FL FL - Zachary Michael-Cole Bernhardt, 8, Clearwater, 11 Sept 2000

[emma l]

I'm posting this link cause I can't find the old thread- but I'm sure we had one.....anyway if there is one can somebody please merge!

I found some new info on him and I wanted to post it. Found it while I was looking for Tara Leight Calico info and I posted on there was well.

ZACHARY MICHAEL-COLE BERNHARDT
Missing Date: Sep 11, 2000
Race: White
Age Now: 12
Height: 4'6" (137 cm)
Missing City: CLEARWATER

Heres the link to his missing persons page
http://www.missingkids.com/missingk...NCMC&seqNum=1&caseLang=en_US&searchLang=en_US

For anyone that doesnt know this case, Zack went missing from his Clearwater Apartment after his mum went out to take a walk at 2am (!). There was much speculation at the time about this statement- but no clues whatsoever were ever found in Zacks dissaperance. He was wearing only boxer shorts and a t-shirt and there were no signs of a struggle.

Ive posted an article with a bit more info. This child had a rough upbringing...
http://www.sptimes.com/News/091300/TampaBay/A_boy_sunny_amid_stor.shtml

Anyway this is the new info I found by accident...A photo,a convienience store, bound and gagged..........I don't know whether this child is Zack or not, but the similarites between the photos found and Tara Leigh Calicos shouldn't be ignored. Theres still a child in this photo whos out there somewhere...

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/958923/detail.html

 

[VespaElf]

Very interesting Emma(although seeing the photo of the little boy tied up made me ill).

I know one of the found Tara photos(and I do belive at the least 2 of the 3 are of her) also showed a bound boy so it wouldnt be a stretch for her captors to abduct a boy as well although Zach's case ,imo,seems to point to someone close to the family.


This is another case that shouldve gotten more attention!!!!

 

[Mom who cares]

That photo is very disturbing, as are the others of the possible "Tara" photos. I don't recall, does this boy look like the one in the back of the van in the other photos?

 

[emma l]

I thought about the photo all last night- its horrible.......Although the boy in the back of the van with Tara couldn't possibly be Zack cause of the time frame, it weirdly, does look a bit like him (in that he's blonde and blue- eyed). Thats another weird connection that I hadn't thought of..............

I also read many articles pointing to a family member regarding Zacks dissapearace....................I wonder why it wasn't v high profile? Maybe the suspicion of a family member put the media off? I seem to remember that the mother refused to do hardly any press and it was mostly the auntie who tried to get publicity for Zacks case........................

 

[emma l]

Bump.............................x

 

[emma l]

Family and friends of missing Zachary Michael Cole Bernhardt have set up a support group website for families of missing or abducted children.

http://keepingthelighton.org/

Please take a moment to think of Zack and look at his photo- I couldn't find one new piece of information on this case.......... x

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

Thanks for posting the website, emma.

 

[SadieJane]

This case really gets to me. Zachary looks like such a sweet kid in his photographs...

Has there been any new information about the photograph released? It seems like with the crazy computer stuff they can do nowadays they should be able to somehow determine if the faces are similar.

I don't know that I think it is him. I remember the photographs at the bottom of this http://www.pollyklaas.org/missing/kids/page.jsp?itemID=27044198 webpage, and iirc they were taken right before Zach's disappearance. In the photos, he has a deep tan and short blond hair, but the boy in the link Emma posted as pale skin and a "bowl cut" hair do. Could this have been a Dylan Groene type abduction-- was Zach kept alive and transported around the country?

He does sort of remind me of Dylan-- same age, both abducted from their homes at night, they even sort of look alike. Not saying that Duncan was involved, just food for thought.

 

[Usher737]

I wonder how well police interviewed offenders living in the area? I think someone had to have seen the mother taking her walk and went in and took Zachary. I dont think this was totally random, more like, a crime of opportunity.

 

[SewingDeb]

This case really gets to me. Zachary looks like such a sweet kid in his photographs...

Has there been any new information about the photograph released? It seems like with the crazy computer stuff they can do nowadays they should be able to somehow determine if the faces are similar.

I don't know that I think it is him. I remember the photographs at the bottom of this http://www.pollyklaas.org/missing/kids/page.jsp?itemID=27044198 webpage, and iirc they were taken right before Zach's disappearance. In the photos, he has a deep tan and short blond hair, but the boy in the link Emma posted as pale skin and a "bowl cut" hair do. Could this have been a Dylan Groene type abduction-- was Zach kept alive and transported around the country?

He does sort of remind me of Dylan-- same age, both abducted from their homes at night, they even sort of look alike. Not saying that Duncan was involved, just food for thought.

I thought of Duncan immediately. Is it possible he was in the area?

 

[fran]

I thought of Duncan immediately. Is it possible he was in the area?

JED was released from prison, I believe in Sept.or Oct. of 2000 and he immediately went to ND to be with Dr.Wacksman, so I don't think he's involved here. Shortly after JED's sexual offender status came to light and the Dr. stuck up for him, the doc and his wife and family moved to Florida. So don't forget about JED when looking at 'child disappearances' in Florida. JED went there many times, probably more than we know about.



JMHO
fran

 

[emma l]

Bump. No new information at all I'm afraid.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

I can't believe how long it's been with no information.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

Various photos and age-progressed photo from the Charley Project:

The Charley Project: Zachary Michael-Cole Bernhardt

Also info about a possible POI.

Kevin Jalbert, who resides near Bernhardt's home, told an acquaintance that he was a child murderer and was prepared to find another victim in early 2001. Authorities learned about Jalbert's comments and began tracking his movements. He attempted to solicit an undercover officer for assistance in a child abduction, rape and murder in September 2001. He was arrested shortly afterwards. Jalbert's sister said that he is a chronic liar and exaggerates to receive attention.

DNA samples taken from Jalbert did not match available evidence in Bernhardt's case, but authorities looked into the possibility that Jalbert was involved in the child's disappearance. Investigators found child Web sites on Jalbert's home computer. It was determined that he visited a nearby landfill approximately two weeks after Bernhardt's disappearance...

In January 2002, a five-year-old boy was kidnapped from the same apartment complex Bernhardt disappeared from...

Bernhardt is described as an intelligent and cheerful child who excelled in school, where he was a third-grader. His mother and his father, who was absent from Bernhardt's life, have both been ruled out as suspects in his disappearance.

Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian male. Blond hair, blue eyes. Bernhardt has scars under his chin, between on his eyes on the bridge of his nose and on the right side of his upper lip. His nickname is Zach (it may be spelled "Zack"). Some agencies may refer to him as "Zachary Michael Bernhardt."

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

Name: Zachary M. Bernhardt
AKA: Michael Cole

Texas Department of Public Safety - Courtesy, Service, Protection

 

[missacorah]

So was the boy who went missing from the same apartment complex in 2002 ever found or is he still missing?

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

The 5 year-old boy, thankfully, was recovered alive. This is what it says about him:

The boy said his abductor put him in a car and drove for ten hours. The boy was left alive in a trash bin in Bushnell, Florida and he was rescued by a passing motorist. He had been sexually assaulted. Investigators looked into the possibility that the 2002 kidnapping and the Bernhardt case were connected, but eventually discarded the theory.

 

[Sleuthster]

Wow, I live next to Clearwater and I spent my honeymoon in Dillon Co 2 years ago. It is a small world. Sort of sad. I remember when he disapeared. I always thought it was odd that the mother was out for a 15 minute walk at 2 am and then he disapeared.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

I've always found the 2 a.m. walk odd too. It just seems like such a strange decision, IMO, to leave a child alone at 2 in the morning, even for "just" 15 minutes.

 

[Sleuthster]

I've always found the 2 a.m. walk odd too. It just seems like such a strange decision, IMO, to leave a child alone at 2 in the morning, even for "just" 15 minutes.

Yes, very odd. I mean if it was some preditor it seems odd that he was waiting in the shadows on that specific date at 2 am and coinsidently the mom decided to go for a walk at the same moment. I am just not geting something here, I mean there is something definately not adding up.

I have lived in Pinellas county most of my life and rarely hear of stranger abductions happening. Most of the cases (ie missing children,adults, murders, etc) are domestic related.

You do have the rare cases like Jennifer Odom and Jessica Lunsford.