Florida: Wells says boy was kidnapped for ransom (13-year-old Clay Moore kidnapped by previously deported illegal)

bradenton.com

SAMOSET, Florida -- Camouflaged sheriff's office SWAT Team members swarmed the home of the alleged kidnapper of 13-year-old Clay Moore just before daybreak this morning.

The suspect, however, was still on the loose.

Manatee County Sheriff's Office investigators did find a truck they believe was used during the boy's abduction Friday.

After dozens of interviews with East Manatee farmworkers and other witnesses, detectives Saturday afternoon began a more than 12-hour stakeout outside the home of 22-year-old Vincente Ignacio Beltran-Moreno.

"This man abducted Clay Moore, we are sure of it," said Sheriff Charlie Wells.

Wells said investigators found a ransom note.

--snip--

Wells said obtaining the warrants took longer than expected due to the suspected kidnapper's multiple aliases. Beltran-Moreno is an undocumented immigrant who at one time was deported from the United States.

Clay was abducted Friday just before 9 a.m. while he waiting for his school bus with 15 other students. The Manatee School of the Arts student was forced at gunpoint into the truck from the stop at the Kingsfield Lakes subdivision in Parrish.

full story

Posted by tyne at February 25, 2007