UPDATE 10/19/08 -Cole Puffinburger has been found SAFE in Las Vegas.
At about 11:30 EST last night, a citizen called police about a little boy walking the streets in Las Vegas. When police arrived to get the child, they found that he was Cole Puffinburger. Cole was taken to a hospital to be checked out but appears to be relatively unharmed, at least physically. Details at the bottom of this article.
Las Vegas, NV - Early Wednesday morning, six-year-old Cole Puffinburger was kidnapped from his Las Vegas home by two or three armed Hispanic men posing as police officers. At least, that’s the story police got when they were called yesterday by Cole’s mother.
Cole Puffinburger and Clemens Tinnemeyer
She reported that three men had knocked on the door of the family home at about 7:15 a.m. and identified themselves as police. When she let the men into the home, they demanded money from Cole’s grandfather, who hasn’t lived in the home since 2007. When told that the grandfather did not live at the home, the men tied up Cole, his mother, and her boyfriend, and ransacked the house. When they didn’t find money, the mother reported, the men took her son at gunpoint.
Um.. what?
Thing is, this crime happened in a well populated area. As Steve Huff pointed out at his blog, that neighborhood is not exactly rural. And we’re expected to believe that nobody saw three Hispanic guys rolling around with a towhead-blond six year old little boy? Something’s rotten in Vegas, kids. Particularly since nobody has been able to describe a getaway vehicle, or even determine for sure whether there were two guys, or three.
Only one suspect was even been described last night. He’s said to be in his thirties, 5’7″, 150 pounds, Hispanic with slicked-back shoulder-length dark hair and brown eyes, wearing jeans and a white t-shirt, and speaks with a Mexican accent. Just this morning, a vague description of the second abductor was released: early thirties, 5’9″, with a thin build, wearing a tan, red and brown shirt with vertical stripes. It’s not known what role, if any, the third guy played in Cole’s kidnapping. At this point he is described only as Hispanic or Latino.
An Amber Alert took several hours to issue because there wasn’t even a marginal suspect description until noon yesterday. The Alert now encompasses southern Nevada and parts of California and New Mexico. And Cole Puffinburger has vanished into the desert air, it seems. With no vehicle description, it’s like this little boy has dropped off the face of the earth.
Is it possible that armed men showed up at the house, demanded money, and kidnapped a child at gunpoint? Sure, it’s possible, if someone owed enough money to the wrong people, or if the child had been spotted from a distance some time before. Is it likely? My Imp-sense says there’s more to this story than we’ve heard.
Cole Puffinburger is six years old. He’s 3 feet, 11 inches tall and weighs about 48 pounds. His mother says he was last seen wearing a black John Cena t-shirt under a black hoodie sweatshirt with skulls on it, dark jeans, and black Vans tennis shoes. He also had on his silver-rimmed glasses. Cole has blond hair and blue eyes. If you see him, call 911.
UPDATE 10/17/08 - Police now say that there is a “significant drug link” between the family of Cole Puffinburger and the alleged kidnappers. Steve broke it before the press did, but police say that they are looking for Clemens F. Tinnemeyer, Jr. – Cole’s grandfather – in connection with Cole’s abduction. Apparently Grandpa Tinnemeyer owes a drug cartel somewhere between $8 million and $20 million dollars. Well, there’s your motive, denizens. As of this afternoon, Cole has not been located.
UPDATE 10/18/08 – Clemens F. Tinnemeyer, Jr. has been arrested in Riverside, California. Tinnemeyer has been called a “person of interest” in Cole’s abduction, which is believed to be a “message” sent to Tinnemeyer by the cartel. Cole remains missing. Federal agents say they are hopeful that Cole is still alive.
UPDATE 10/19/08 - At about 11:30 EST last night, a citizen called police about a little boy walking the streets in a neighborhood northeast of the Strip in Las Vegas. When police arrived to get the child, they found that he was Cole Puffinburger. Cole was taken to a hospital to be checked out but appears to be relatively unharmed, at least physically.
Now that Cole is safe, the investigation into his kidnapping will continue, along with the investigation into the drug ring and extortion that sparked Cole’s abduction. Jesus Gastelum remains a person of interest in the case. No word yet on what will happen to Cole’s grandfather, Clemens Tinnemeyer. He is not a suspect in his grandson’s kidnapping but was being held as a material witness due to his theft of millions of dollars from the drug dealers that took the boy.
As per usual, I’ll update as any new info comes in.
Tags: Abduction, Amber Alert, Drugs, Kidnapping, Las Vegas, Nevada, Robbery
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