MI MI - Steven Kraft, 12, Benton Harbor, 15 Feb 2001

[los2188]

COLD CASE: Benton Township boy missing for 14 years

Kristin Bien WSBT decided to look into this case hoping someone out there might be able to help figure out what happened to Steven Kraft. Tune-in now to WSBT 22 News at 11 for an inside look!

http://www.wsbt.com/news/local/cold-case-benton-township-boy-missing-for-14-years/31285388

 

[colette]

The show is on the WSBT website now. Steven went out for a walk with 2 dogs around 7 or 8 PM and was never seen again. One dog came home, the other was found within a mile of home. Family has been ruled out. There are no clues.


http://www.wsbt.com/news/local/cold-case-files-the-disappearance-of-steven-kraft/31288368

 

[dotr]

Just found this strange case- hoping that Steven is still alive out there, somewhere!

 

[Guinevere]

14 Years Now! So Sad! Such a Cute Kid and Handsome man he would have been

2001/Age Progression

http://www.missingkids.com/poster/NCMC/905507/1

Hoping this family can eventually get some closure <3

~

 

[MagnoliaMountain]

I don't know why but in this case I really think he could have been held captive after his disappearance, like Jaycee-Lee Dugard.

 

[colette]

I wonder if Daniel Furlong took him? He killed Jodi Parrack and probably took Brittnay Beers, IMO. Steven was young with longish blonde hair, maybe mistaken for a girl?

http://woodtv.com/investigative-story/daniel-furlong-father-umpire-killer/

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Steven has been missing for fifteen years now.

http://www.heraldpalladium.com/news/local/this-is-not-ok/article_efaf0698-6cbc-5765-be59-55ddd74edf6d.html

&#8220;I got a phone call at about 8:30 or 9 that night. My parents were asking if Steven was at my house because he wasn&#8217;t at home,&#8221; Jodi Bopp, the boy&#8217;s sister, recalled. &#8220;I got a sick feeling. There&#8217;s days it seems like forever, and other times it seems like yesterday.&#8221;

It&#8217;s been 15 years, and Steven has never come home. One of his dogs returned to the house a few days after Steven disappeared. The other dog was later found over a mile away in a wooded area near the road.

&#8220;That wasn&#8217;t good. Those dogs were his. They wouldn&#8217;t have left him,&#8221; Bopp said. &#8220;It was not OK. And I still feel like it&#8217;s not OK.&#8221;

She&#8217;ll return to the corner where the house stood near Euclid Street on Feb. 15, and invites the community to join her in remembering Steven with the release of balloons, which the family will provide. The gathering will be at 6 p.m., with balloons being released near the time at which Steven was last seen.

&#8220;The community has kept his name pretty active. I don&#8217;t feel like he&#8217;s been forgotten,&#8221; she said.

 

[JerseyGirl]

https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/kidnap/steven-earl-kraft-jr-1

 

[dotr]

Bumping.
Wondering what may have led LE to look for Steven near the airport?

Published on Apr 25, 2017

STEVEN EARL KRAFT, JR.

February 15, 2001
Benton Township, Michigan

Age-progressed to 25 years. Courtesy of NCMEC
Date(s) of Birth Used January 11, 1989
Place of Birth Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Hair Sandy Brown
Eyes Green
Height 5'2" (at time of disappearance)
Weight 100 pounds (at time of disappearance)
Sex Male
Race White
If you have any information concerning this person, please contact a Crimes Against Children Investigator at your local FBI office or the nearest American Embassy or Consulate. You may also contact the Benton Township Police Department (Michigan) at 1-269-926-8221 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-342-STOP (7867)

[video=youtube;F0_NVVvGeZQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0_NVVvGeZQ[/video]

 

[JerseyGirl]

Michigan boy Steven Kraft still missing nearly 18 years after disappearance

 

[HayLouise]

Missing: Steven Earl Kraft Jr.
Steven Earl Kraft Jr., 12, was last seen in Benton Harbor, Mich., on Feb. 15, 2001. His age now: 30.

Have information?

Call 911 or 1-800-843-5678 [1-800-THE-LOST]

Missing children: Have you seen them?

 

[JerseyGirl]

On the evening of February 15, 2001, 12-year-old Steven Kraft left his family’s home in Benton Township, Michigan to go outside with two of his dogs. He told his family he’d be home for dinner, but never returned. A few days later, both of the Kraft family dogs returned home, but Steven was still nowhere to be found.

Benton Township Chief of Police Brian Smit told Dateline in early 2019 that Steven’s young age combined with a disappearance that happened nearly two decades ago have made it impossible to try to track him. Steven was last known to be wearing a blue-green Charlotte Hornets basketball team jacket, a tan and white striped t-shirt, tan parachute pants and black boots.

Six years of Dateline's Missing in America: 134 still missing

 

[ADKGemini]

Steven Earl Kraft, Jr. - Michigan Missing Person Directory

Missing
Last seen alive: February 15, 2001

Circumstances: Steven was last seen when he went outside with his dogs. The dogs were subsequently located, but Steven has not been seen since.
First Name: Steven Earl
Middle Name: Earl
Last Name: Kraft, Jr.
Details
Age When Last Known Alive: 12
Race: White
Sex: Male
Height: 61.0
Weight: 95.0
Location
City: Benton Harbor
State: Michigan
Zip: 49022
County: Berrien
Appearance
Hair: Brown
Head Hair: Steven's hair is light brown in color.
Eye: Green
Scars And Marks: Steven has a small red mark on his chest.
Clothing and Accessories
Clothing: Steven was last seen wearing an aqua and purple Hornets team jacket, a tan and white striped t-shirt, and tan parachute pants.
Footwear: Steven was last seen wearing black boots.

 

[mothwings]

Would love to see the Dateline episode on this. Anyone have a link?

 

[dotr]

July 26 2020 rbbm.
Michael Devlin is now a suspect in five cases of missing boys

''Just how far does Michael Devlin's trail lead? A police task force is looking into five cases of missing children, wondering if Devlin could be responsible. The five cases all involve the disappearance of young boys, including one in Illinois, three in Missouri, and one in Western Michigan. It's that case in Michigan that's raising a lot of questions. Police now know Devlin has strong ties to that part of the country.
"It's very eerie to think this guy, you've watched him on TV and he could possibly know after six years where your brother is." Jodi Bopp gets cold chills just thinking Michael Devlin could have kidnapped her brother Steven Kraft.
The 12-year-old went missing in February of 2001 in Benton Township, Michigan. A police task force now says, as a boy, Devlin's family would rent a cottage in Pentwater, Michigan: just two hours north of Benton Township. "I think the similarities are there as to what he did in Missouri could have happened up here", said Benton Township Police Chief Vince Fetke. "This guy was in Michigan, the highway was more than a mile and a half from our home. Then to come to find out he had kidnapped two other children for sure."
Those children, Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby reportedly lived in a Kirkwood apartment building with Devlin.''

 

[Savemecastiel]

Bumping

 

[CastlesBurning]

Seven years of Dateline's Missing in America: 156 still missing

 

[MajorHoople]

This video was originally posted way back on Mar 14, 2013, but I don't believe it's been linked here.

Steven Earl Kraft JR.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

On the evening of February 15, 2001, 12-year-old Steven Kraft left his family’s home in Benton Township, Michigan to go outside with two of his dogs. He told his family he’d be home for dinner, but never returned. A few days later, both of the Kraft family dogs returned home, but Steven was still nowhere to be found. Benton Township Chief of Police Brian Smit told Dateline in early 2019 that Steven’s young age combined with a disappearance that happened nearly two decades ago have made it impossible to try to track him. Steven was last known to be wearing a blue-green Charlotte Hornets basketball team jacket, a tan and white striped t-shirt, tan parachute pants and black boots. If you have any information on Steven’s case, please call the Benton Township Police Department at (269) 926-8221 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-342-STOP(7867).

Seven years of Dateline's Missing in America: 156 still missing

 

[ChatteringBirds]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Steven Earl Kraft II – The Charley Project

On the Charley Project page:
Steven's footprints led past an iced-over pond near his home to Harbor Haven Ministries on Irving Street, one block south of Holly Drive. Late in the evening three days after Steven's disappearance, his older dog, a German shepherd/chow mix, returned home.

The dog apparently led his owners to a nearby pond, but no evidence of Steven's whereabouts was located in the area. The following day, his six-month-old German Shepherd puppy was located near Blue Creek, a mile and a half north of Steven's home...

Authorities searched four miles of Blue Creek and as well as the pond behind Harbor Haven Ministries in May 2001, but failed to produce any evidence of Steven's whereabouts. Investigators searched another area of woods near the Southwestern Michigan Regional Airport in November 2002, but no evidence was located.

I wonder what the chances are he went missing due to misadventure and was not abducted.

I also wonder why the dogs didn't stay together but don't really know anything about dog behavior.

I hope answers will still come in this tragic case somehow.