New Kidnapping May Help Solve Old One

A composite sketch of a man who kidnapped two girls in Denver is so similar to one rendered in the case of a boy abducted and killed five years ago in Riverside County that investigators are looking for any connections in the cases.

The naked body of 10-year-old Anthony Martinez was found in a ravine April 19, 1997, two weeks after a man kidnapped him at knifepoint near his home in Beaumont, which is 80 miles east of Los Angeles. Anthony’s abduction and death launched a massive search, drew a grieving Beaumont closer, sparked thousands of tips and led to a widely circulated sketch of a suspected sexual predator.

However, over time, detectives had exhausted their leads, said Riverside Sheriff’s Sgt. Shelley Kennedy-Smith.

The abduction Feb. 26 of two Denver girls, a 5-year-old and her 8-year-old sister, may yield new clues to Anthony’s killing, said Riverside authorities.

The girls were kidnapped as they walked home from an elementary school. They were given alcohol and driven to a motel or apartment in northeast Denver and released later that day, police said.

Authorities would not say whether the two girls were sexually assaulted.

Riverside County and Denver authorities said both their suspects bear striking similarities.

They are described as white men with blue eyes, brown hair, mustaches and baseball caps, said Denver Police Det. John White. Authorities in both locations also said the kidnappers used similar tactics to lure their victims: In the Denver case, the kidnapper asked for help finding his lost puppy; in Beaumont, he asked for help finding a cat.

Authorities in Denver and Riverside County cautioned that the two incidents could be unrelated, noting some differences in the descriptions. For instance, the Denver kidnapper is reported to be several inches taller.

“In terms of leads, we’re excited. This is definitely a very good lead that the case has not received in a long time,” Kennedy-Smith said.

Anthony’s parents, who now live in Banning, said they are heartened by the possibility that the Denver case will solve their son’s murder.

“When we saw the composites, we were shocked by the similarities,” said Ernesto Medina, 33, Anthony’s stepfather. “We thought, ‘Maybe this is the break we’ve been looking for.’ ... We think someone out there knows something. We need that person to come forward to get this guy off the street so that he doesn’t hurt another child, or hurt another family the way he hurt ours.”