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Author Topic: Missing Child Alert Issued for 3 Yr. Luke Finch 11/29/09 Cocoa FL(FOUND SAFE)  (Read 16073 times)
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Nut44x4
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« on: November 29, 2009, 08:04:56 PM »

A statewide Missing Child’s Alert was issued to help locate a three year old boy that disappeared while at the Riverfront Park in Cocoa, Florida Saturday around noon.

The boy’s father, Paul Martikainen, 35 has court appointed supervised visitation with his son after there were previous child abuse allegations involving the boy. According to the reports Martikainen managed to slip away with his son while on one of the supervised visits at the park.

Cocoa Police Department describe little Luke as standing about 2’9” tall, weighing 33 lbs. and he has blond hair and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing a blue sweatshirt, blue pants and black and red fire engine sneakers.



Martikainen is a white male, standing about 5’11” tall and he weighs 176 lbs. He has blond hair and green eyes. He may be driving a green Ford Explorer that has a dent in the rear bumper. The tag number is 143KEA.

Cocoa Police public information officer, Barbara Matthews said that the investigators were meeting with agents from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to widen their search statewide. “Investigators have received several tips and sightings of Luke,” she said. “However those sightings have been outside of Brevard County.”

Anyone with information regarding the location of the boy is asked to contact the Cocoa Police Department at 321-639-7620.


http://www.bloggernews.net/123134/23135
« Last Edit: December 01, 2009, 09:52:17 AM by klaasend » Logged

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« Reply #1 on: November 29, 2009, 08:06:34 PM »

Witnesses report dad took missing 3-year-old on sailboat
4:36 p.m. EST, November 29, 2009

Cocoa police said Sunday that the Palm Bay man who abducted his 3-year-old son during a supervised visit Saturday may have escaped with the boy on a sailboat.

After images of Paul Martikainen and his son Luke began flashing across television screens, investigators said witnesses called police and reported seeing the pair at a marina in St. Petersburg. They said the Paul and Luke got into a 32-foot Bristol sailboat and left the marina.

Police said they found Martikainen's 1995 green Ford Explorer at the marina. The sailboat was purchased in October by a friend of Martikainen's, and was recently painted "battleship gray," possibly in an attempt to conceal the boat on the water, investigators said.

The pair disappeared during a visit at Riverfront Park in Cocoa that was being monitored by a court-appointed supervisor because of previous allegations of child abuse against the boy, police said. Martikainen managed to elude the supervisor, and he and the boy have not been seen since 1 p.m. Saturday, police said.

It's unknown where Martikainen is taking the boy, and police are concerned because he has "no known extensive boating experience." Cocoa investigators are working with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the United States Coast Guard and other law enforcement agencies to locate the pair and return Luke to his mother.

Martikainen has a tattoo of a cross with Jesus and tribal tattoos on his back and a tribal tattoo on one of his thighs, police said.

Luke is 3 feet tall and weighs 32 pounds. He has blond hair and blue eyes and has a faint scar on his left cheek under the eye. He was last seen wearing blue sweat pants, a denim shirt, blue hoodie jacket and red fireman shoes.

Anyone with information can contact the Cocoa Police Department at 321-639-7620 (push "4" at the prompt).
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/crime/os-missing-3-year-old-20091129,0,4059801.story
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« Reply #2 on: November 29, 2009, 08:07:33 PM »

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« Reply #3 on: November 29, 2009, 08:09:34 PM »

why did he even have visits with this child if he had prior allegations of child abuse against this little boy??? this has to be the nightmare that the mother of this little boy feared! grrrrrrr.....
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« Reply #4 on: November 30, 2009, 06:59:58 AM »

Authorities believe that the pair entered a sailboat that has been painted gray in an attempt to disguise it. Located at the marina, was the vehicle that authorities believed Paul Martikainen had been driving. Reports state that a witness at the marina spotted the vehicle and recognized it from news reports. The witness contacted the St. Petersburg police. The vehicle, a 1995 green Ford Explorer has since been impounded.

Meanwhile the search continues for Paul Martikainen and Luke Finch. The Coast Guard is assisting with the search. Spokesperson for the Cocoa Police Department Barbara Matthews said that due to the fact the boat had been painted gray, it is possible that Paul Martikainen had planned the kidnapping in advance.

http://www.examiner.com/x-7403-Tampa-Crime-Examiner~y2009m11d30-Kidnapped-boy-Luke-Finch-spotted-in-St-Petersburg-Florida
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« Reply #5 on: November 30, 2009, 07:03:29 AM »

Details on

05-2009-MM-021621-AXXX-XX - STATE VS MARTIKAINEN PAUL
http://angelzfury.blogspot.com/2009/11/brevard-county-florida-domestic.html
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« Reply #6 on: November 30, 2009, 01:47:40 PM »

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/nov/30/coast-guard-asks-boaters-watch-missing-boy-sailboa/news-metro/

Coast Guard asks boaters to watch for missing boy, sailboat

By NATALIE SHEPHERD | News Channel 8
The Coast Guard is asking boaters in the Tampa Bay area to report any sightings of a gray sailboat that may have a missing 3-year-old boy on board.

A missing child alert was issued Saturday for Luke Finch, last seen in Cocoa wearing a blue sweatshirt, blue pants, and black-and-red sneakers.

Cocoa police say the boy may be with his father, 35-year-old Paul Martikainen.

After Debra Vanskiver saw Finch and Martikainen on the news Saturday night, she called the police to tell them she'd had seen the pair at the Salt Creek Marina in St. Petersburg.

"When they showed the picture of the father that was pretty much a big shock to me and my husband," she said. "I absolutely recognized him. He was a customer of our company as well as the marina."

Vanskiver works at Neptune Towing and Recovery near the Salt Creek Marina, and knows Martikainen.

"He never come across as being somebody that would do anything wrong," she said.

Vanskiver called St. Petersburg police and the U.S. Coast Guard. When officers arrived, they found Martikainen's 1995 green Ford Explorer at the marina. Finch and Martikainen were last seen there about 5 p.m. Saturday, police say.

Witnesses said they saw the two board a 32-foot Bristol sailboat and leave the marina, police said.

The sailboat was purchased in October by a friend of Martikainen's and is still not registered in the name of the friend or Martikainen. Investigators found that the boat was recently painted battleship gray, possibly to conceal identifying numbers, police said.

Vanskiver said Martikainen told her he planned on visiting family on Florida's east coast for the Thanksgiving holiday, and when she saw him Saturday afternoon, she assumed he'd returned from his trip.

"I don't know if this is something that was planned and calculated, and he's that good of a liar and manipulator," she said. "Or if it was a last minute, spur-of-the-moment, 'I've got to react now' and then he panicked and ran."

Martikainen and Finch disappeared from a supervised visit in Cocoa on Saturday.

Police don't know where Martikainen is heading, said Barbara Matthews of the Cocoa Police Department.

"Among investigators' concerns is the fact that Martikainen has no known boating experience," she said in a release.

Cocoa investigators are working with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Coast Guard and other agencies to locate the pair and return the boy to his mother.


Anyone with information is asked to contact the Cocoa Police Department at (321) 639-7620.
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« Reply #7 on: November 30, 2009, 06:31:52 PM »

Police Still Searching for Missing 3 Year Old Luke Finch, Parental Abduction … Arrest Warrant Issued for Paul Martikainen

http://scaredmonkeys.com/2009/11/30/police-still-searching-for-missing-3-year-old-luke-finch-parental-abduction-arrest-warrant-issued-for-paul-martikainen/

Quote
A “Missing Child Alert” has been issued for Luke Finch as well as an arrest warrant for the tot-dad, Paul Martikainen. It is believed that the two are on a sail boat sailing in the Gulf of Mexico. The Coast Guard has deployed fixed wing air craft and have asked boaters to be on the look out for any sightings of a gray sailboat.

Cocoa police have issued an arrest warrant for Paul Martikainen, the 35-year-old father who disappeared into the Gulf of Mexico on a sailboat with his 3-year-old son Saturday.

Martikainen faces one count of interference with custody, said St. Petersburg police spokesman Bill Proffitt.

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« Reply #8 on: December 01, 2009, 09:39:55 AM »

Oh my you guys the coast guard found little luke. So sad
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« Reply #9 on: December 01, 2009, 09:50:57 AM »

 

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/crime/os-missing-3-year-old-20091129,0,4059801.story

Missing 3-year-old boy found


Update: Coast Guard finds 3-year-old Luke Finch safe aboard sailboat. More to come.
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« Reply #10 on: December 01, 2009, 09:51:20 AM »

Wait a minute. I am sorry he may be ok. It says that he was found did not say dead or alive. So sorry. I feel like a dummy
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« Reply #11 on: December 01, 2009, 09:54:18 AM »

FOUND SAFE

http://www.wesh.com/news/21771081/detail.html

Coast Guard Finds Missing Brevard Boy
Luke Finch Aboard Coast Guard Cutter To Fort Myers Beach


POSTED: 9:27 am EST December 1, 2009
UPDATED: 9:51 am EST December 1, 2009
COCOA, Fla. -- A missing Brevard County boy was located by the U.S. Coast Guard on Tuesday.

Authorities said Luke Finch disappeared over the weekend during a court-appointed supervised visit with his father, Paul Martikainen, 35.

Witnesses reported seeing Luke with Martikainen at a St. Petersburg marina. The witnesses said the father and son were boarding a friend's 32-foot Bristol sailboat and sailed away. Martikainen's Ford Explorer was found at a the marina.

The Coast Guard began searching for the boat in the Gulf of Mexico and broadcast a BOLO on the marine emergency channel every hour.

A representative with the Cocoa Police Department said Tuesday morning that Luke was found by the Coast Guard and is expected to arrive in Fort Myers Beach sometime during the evening.

Stay with WESH 2 News and WESH.com for further details.
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« Reply #12 on: December 01, 2009, 09:55:53 AM »

http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/brevard_news/120109-missing-boy-found

Miissing boy found boy Coast Guard

Updated: Tuesday, 01 Dec 2009, 9:49 AM EST
Published : Tuesday, 01 Dec 2009, 9:45 AM EST

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - A 3-year-old Palm Bay boy who has been missing since Saturday has been found by the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard located the boy and his father on a sailboat late Monday night.  The boat was kept under surveillance the entire night and early Tuesday morning two Coast Guard Cutters and a helicopter converged on the sailboat and safely recovered 3-year-old Luke Finch. Luke is aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Crocodile which is expected in at the Coast Guard Station in Ft. Myers Beach at approximately 7:00 p.m. tonight.

The boy's father, Paul Martikainen, who Cocoa police say witnesses reported seeing get on a 32-foot sailboat at a St. Petersburg marina on Saturday with Luke, is still aboard the sailboat which is being towed to shore by the Coast Guard Cutter Kodiak Island. They will make landfall much later in the evening, at which time Martikainen will be taken in custody by the FBI on a Federal arrest warrant.

Officials say Luke seems to be in good health. Investigators are transporting Luke’s mother to Ft. Myers for the reunion.
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« Reply #13 on: December 01, 2009, 11:06:24 AM »

Thank goodness Luke was found safe!!   

What the heck was his father even doing being able to visit with him?  Whose 'best interest' did they have in mind, allowing this.... certainly not in Luke's!!  IMO Seeing his former abuser again probably wasn't what Luke wanted to do.  Are the wants/needs of our children ever going to be considered when the powers that be decide what's in their best interest?   

And what was up with the supervisor of this visit!!!????  Supervising a visit means your eyes are glued to your client and visiting parent.  Someone needs to be fired at once!  IMO Not that that is likely, considering it's FL and all.  Lucky for him/her that others were alert and concerned enough to do what it took to ensure the safety of this boy.   Even so tho, considering 'what could have' happened while on their incompetent watch.... the book needs to be thrown at that person too, if not that whole agency.  IMO. 

The dad needs to rot in a cell somewhere for the duration of Luke's childhood, plus.and then some.   

Am betting Luke and mama are verrrrrrry happy campers today!!   

Thank you witnesses, Coast Guard, FBI.. and whoever else was involved in finding Luke and bringing him back to his mom! 

All IMO.

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« Reply #14 on: December 01, 2009, 03:11:23 PM »

Praise God for another child found safe! yippee!
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« Reply #15 on: December 01, 2009, 04:57:41 PM »

http://www.examiner.com/x-1168-Crime-Examiner~y2009m12d1-Luke-Finch-Missing-Florida-3yearold-found-safe
Luke Finch: Missing Florida 3-year-old found safe
December 1, 4:22 PMCrime ExaminerCindy Adams
Little Florida boy Luke Finch, 3, went missing on Saturday during a supervised visit with his father, Paul Martikainen. The same day, witnesses saw Luke and his father get into a sailboat at the St. Petersburg Marina.

Martikainen did not return Luke to his mother, Christa Finch, who has sole custody of the boy.

Late Monday night the U.S. Coast Guard located the sailboat and found the 3-year-old and his father on board.

Luke was safe and unharmed and was reported to be in good condition. Martikainen was detained by authorities.
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« Reply #16 on: December 01, 2009, 11:59:02 PM »

Omg I am so happy he was found!!!wow I am lost for words. Ty god
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« Reply #17 on: December 02, 2009, 08:13:19 AM »

Daring Coast Guard rescue brings missing boy home to mom
December 2, 2009

FORT MYERS BEACH — Luke Finch ate ice cream and sausage and all of their pizza crackers.

He spent the ride to shore standing beside the men in blue, and even got to steer the ship, just for a little bit. The blond boy then fell asleep in the arms of a detective.

Then, as the Coast Guard cutter Crocodile approached the dock, the 3-year-old boy clapped his hands.

"I'm coming, Mommy," he said. "I'm coming, Mommy."

As the sun set on the horizon, Christa Finch ran up the gangway and wrapped her arms around her son, their 2½ day ordeal finally over at 5:43 p.m. Tuesday.

"I love you," she told him. "I miss you."

The reunion was made possible by a daring Coast Guard rescue early Tuesday morning that authorities said thwarted a kidnapping plot by Luke's father.

Paul Martikainen, 35, is accused of stealing the boy from a supervised visit in Cocoa on Saturday, then trying to sail off with his son for parts as yet unknown. They were last seen leaving a St. Petersburg marina, just days after the state accused him of physically abusing the boy.

A massive search was launched, the tension increased by a fierce line of storms that marched across the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida, while authorities weren't even sure that the father knew how to operate a sailboat.

But then late Monday, a Coast Guard plane spotted the sailboat heading south. As day broke, the father apparently awoke to find himself outmanned and outmaneuvered, surrounded by Coast Guard vessels on water and up above.

About 120 miles southwest of Fort Myers, authorities said, Martikainen gave up without a fight. He was handcuffed and, hours later, learned that being captured was the best thing that could have happened to him that day.

That's because the sailboat sank while it was being towed back to shore, the Coast Guard said, with rough seas just a day or so away.

"They were lucky we got to them when we did," said Senior Chief Stephen Smith, commander of the Crocodile.

• • •

The sailboat, which Martikainen had painted gray, was found after investigators learned that he may not have much experience sailing. They figured he might use the onboard motor instead of the sail, so they set up a 22,000-square-mile search zone based on his estimated speed.

An HC-130 Coast Guard plane using infrared imaging technology first spotted the sailboat about 5 p.m. Monday. The sailboat, a 1977 32-foot Bristol, was heading south as fast as 7 knots — or 8.1 mph. The vessel slowed during the night.

Christa Finch was told that the Coast Guard might have located her son. But they wouldn't try to board the boat until daybreak.

"I was praying and praying and praying," she said.

A Coast Guard HU-25 Falcon jet took over for the HC-130. It guided in two cutters, the Crocodile and the Kodiak Island, to the sailboat's position.

The Crocodile arrived first around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday, the Kodiak Island an hour later.

They stayed just a few miles behind the sailboat, hoping to stay hidden in the dark. The boat's mast was lit, as required by law. But its sail was up.

"Obviously he knew how to operate a sailboat to some extent," said Capt. Timothy Close.

The operation would commence at daybreak. The cutters waited for a Coast Guard helicopter to arrive. It was bringing an FBI hostage negotiator, just in case the father was armed and the situation deteriorated. A Cocoa police detective who knew Luke was also onboard.

Meanwhile, the sailboat drifted left and right, Senior Chief Smith said, suggesting the father had gone to bed. Just before sunrise, the cutters lowered Zodiac boats into the water. Each carried armed Coast Guardsmen.

"He planned this pretty well," Smith said. "We didn't know if he was armed."

The waters had calmed down. The weather was perfect. The sun rose, and the Coast Guard was ready. Smith radioed the sailboat at 7:20 a.m.

They saw Martikainen pop his head out from the cabin. They had taken him by surprise, Smith believed.

It wasn't until a Coast Guardsman on a Zodiac displayed a shotgun, the senior chief said, that the father gave up. He was not armed.

The Zodiac from the Kodiak Island came alongside the sailboat and arrested Martikainen on a federal kidnapping warrant.

• • •

Luke Finch was onboard and appeared unharmed, the Coast Guard said, though he was not in a life jacket.

The first thing his rescuers did was put Luke in one, and then transferred him to the Crocodile.

"When we got him on board he was very scared, very quiet," Smith said.

The helicopter lowered Detective Nellie Woodruff to the Crocodile. She had met Luke while supervising some of his court-approved visits with his father.

The boy quickly took to the crew, who fed him junk food. And he fell asleep in Woodruff's arms.

The handcuffed father was kept on the sailboat, where he was guarded by several Coast Guardsmen. The boat was inspected after the father's capture and appeared seaworthy, the Coast Guard said.

But sometime Tuesday as the Kodiak Island towed it to shore, officials said it sprang a leak. The cutter took everyone on board, and then the boat sank in the gulf.

The Coast Guard did not release any more details about that incident on Tuesday, including where it sank and at what time.

Nor did authorities say what kind of provisions the father had on board, or what his plan may have been. But his general course south convinced the Crocodile's skipper of Martikainen's destination.

"It looks like he was headed to the Yucatan Peninsula," Smith said.

• • •

The father had been estranged from his son since around his birth, the mother said, and didn't enter his life until about a year ago. According to Florida Today, court records show the boy was at the center of a bitter custody battle.

The Department of Children and Families said that on Nov. 25, days before the alleged kidnapping, it filed a report verifying allegations of physical abuse.

Why would the father try to steal his own son?

"Vengeance against me," was Christa Finch's answer at a news conference Tuesday evening. As she spoke, Luke clung to her leg and chewed on a stuffed toy owl that he calls "Uh-oh."

Cocoa police believe the father took his son during a court-ordered visit in a park that was supposed to be supervised by a friend of his. But the police believe that friend is not a co-conspirator in the kidnapping, and the mother doesn't blame him, either.

"I know that Paul is a con man," she said.

Around 8 p.m., Martikainen was brought onshore by FBI agents, who drove him to an undisclosed location. The father made no comment.

After reuniting with her son, Finch thanked the Coast Guard and law enforcement. But she was most thankful for those at St. Petersburg's Salt Creek Marina, who first tipped authorities that father and son were headed into the gulf.

"I'm in debt to that man for the rest of my life," she said as more than a dozen cameras filmed her.

But Luke was done with all the attention.

"I want to go home now," he said.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/daring-coast-guard-rescue-brings-missing-boy-home-to-mom/1055798
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« Reply #18 on: December 08, 2009, 08:48:22 AM »

hopefully this father will never have access to this child again! the child was not even in a life jacket!
I hope that they throw the book at this guy and he spends a lot of time in jail..there will be some bleeding heart though who will think that the dad deserves another chance after he is "rehabilitated" in jail...
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