LAS VEGAS, Oct. 17, 2008
Nationwide Hunt For Kidnapped 6-Year-Old
Police Seek Grandfather Of Nevada Boy Abducted By Men Posing As Cops; Drug Gang Suspected
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Play CBS Video Video Las Vegas 6-Year-Old Kidnapped U.S. authorities believe that a Mexican drug cartel has kidnapped a 6-year-old American boy from his family's Las Vegas home in retribution for his grandfather's debts. Bill Whitaker reports.
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This undated picture made available by police shows six-year-old Cole Puffinburger. Las Vegas police said the boy, a first-grader at Stanford Elementary School, was kidnapped at gunpoint from his northeast valley home Wednesday morning, Oct. 15, 2008. (AP)
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Interactive Crime Beat Statistics and specifics on crime in America.
The boy, Cole Puffinburger, was abducted from a Las Vegas home Wednesday morning by three men posing as police officers. Police said they believe the men were Mexican drug dealers and that the kidnapping at gunpoint was a "message" to his grandfather, Clemens Fred Tinnemeyer.
"Tinnemeyer has stolen a large sum of money, all proceeds from illegal drug activity," Las Vegas police Capt. Vincent Cannito said.
Tinnemeyer allegedly stole tens of millions of dollars from a methamphetamine distribution ring, said Officer Cris Johnson, a Las Vegas police spokesman.
Tinnemeyer was last seen in May and reported missing Sept. 11, said Johnson.
In Mexico the violent drug cartels are blamed for an epidemic of kidnappings -- up to 500 a month, more than 3,700 murders so far this year, reports CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker. Now their violence is hitting home in dramatic fashion.
"The borders are for people who are law abiding. Narcotics dealers don't know about the borders, don't care about the borders - never have, never will," former U.S. attorney Charles Labella told Whitaker.
A nationwide Amber Alert remained in effect after two Hispanic men tied up Cole's mother and her boyfriend at their house Wednesday and abducted Cole. Cannito said a third man was believed to be involved.
He said police had "several" other persons of interest in the case, but no suspects in the abduction.
Meanwhile, authorities were looking for Tinnemeyer and his white Dodge pickup with Mississippi license plates, Cannito said.
Authorities also were investigating whether other family members had ties to the drug operation, Johnson said.
"Money is a huge factor, obviously. Drugs are a huge factor," Johnson said. "The only innocent person involved in this entire operation is the boy."
The FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Drug Enforcement Administration are investigating.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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- Some of you people ARE downright sick & twisted because this article is about a six year old boy that has been abducted by some coldblooded individuals. Put YOURSELF in that little boys place for just ONE MINUTE of your wasted time and see how you would feel. Some of you have waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much time on your hands & need to put focus on what the article is truly about. There is a very scared six year old little boy out there who hasn''t got a clue as to why he is where he is right this very moment or why this has happened to him. What if it was YOUR child & you were reading some of these intellectually deprived opinions? Some of you may have been this child at one time or another in your life or had a child abducted, how did it feel to you at the time?
- Reply to this comment
- Well the chickens have come home to roost. The bleeding hearts opposed border enforcement and now we have Mexican drug gangs firmly entrenched here in America and it''''s going to be hell capturing them or better yet killing scum off. Last big item about Mexicans was the 5 million mortgages given to illegal Mexicans with many areas 50 % or greater of the mortgages in default are from illegal Mexicans who were aided by La Raza (the race) a very racist organization funded by US government who sought out illegals to mortgages to.
Posted by wwterry8 at 03:47 AM : Oct 18, 2008
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Yawn. Tell it to "I love Illegals, give them Amnesty!" McCain. - Reply to this comment
- they would use drugs to drown the thought of them using drugs..we had become a society of weaklings
Posted by libluv2spit
Very perceptive and succinct statement, and, unfortunately, you are correct. I''ve never really thought about our country''s drug plague as resulting from lacking autonomous strength. - Reply to this comment
- When (IF) they catch those responsible, I hope the government makes an example out of them. In the meantime, anyone caught bringing drugs in here should be executed for crimes against humanity and the environment. Look at what''s happened to the forests in CA from their turning it into growing fields. If you want the invaders from Mexico to leave forever, or at least respect our laws, you have to deal some tough love and hold those caught responsible for their actions. Hint: credit cards and benefits won''t deture them. Execution might. Deportation or one of our off-shore prisons might be acceptable as well.
- Reply to this comment
- It would be a very happy day when CBS actually has moderators filtering out the horrible scum with their vile language and sickening statements in these forums.
My thoughts and prayers are with that little boy tonight. - Reply to this comment
- May God be with the little boy and his family. I pray that he will be found safe and returned to his family. We have to believe in prayer. What else do we have? Thank you.
- Reply to this comment
- brdliky4 your One sick Puppy Dog thats for sure
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- This a worse tragedy for the 6 year old you son of a ***,
Melissa A. Layton. - Reply to this comment
- Yes!
Exactly!
Look, there will always be users of substances, it''s human nature.. But when you make it illegal it becomes EXTREMELY profitable. Money, and money alone is what motivates drug gangs. I dont know if the government should distribute drugs or not, but if they did, addicts would get a clean, safe supply and could be more functional. Drug dealers would have to get a job, and we can empty the prsions of people whose only crime is simple possession (theres a lot of ''em). Some people do drugs every now and then, and are not addicts.. Should we lock them in steel cages for that??
Personally, I dont think so..
The "drug war" is absolutely UN WINNABLE folks.
De-criminalization, with certain trained doctors allowed to prescribe to addicts, and free treatment, would be better AND GOD KNOWS it would be cheaper!!
These SCUM drug dealers from Mexico would not be up here wreaking havoc if there were no money in it.. - Reply to this comment
- Aaaargh! I typed "their" instead of "there". Sorry about that.
- Reply to this comment
- No profit=no business=no crime
Posted by legacyABQ
Sounds good to me. We might even have fewer users. Who would promote the stuff if their were not profits to be won? - Reply to this comment
- MCCAIN AND PALIN KIDNAPPED THE KID TO SECEDE FROM THE USA AND FORM AN ARYAN NATION IN ALASKA
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Posted by gopfornever at 06:17 PM : Oct 17, 2008
+ report abuse
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like every society''s problem..DROWNED IN THE SEA OF LIBERAL SATIRE..
problem with drugs..hey lets have SNL have a satire and lets all have a nice chuckle over it.. - Reply to this comment
- Posted by brdliky3 at 05:45 PM : Oct 17, 2008
oakishpines is at it again. more alphabet soup regurgitated from a broken mind. - Reply to this comment
- exactly, so what to do?
Destroy the illegal drug business, INSTANTLY,
by legalizing or decriminalizing drugs.
No profit=no business=no crime - Reply to this comment
- We can expect more of this now that the entire country has been overrun with illegal invaders. These people do not respect our sovereignty or our immigration laws. Why would they respect laws against kidnapping, torture, or murder?
I do not feel good about this child''s chances after reading about the torture/slayings these Mexican drug dealers have already committed in the U.S.. They are turning our country into the same violent, impoverished cesspool they have in Mexico. - Reply to this comment
- As I read the article this poor little boy is caught in the middle, between a crappy grandfather and the Mexican drug scum that is contaminating our country.
Take these loser drug dealers and dump them into the ocean as fish bait.
I don''t want to spend a dime rehabbing them or imprisoning them. - Reply to this comment
- This story should make any sane person sick.
This child and his mother did NOTHING ! It was their 51 year old grandfather who got into trouble...Now, a totally innocent child is taken.
Drug gangs...We need to WIPE THIS FILTHY SCOURGE FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH !
I pray for this childs safe return. - Reply to this comment
- Any war on drugs will have to contend with deserters from the Mexican Army and la policia. They''re as well armed as our troops in Iraq, so it should get interesting when we''re fighting them in our home towns.
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- What a sweet face. I pray they find him alive.
- Reply to this comment
- I do know for a fact (and a lot or research will back me up on this) that THE ONLY WAY for habitual criminals to get to the point where they might possibly change their behavior for the better is to suffer a form of punishment that TRULY hurts them!
Posted by DaVicar1 at 04:28 PM : Oct 17, 2008
You are a moron to think that this kid deserved to die, due to this countries failed drug policies.
If weed was legalized, the border was secure in the 1st place, we would not be reading about this *********.
It is the illegals that are the problem. And our government has allowed this to continue. - Reply to this comment
Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
