CLEVELAND, OH (WCMH) – The FBI is asking for help locating a serial child abductor in the Cleveland area.
A $20,000 reward is being offered for information leading to a conviction
According to the FBI, a security system at an Elyria home recorded several doors and windows being opened between 5:08am and 5:23am on February 24. The next day, a man placed a ladder against the same house and tried to pull a 10-year-old girl through a bedroom window. The attempt was unsuccessful.
The suspect wore all black with a black mask over the bottom of his face.
At 4:30am on May 21, the FBI said a six-year-old girl was taken from her home in Cleveland. The man was again wearing all black with a black mask covering his face.
The girl was dropped off a few miles from, home 17 hours later.
The FBI has linked both cases through forensic evidence.
“He’s a predator, he’s preying on little children,” FBI special agent Donna Sullivan told WTOL-TV. “He comes into their houses at night when they’re sleeping and he steals them out of their beds. We need to catch him.”
Investigators believe the man is driving a 2002 or 2003 Chevy Malibu with a driver’s side quarter panel that is a different color than the rest of the car.
Video related to the Cleveland incident is described as follows:
- On May 14, 2016, at approximately 2:33 a.m., and again at 3:50 a.m., a White male is seen in the vicinity of the home in the Cleveland incident. The suspect is seen looking at his phone.
- On May 15, 2016, at approximately 5:00 a.m., a White male is seen at the window of the home in the Cleveland incident, then runs back to his car and leaves the area.
- On May 21, 2016, at approximately 3:12 a.m., the suspect’s vehicle is seen near the corner of West 101st Street and West Boulevard. The suspect looks at his phone while waiting for a red light.
- On May 21, 2016, at approximately 3:21 a.m., the suspect is seen near the home in the Cleveland incident, then walks away from the home at approximately 3:28 a.m.
- On May 21, 2016, at approximately 4:18 a.m., the suspect is seen approachingthe home in the Cleveland incident again, then departing carrying something (presumed to be the victim) at approximately 4:29 a.m.