A tip led detectives to Joseph P. Smith, held since Tuesday on a charge unrelated to the abduction; Investigators say they have "strong evidence" he is the right man. A car, house are searched.
By JAMIE JONES and CARRIE JOHNSON
Published February 5, 2004
[AP photo]
Billie Jo Jimenez, left, rear, her mother, Carole Bernhardt, left front, and family friend Kay Parker tie ribbons around a tree for Carlie Brucia in Sarasota on Wednesday.
[Sarasota County Sheriff's Office]
This is a 1992 Buick owned by Joseph Smith, a suspect in the abduction.
SARASOTA - A 37-year-old felon and father of three young daughters was named Wednesday as the prime suspect in the apparent abduction of an 11-year-old girl.
Joseph P. Smith has been in custody since Tuesday on a probation violation, authorities said.
"We have strong evidence to suggest that he is in fact the perpetrator," said Capt. Jeff Bell, the lead Sarasota investigator on the case.
Carlie Brucia, apparently kidnapped as she walked home from a friend's house Sunday, had not been found Wednesday, authorities said.
Late in the evening, a private investigator hired by the family said he received a tip about Carlie's whereabouts. Her stepfather raced to a home where Smith had been arrested a day earlier. The house was quickly roped off by sheriff's investigators.
Authorities allowed the stepfather to go inside, but he emerged soon after and rejoined family members, who began crying.
Sheriff's officials refused to discuss what they were doing at the site but said they did not find a body.
Investigators called the apprehension of a suspect a new phase in the search for Carlie, but they did not take questions on the implications of finding a possible kidnapper without finding the victim.
Smith has a lengthy criminal record, mostly involving drug charges. Detectives said they are examining a 1992 Buick Century Station wagon that Smith had been driving. It is registered to Jeffrey Pincus and lists his address as 3452 24th Parkway in Sarasota, the home investigators searched late Wednesday.
A telephone tip by a citizen led detectives to Smith, said Sarasota County Sheriff Bill Balkwill, noting that investigators have received more than 400 leads.
Steven Kansler, Carlie's stepfather, said he and Carlie's mother learned about Smith's arrest just before a news conference on Wednesday evening.
"None of us recognize him," said Kansler, 36.
He said Carlie's mother, Susan Schorpen, was too upset to comment.
"She's just torn apart," Kansler said.
Until recently, Smith lived in a one-story, peach-colored house on Ingot Place in Sarasota, with a small pond in front and a satellite dish on top. He shared the home with his wife and three daughters, 2, 4 and 6 years old, neighbors said.
Linda Thompson, who lives next door to the Smiths, said she thought about her neighbor when she saw the videotape of Carlie's kidnapping.
"I thought about the tattoos on his arms," she said. "But the face and hair didn't look like Joe."
Thompson said Smith's wife returned from church on Wednesday to find sheriff's deputies and news reporters waiting. She quickly left with her daughters, Thompson said.
"She was totally in shock, shaking," Thompson said. "Everything was in chaos. She was worried about her kids."
Rolando Mata, 14, who lives across the street from Smith, said Smith moved out of the house about three weeks ago. He said Smith was a mechanic and a friendly neighbor.
"He was a good person for us," Mata said. "He used to help us out by fixing our cars."
Smith has been arrested at least 13 times in Florida since 1993, according to state records.
Manatee County officials arrested him May 7, 1997, on kidnapping and false imprisonment charges, but he was acquitted a year later, records show.
He was sentenced to prison in 2001 for charges that included possession of heroin and obtaining a controlled substance by fraud. He was released in January 2003, according to a state Department of Corrections database. Records indicate that he was on drug offender probation.
Smith has been married at least twice, records show. After a divorce in 1996, he married Luz Elena Castrillon of Sarasota in 1997.
Smith's arrest came after surveillance video cameras captured images of Carlie, a sixth-grader, apparently being kidnapped Sunday while taking a shortcut behind a closed car wash on her way home.
A security camera shot a series of digital photographs that showed a man walking up to Carlie, talking to her, grasping her arm and leading her away.
The man appeared to be in his late 20s or early 30s. He was wearing a mechanic's shirt with a name patch on one breast. Investigators said he also had tattoos on both forearms.
Smith has multiple tattoos, detectives said, on both arms, his back, chest and calves.
Clinton Van Zandt, a retired FBI agent who worked in the agency's Behavioral Science Unit, studied the digital images of Carlie being confronted by the man in Sarasota.
It appears Carlie was trying to avoid eye contact with him, Van Zandt said.
"She's looking down, just hoping he'll go by her," Van Zandt said in an interview Wednesday with the Times.
But then the man steps into her path, grabs her arm and says something to her before leading her away.
"I think she's shocked," Van Zandt said. "And then he grabs her. Whether he threatened her or whatever ruse he used, you see her left arm trail back and that says, "No, no, don't take me. I want to go back. ' "
In the video, Carlie does not scream or struggle to get away.
"Maybe he said, "I've been sent by your father. Your mother's had an accident.' When you're that young, you haven't had the time to think out, "What if?' Shock and denial do not help you get away. They cause you to freeze, lock up."
The FBI worked with a NASA image lab to enhance the images. Balkwill did not say Wednesday night whether those enhanced images helped lead to Smith.
Chuck Chambers, a private investigator from neighboring Bradenton, said Carlie's family hired him Tuesday after consulting with an "investigative psychic" who "provided them with addresses and clues."
"Our main concern is the safety and recovery of the girl," Chambers said.
The Sheriff's Office is working with the FBI, Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Calls from the public have poured in. A reward fund of $50,000 was offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
A national hotline - 1-888-382-6237 - has been established to gather information.
- Staff writers Leanora Minai and Carrie Johnson contributed to this report, which used information from the Associated Press.
Vivid video footage shines light on case
