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Grandfather of kidnapped boy arrested, Amber Alert Canceled Shortly After

by politisite | October 18, 2008 at 10:52 am

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The GrandFather of 6 year old Cole Puffinburger was arrested in California on Friday night. The Amber Alert was canceled Saturday morning. Police will not give out any further information. A 2 pm PT, 5 pm ET is scheduled. We will provide an up date at that time.

Update Sunday 1400 hrs - Boy Found Safe see story by CJaye here

Update 1705 hrs ET - News Conference provided better news than expected as FBI spokesman Joseph Dickey said the search for Cole Puffinburger was "not called off," The Amber Alert for the child was deactivated due to protocol. The FBI related that it has narrowed its search. Another person of interest was identified. "There is no information being provided at this time with regard to the boy's well-being, nor the whereabouts of the kidnappers," A large sum of cash was recovered, the original reason they thought the child was abducted by a Mexican drug cartel

Update 1600 hrs ET- Father has not been notified by police about status of his missing Son

Cole's father, Robert Puffinburger, told CNN he had not heard anything from police and was surprised to hear the Amber Alert had been deactivated.

Grandfather of kidnapped boy arrested
The grandfather of kidnapped 6-year-old Cole Puffinburger was arrested in Riverside, Calif., late Friday after Metro Police named him a person of interest.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff's office said 51-year-old Clemens Fred Tinnemeyer was arrested by U.S. Marshals. He was taken to the Central Detention Center in the city of San Bernardino.

Metro Police said earlier Friday that they believed Cole's kidnapping was linked to Tinnemeyer's drug deals with Mexican nationals and that there were millions of dollars involved.

The child has not been found.

An Amber Alert was issued Wednesday after Cole was taken at gunpoint from a northeastern Las Vegas Valley home by two or three men posing as police officers. Metro Police believe that Tinnemeyer may be able to help them find the boy.

Police said they believe the men were Mexican drug dealers and that the child's kidnapping was a "message" to Tinnemeyer.

Tinnemeyer may have stolen millions of dollars from Mexican nationals, said Capt. Vincent Cannito. He declined to say whether the kidnappers had been seeking ransom for the boy.

Police said two or three Hispanic men knocked on the front door of the child's home. The mother answered the door and the men forced their way into the home. After ransacking the house, the men took Cole and left. There is no description of a vehicle and a description of one of the men say his is about 5-foot-7, weighs about 150 pounds and has long black, slicked-back hair.

Cole is 3-foot-11, weighs about 48 pounds and is wearing a black sweatshirt with blue, black and silver stars on it, black jeans, a belt and Van tennis shoes with a white stripe. He also wears silver- rimmed prescription glasses.

Anyone with information is urged to call Metro Police at 828-3111 or Crime Stoppers at 385-5555.

Previous NowPublic Coverage:

Police deactivate Amber Alert for missing Nevada 6-year-old

Amber Alert Kidnapped from Las Vegas 6 years old

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Tina Kells

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 11:06 on October 18th, 2008

politisite, I like this story. It's good stuff.

politisite

at 11:15 on October 18th, 2008

Thank You Tina:

I am afraid there will be bad news today. Seems like the Grandfather gave some information to the Police in California that led the NV police to deactivate the Amber Alert. When a child is found alive they announce it. When a child is found dead, there is always a delay, as they have to follow protocol

CJaye

at 15:38 on October 18th, 2008

Amber Alerts are only for the first 48 to72 hours. After that is goes to a Missing or Endangered Runaway. This is why the alert was canceled no other reason. NCMEC does not announce if they find a child dead or alive not even to us who volunteer for them. We have to find out on our own. Unfortunetly this child has been taken by the Mexican Drug Cartel which I know something about from working Glendene Grant, Jessica Foster case. The grandfather nor the mother will ever see the child alive agian. Very sad because they don't care about anybody or anything.