Post by Scumhunter on Feb 16, 2015 0:05:54 GMT -5
(above: picture of Steven Kraft at age 12, credit: missingkids.com)
(above: Picture of Steven Kraft age-progressed to 25, credit: missingkids.com)
Missing Child/Person Profile as of February 16th, 2015 (Based on missingkids.com poster):
Missing Since: Feb 15, 2001
Missing From: Benton Harbor, MI
DOB: Jan 11, 1989
Age (as of 2/16/2015): 26
Sex: Male
Race: White
Hair Color: Lt. Brown
Eye Color: Green
Height: 5'1"
Weight: 95 [/b]
TIPS: Anyone having information should call 1-800-THE-LOST or the Benton Township Police Department (Michigan) at 1-269-926-8221
Yesterday marked the 12-year anniversary of the disappearance of Steven Kraft. He was aired on the July 28th, 2001 episode of America's Most Wanted. Below is a new article on the case:
It is a case you may remember: 12-year-old Steven Kraft disappeared 14 years ago, on February 15th, from his Benton Township neighborhood. In 2001, police had no idea what happened to him. And today, not much has changed. The case is as cold as it gets. But there is still hope. Police say someone knows what happened to Steven Kraft.
If the woods that run along Blue Creek in Benton Township could talk, they might have a story to tell. The trees, and what lies inside, may know what really happened to 12-year-old Steven Kraft.
"I would almost bet my life it was foul play," says Jason Joiner.
Joiner is Kraft's older cousin. He remembers frantically searching the woods and surrounding area in the hours and days after Kraft went missing.
"I remember he was very rambunctious. Outgoing. Adventurous," says Joiner.
Joiner lived in Coloma at the time and remembers getting a phone call from a family member with the news that Kraft had disappeared. Joiner says he rushed down to Benton Township to help.
"I thought by now there would be some sort of solution -- more clues -- I thought it would be resolved by now," says Joiner, "but here we are years later and we are still like the first day -- not knowing what would happen."
What did happen?
Kraft lived on Holly Street in Benton Township with his parents and younger brother. Their house has been torn down now but it used to sit on the outskirts of a neighborhood called Benton Heights. Much of that neighborhood has been demolished in favor of airport property.
Police say, on February 15th, the 5th grader left his home sometime between 7pm and 8pm to go outside and play with his two dogs. Police say he had several family members and family friends that lived in the neighborhood and he often played along his dead end street or in the nearby woods.
"He had went out, asked permission, was told to go out and stay in the area and that is the last he was seen," says Detective Lieutenant Brian Smit with the Benton Township Police Department. Smit is now in charge of the case.
Family and police organized ground searches of the area. Dive teams looked into nearby creeks and ponds after footprints were found. And Kraft's case was featured on Americas Most Wanted.
A couple days after he disappeared one of his dogs came home another was found wandering about a mile away near where Blue Creek meets Red Arrow Highway.
Still no evidence of what happened to Kraft was found. At a press conference shortly after he went missing, it was clear, police were frustrated. And not a lot has changed.
"I guess what I am asking is, do you have any idea?" we asked Smit. "No, I don't think we do at this point," Smit responded.
Kraft is still listed as a "missing endangered child" Smit says.
But he would no longer be a child. The Center for Missing and Exploited Children released an age enhanced photo of Kraft last year. Today he would be 26 years old.
And while police call this case "cold," they say, it will never be closed.
"It is frustrating that we are into 14 and 15 years now and we are still at the beginning," says Smit.
Kraft's family continues to hope that he is still alive but, at the very least, they just want answers.
"I am not going to give up hope. I do believe it can be solved," says Joiner.
Thoughts? According to the Charley Project when Steven went out with the family dogs, temperatures were below freezing and footprints lead past an ice pond near his home. This of course may make some wonder if Steven died accidentally. However, you'd think they would have found him by now if that was the case- of course making abduction a scenario as well. This is a rather baffling case to me, but as Steven's cousin says, we can always have hope.
www.wsbt.com/news/local/cold-case-files-the-disappearance-of-steven-kraft/31288368
www.missingkids.com/poster/NCMC/905507/1
www.charleyproject.org/cases/k/kraft_steven.html
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