http://www.tampabay.com/news/public...es-a-tearful-plea-for-his-safe-return/1055279
ST. PETERSBURG — Nothing about Paul Martikainen seemed suspicious when he showed up in St. Petersburg a month-and-a-half ago to retrieve a boat that his friend purchased.
The 35-year-old Palm Bay man made friends with other Salt Creek Marina boat owners, sharing beer and doughnuts with them as he lived on the sailboat while refurbishing it. He spoke fondly of his son and asked about basic boating tips, the boaters recall.
He certainly didn't seem like the kind of guy who would abduct his 3-year-old child and take off with him in the boat, braving the Gulf of Mexico with no sailing experience. But that's what authorities said Martikainen did after escaping a supervised visit with the boy in a Cocoa Beach park on Saturday.
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An Amber Alert sent out Saturday evening said Martikainen was thought to be traveling in a green 1995 Ford Explorer with tag number 142KEA. Shortly after news of the alert ran on local news broadcasts, a caller told authorities that the vehicle was at the marina, Matthews said, but the boat was gone.
The boat was recently painted battleship gray, covering the identifying numbers and making the vessel difficult to find in the water. This led authorities to believe the abduction was planned in advance, Cocoa Beach Police spokeswoman Barbara Matthews said.
The supervised visits had been going on for about six months, Finch said during her press conference. Martikainen was ordered to have supervised visitation because of previous allegations of abusing the boy, Matthews said.
Allegations that the father was physically abusing his son were verified by a Department of Children and Families investigation just days before the child went missing, according to DCF spokeswoman Carrie Hoeppner.
But DCF said there was no reason for the state to intervene because the mother had primary custody and the child was also under the supervision of a family court judge.
DCF said it conducted several investigations into Martikainen this year but the only one it could comment on was the most recent, which verified the abuse.
Typically DCF refers such cases to the Brevard County State Attorney's Office to determine if the allegations warrant criminal prosecution.
But that couldn't have averted the boy's disappearance Saturday. DCF closed it's investigation on Nov. 25, the day before Thanksgiving.
Records show that Martikainen and Christa Lee Finch got a marriage license in 2004 in Palm Beach County. The ceremony was held at Great Outdoors in Titusville in Brevard County on Dec. 3, 2004.
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