Suspect arrested in kidnapping of 13-year-old Florida boy
POSTED: 1:12 p.m. EST, March 7, 2007
Story Highlights
• Police say Vicente Beltran-Moreno is in custody; details promised at 2 p.m. ET
• Beltran-Moreno wanted in February 23 kidnapping of Clay Moore, 13
• Boy was abducted from school bus stop in Florida
• Clay used safety pin to free himself; gave police info that led to Beltran-Moreno
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BRADENTON, Florida (CNN) -- The man wanted by authorities in connection with the abduction of a 13-year-old boy was taken into custody Wednesday, the Manatee County Sheriff's Department announced.

Dave Bristow, a spokesman for the sheriff's department, did not give details about the arrest of Vicente Ignacio Beltran-Moreno but said there would be a news conference at 2 p.m. ET to release more information.

Authorities say Beltran-Moreno abducted 13-year-old Clay Moore at gunpoint February 23 from a school bus stop in Parrish, about 30 miles southeast of St. Petersburg.

Clay was driven to a rural area and tied to a tree, Manatee County Sheriff Charlie Wells said.

The boy used a safety pin he had hidden in his mouth to cut through duct tape and other bonds that were holding him, authorities and his parents said. (Full story)

He walked until he came upon some farm workers and was able to borrow a cell phone to call his parents.

Information that Clay gave authorities led them to issue an arrest warrant for Beltran-Moreno, 22, on charges of armed kidnapping and aggravated assault.

"He was right on the money with the information that he gave us," Wells told reporters.

Police recovered the red pickup truck allegedly used in the kidnapping at the suspect's home in Bradenton.

During their investigation, police recovered a handwritten ransom note less than a page long, possibly intended for Clay's parents, that contained unspecified threats, Wells said.

"It was his intention, the suspect's intention, to leave Clay Moore tied in the woods until he got his money," Wells said.

Beltran-Moreno worked in Manatee County as an aluminum contractor building screen enclosures and once worked as a "contract picker" on a farm near the wooded area where Moore was bound to the tree for several hours before his escape, Wells said.

Citing the teen's ability to recall details about the suspect and where he was taken, Wells said, "the bottom line is that the man kidnapped the wrong kid."



http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/03/07/florid ... index.html