avoided the spotlight. Some say they haven't appreciated media reports that have thrown suspicion on Zachary's mother.
Shelor said Hackett has talked with detectives every time they have asked.
"We maintain a constant dialogue with Leah Hackett," Shelor said.
There were no signs of a struggle in the apartment the morning Zachary disappeared. None of his belongings had been packed or taken.
Clearwater police launched a massive search of the surrounding area. Nine agencies, including search teams from the FBI and Florida Department of Law Enforcement, pitched in. Helicopters, boats and dogs were used. Nothing was found.
Bernhardt said Hackett is living in Hillsborough County. She works at times as a food server and receives support from her mother. Family members said Hackett, who goes to weekly counseling sessions, declined to comment.
Though posters and fliers with Zachary's photo once adorned the area around Savannah Trace Apartments, there are few now. In an investigative effort designed to fan the embers, police planned to place an electronic sign near the apartment complex reminding people that Zachary still is missing.
Shelor said there are no suspects in the case because there is no evidence of a crime. There has been no ransom demand. None of the clothes Zachary was wearing that morning -- a T-shirt and boxer shorts -- have shown up.
"They're frustrated," Shelor said of the investigators."They flat don't know. They absolutely don't know where Zachary is or what happened to him."
Still, Shelor said detectives are keeping active. They chase sightings on the beach and at malls from here to Ocala.
"It's not like they have nowhere to go," he said. "They still have avenues to follow. Since we don't know what has happened to Zachary, nothing has been ruled out."
Bernhardt said she does not feel anyone in her family -- including Zachary's mother -- had anything to do with his disappearance. She also doesn't think Zachary ran away. She said she thinks someone abducted him, though she does not know whom.
"Every hope in my heart thinks he's alive," Bernhardt said. "He would never run away or walk away. So somebody had to take him. Zachary would never leave his mother. And if things ever got rough enough . . . he would come to his grandma or to his aunt. I think someone definitely took him."
Donnelly tries to talk of Zachary in the present tense. She clings to hope, but also feels a sense of doom. She says half of her thinks Zachary is fine, the other half thinks he is not.
"Quite honestly, as each day goes on, you start to question it," she said. "But you hold onto the hope that you'll get him back. Is it a false hope? Yeah. But there's that chance. I don't ever want to give up on that hope. It's such an emotional roller coaster. The only thing certain is that an 8-year-old boy, soon to be 9, is out there. And we have to find out where he is."
Zachary's 19-year-old cousin, Aimee Simpkins, said 75 percent of her thinks Zachary is fine.
"That's what gets me through the day," she said.
Bernhardt said if Zachary "is being treated mean, I pray to God he's dead. But it's easier not to think on that line. I pray to God he'll walk down the street tomorrow. So the easiest thing to say is, it's in God's hands and that God is taking care of him no matter where he is."
Simpkins said she planned to celebrate his birthday.
"He's missing. He's not gone," she said. "And I think we should celebrate it in some way."
But Bernhardt says the family didn't plan on celebrating his birthday Sunday because it would be too wrenching.
"It's going to be quite an experience this year. Everyone has mixed emotions," Bernhardt said on Friday. "There won't be Zachary around to play with and tease. We really don't know what to do because it is so hard. The kids want to go and buy him a present and everything. But the adults aren't sure. If I had my way, I would go to bed and stay there.
"We decided that at our Christmas party, Zachary would not want us crying," she added. "So we're going to do our best to have a happy day for Zachary."
Donnelly said she will keep a birthday cake in her freezer. Even if she doesn't unthaw it for Sunday, she hopes to present it to Zachary soon.
"And when we get him back, I can say: "Here's your cake, Zachary,' " Donnelly said.
- Chris Tisch can be reached at (727) 445- 4156. Call with any tips


Anyone with information about the disappearance of Zachary Bernhardt can call Clearwater police at 562-4422. (http://www.sptimes.com/News/121800/NorthPinellas/_Mystery_deepens_as_b.shtml)© Copyright, St. Petersburg Times. (http://www.sptimes.com/tpc/TC.Copyright.html) All rights reserved.shtml (http://www.sptimes.com/News/121800/NorthPinellas/_Mystery_deepens_as_b.shtml)

[nanabillie]

http://www.sptimes.com/News/091300/TampaBay/A_boy_sunny_amid_stor.shtml
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A boy sunny amid storms still missing


By JANE MEINHARDT
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 13, 2000
CLEARWATER -- Zachary Bernhardt has seen plenty of turmoil in his 8 years.
He and his mother are facing eviction from their home. His father isn't around. He watched a man attack his mother in their apartment.
But as the search intensified Tuesday for the boy who disappeared from his apartment early Monday, a portrait emerged of a bright, happy youngster who excelled in school despite his family's difficulties.
In September 1998, Zachary's mother Leah Hackett wrote in a court document that a friend barged into her St. Petersburg apartment, pushed her and ripped off her shirt -- in front of her young son.
"My son is scared," Hackett wrote in a successful request for an injunction against the man, who had been her friend and boss. "I am petrified."
At Savannah Trace apartments in Clearwater, where Hackett now lives, officials have started eviction proceedings because she is behind in rent. Court records also show that in November 1998, Hackett's roommate evicted her from a High Point apartment. The roommate threw Hackett's furniture out of the apartment and changed the locks, according to a Pinellas County sheriff's report.
Over the past 14 years, public records list 11 different addresses.
(continued at link)

[nanabillie]

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MISSING

ZACHARY M. BERNHARDT

"ZACH"


INVOLUNTARY



Also see: Updated Flyer 3/16/2001 (http://www.clearwaterpolice.org/cid/Active/bernardtflyer2.asp)

http://www.clearwaterpolice.org/images/bernhardt2.jpg



News Release (http://www.clearwaterpolice.org/news/childmissing.html)

Missing: 9/11/2000
Age Now: 8 yoa
Missing From: CLEARWATER, FL
Birth: 12/18/91
Age Disappeared: 8 yoa
Sex: MALE Race: WHITE
Height: 4’ 6" Weight: 60 lbs.
Hair: BLONDE Eyes: HAZEL
ID INFO: Zach was last seen wearing an unknown color of boxer shorts. He has a scar on the bridge of his nose, chin and lower lip.
NARRATIVE: Zach disappeared from his home at approximately 4 a.m. on 9/11/2000 under suspicious circumstances. If you have any information on the whereabouts of Zach, please contact the Clearwater Police Department (tips@myclearwater.com) or the Missing Children Information Clearinghouse.
MCIC Case #: 00-09-011

FDLE MISSING CHILDREN


INFORMATION CLEARINGHOUSE


1-888-FL MISSING


1-888-356-4774


Internet: http://www.fdle.state.fl.us (http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/)

Law Enforcement Agency:
Clearwater Police Department (tips@myclearwater.com)
Staffed investigative tip lines are available at the following numbers:
From 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. daily:
(727) 562-4335

From 11:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. daily:
(727) 562-4422

Date of Flyer: 09/2000

Page last updated Friday, June 09, 2006
http://www.clearwaterpolice.org/scr_img/logo.gif©2006 City of Clearwater

[nanabillie]

http://coltonleviclark.wordpress.com/category/zach-bernhardt/
[/URL] (http://coltonleviclark.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/bernhardt_zachary11.jpg)July 2008

This Month’s Featured Case

Zachary Michael-Cole Bernhardt

http://coltonleviclark.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/bernhardt_zachary11.jpg?w=121&h=160 (http://coltonleviclark.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/bernhardt_zachary11.jpg)[URL="http://coltonleviclark.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/jalbert.jpg"]
The Disappearance

When researching this case I found there were so many questions and not many answers. One thing is a fact. In the early morning hours of September 11, 2000, 8-year-old Zachary Michael-Cole Bernhardt was fast asleep in his own bed at one point, but had vanished into the night at another.
Zach and his mother Leah Hackett lived in Clearwater, Florida in a modest apartment in Savannah Trace. According to police, Leah Hackett stated she had insomnia and could not sleep so she decided to go for a walk.

Accounts vary as to what happened next. Supposedly Leah went for a swim and a walk but her accounts vary from being gone fifteen minutes to two hours. When she returned she found Zach missing. It is unclear whether Law Enforcement ever considered Hackett a suspect but if so, it was not mentioned in anything I have read.
The Neighbor?

There was a name that did come up as a suspect in Zach’s disappearances however. His name is Kevin Jalbert.
<snip>
(Continued at Link)

[grammybears]

How very sad. I just cannot even imagine what his family has gone through especially his mother. It would seem that if he was still alive there would be some evidence somewhere. But we have all seen a few cases where the victims are kept alive for the prisoners personal gain and what atrocities are done to these children. I pray that there will be answers coming that will help in finding him.

jmoo

[P.I.Jane]

Never lose hope Zachary. Your family hasn't. I hope you are home with your family soon.:1222423:

[TigressPen]

The article of the family gatherings breaks my heart for Zachary's family. But I have to wonder even as I feel deeply for their pain- where was all this family support when his mom was struggling to keep a roof over his head and support him? Alone.

[P.I.Jane]

The article of the family gatherings breaks my heart for Zachary's family. But I have to wonder even as I feel deeply for their pain- where was all this family support when his mom was struggling to keep a roof over his head and support him? Alone.
I understand what you are saying as his mother did not seem to get much support prior to the time Zachary went missing. Hopefully they have been able to put mistakes in the past and are working together for the most important goal, to find Zachary.

[Amusedtdth]

I'm throwing thoughts out there but what of this man that attacked Mom and this injunction..was he cleared..he could have done something out of revenge...and Mom has various time inconsistencies..
Praying for Zachary's return.

[Faith]

No updates

[gabby]

http://coltonleviclark.wordpress.com/2008/06/20/july-08-case-of-the-month-into-the-night-%e2%80%93-the-disappearance-of-zachary-bernhardt/

This is the same article someone posted and had snipped. In the parts that were snipped there is information about a man who lived in the same complex that was arrested for an attempt to abduct, rape and kill a young boy. Also, in the same apt complex where Zach lived another boy had been abducted. And there is an eerie picture of a boy bound that resembles Zach, but they couldn't confirm it was Zach.

I hope there is some news about Zach soon and I hope whomever took this child is caught and punished. It's been so long.

[Faith]

For 3 Florida families, 9/11 is a day to remember vanished children

Published: September 11, 2009

Updated: 02:19 pm

http://www2.tbo.com/exposure/ar/385/255/2009/09/11/13302_zach-bernhardt.jpg

While most Americans remember 9/11 as the day terrorists struck the homeland, three Florida families remember it as the day their children vanished.

Claudine Ryce's son Jimmy vanished on September 11th, 1995. Roy Brown's daughter went missing on September 11th, 1998. And Carole Bernhardt's grandson Zachary vanished from his Clearwater apartment on September 11th, 2000. Today, Brown and Bernhardt gathered with dozens of other parents and grandparents who'd lost their children. Either they went missing or were murdered. The gathering, by the A-Z Missing Children's Outreach Center, was billed as the first "Walk for Missing and Murdered Children."

Authorities never found Amanda Brown's body but a jury convicted a crabber named Willy Crane, who is now on death row.

Roy Brown said events like this are important, so that missing children are never forgotten.

"Amanda is assumed to be dead," said Brown. "And I have to deal with that. Zachary's not. They need all the attention they can get every day if they can get it. Zachary needs to be found."

Carole Bernhardt says, while it's been nine years since her grandson went missing, she still hasn't given up hope.

"I'll have hope until the day I die." Bernhardt said. "We need to keep their picture out there so that people will start looking for their faces. It's like, everybody knows Zachary is missing but his face isn't out there and people will come up and say, 'oh I haven't seen him on television so I figured you found him.'"

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children recently released a new age-progression photo of what Bernhardt might look like at 17 years old. He has scars on the bridge of his nose, under his chin and on the upper right side of his lip.

This case is still active, and detectives are asking for the public's help to find the boy. If you have any information about his location or this case, you are asked to call the Clearwater Police Department tip line at (727) 562-4422.

Cindy and George Anthony were also at this morning's walk. The Anthony's daughter is currently in jail, accused of killing her daughter, and their granddaughter, Caylee Anthony.

George Anthony said he attended the event to show his support for other families who've lost loved ones.

"There's some individuals out there that they think, 'this will never happen to me. I don't have to worry about it,'" Anthony said. "But when it does, we're going to be there to help them."

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/sep/11/clearwater-boy-was-reported-missing-9-years-ago-to/news-breaking/

[nomadpatti]

http://coltonleviclark.wordpress.com/2008/06/20/july-08-case-of-the-month-into-the-night-%e2%80%93-the-disappearance-of-zachary-bernhardt/
Please read this ENTIRE article.
I cannot fathom that some of these facts have not lead to Zach's abductor! I am going to restrain from expressing my opinion which may be obvious as you read the article and form your own opinion. There is one comment from an unidentified source that is really disturbing.

[nomadpatti]

http://www.dc.state.fl.us/activeinmates/detail.asp?Bookmark=1&From=list&SessionID=290610989

His record speaks for itself!

Please God, do NOT let this man see the light of day to hurt another child.
It is unclear if he had something to do with Zachary's disappearance.

[Sioux_Girl]

I kind of think this case is weird to be honest.

Even if you do have insomnia you dont gernerally go for walks at 4 am and she claims she was gone for just 15 mins and during that time the boy just happens to get kidnapped. There are differing stories of whether she was gone for 15 minutes or 2 hours but unless going out in the middle of the n ight was something she did regularly im kind of uncertain with the 15 min time frame and the time of day how it happened. I do think the neighbour is rotten as anything but..like i said unless he knew she was going out and just happened to be awake..i cant see it somehow ;(

[Faith]

Haleigh Cummings and Zachary Bernhardt: Unsolved Florida Amber Alerts

The Amber Alert is a national system that helps locate endangered and missing children. Florida has six unsolved Florida Amber alert cases. The most high profile of these is the case of Haleigh Cummings, followed by Trenton Duckett, and then Zachary Michael-Cole Bernhardt. The other unsolved Florida Amber Alerts are Bryan Dos Santos-Gomez, Jessica Vargas, and Jarkeius Adside.

You may click here Unsolved Amber Alerts in Florida (http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/mcicsearch/UnsolvedAlerts.asp)for information regarding current Florida unsolved Amber Alert cases. For a listing of all recent Florida missing children cases, including runaways, parental kidnappings, and stranger abductions, please click here: Missing Children: National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Florida alerts (http://www.examiner.com/x-7403-Tampa-Crime-Examiner%7Ey2009m10d12-Missing-Children-National-Center-for-Missing-and-Exploited-Children-Florida-alerts)

http://www.examiner.com/x-7403-Tampa-Crime-Examiner~y2009m10d12-Haleigh-Cummings-and-Zachary-Bernhardt-Unsolved-Florida-Amber-Alerts