Police Find Body of Abducted Florida Girl and Charge Suspect

The missing Florida sixth-grader who loved Jennifer Lopez and hugging her friends was found slain early Friday in a church parking lot a few miles from where she was abducted -- a kidnapping that was captured on videotape.

Police charged Joseph P. Smith, an unemployed auto mechanic who has a lengthy record of violent crime and drug convictions, with kidnapping and first-degree murder.

The search for 11-year-old Carlie Brucia, who disappeared Sunday near her home on the Gulf Coast, had generated national interest because her abduction was recorded by a carwash surveillance camera.

She had been walking home about 6:20 p.m. after a slumber party when a tattooed man in a work shirt approached her, took her by the arm and led her away.

In their search for Carlie, officials here enlisted FBI investigators and NASA photo-enhancement specialists. Sarasota residents volunteered their services, and members of Carlie’s Girl Scout troop left school to hand out fliers.

But on Friday, a tearful Sarasota County Sheriff Bill Balkwill announced that the search for the girl had come to a tragic end with the discovery of her body.

“Our prayers on behalf of everybody here in Sarasota County go out to the family,” Balkwill said.

“We now stand ready to complete our obligation, and assure you that he will pay the ultimate price for what he did to her,” Capt. Jeff Bell of the sheriff’s office said, referring to the suspect.

According to state records, Smith, 37, has been arrested more than a dozen times. In 1997, he was charged with kidnapping and false imprisonment for allegedly grabbing a 20-year-old woman on the street in Bradenton, Fla., north of Sarasota, and threatening to stab her if she screamed.

The woman escaped after a passing vehicle stopped.

At his trial, Smith testified that he had been trying to prevent the woman from running into the street and that she had misunderstood him. The jury acquitted him.

When Smith was arrested Tuesday, his record showed, he was on probation for cocaine possession. Other offenses included aggravated battery, heroin possession, prescription drug fraud and carrying a concealed weapon.

Carlie’s father, Joey Brucia, thanked Florida and federal law enforcement for reacting swiftly to the abduction but said the criminal justice system had given Smith too many chances. He asked Gov. Jeb Bush to investigate.

“As far as this individual being out on the street, I really find the decisions made by some of these judges very questionable,” Brucia said. “In my opinion, he should have never been out on the street.”

The kidnapping and death of the girl led parents nationwide to reflect on the vulnerability of their children. Bev Bishop, an employee at a gift shop in Nashville, Ind., said the hunt for Carlie had been a topic of discussion in her small town south of Indianapolis all week.

“I think it’s important to get the word out, to make people know there are people out there who take advantage of children,” Bishop said. “We don’t want to teach our children to be in a constant state of fear, but just to be aware of their surroundings -- and of strangers -- wherever they are.”

According to the Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 58,200 children in the United States were abducted by nonrelatives in 1999, the most recent data available.

In the majority of cases, the children were released unharmed. Only 115 abductions were classified as the most dangerous kind, where the child was kept overnight, held for ransom or killed. In those instances, 69 children were returned safely, and 46 were killed.

Safety experts on Friday offered guidelines to help protect children.

Sherry Friedlander, founder of the activist group A Child Is Missing, said youngsters should avoid taking shortcuts near empty buildings or other out-of-the-way places.

If children travel in pairs, she said, that minimizes the possibility of kidnapping.

Boys and girls should be taught self-defense techniques -- to kick and resist if anyone tries to overpower or harm them -- said Friedlander, whose Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based nonprofit group organizes telephone canvassing campaigns when a child or an elderly or disabled person is reported missing.

Although children must be taught to deal with potential dangers, said Ana Leon, an associate professor at the University of Central Florida in Orlando who specializes in mental health issues, parents must walk a fine line so as not to frighten youngsters.

But Carlie’s death, she said, should be a reminder that bad things can happen to children anywhere.

“More and more, the kinds of problems we [once] attributed to large cities ... have been spilling over into smaller communities,” Leon said. “Abduction, school violence, drug addiction -- we have a responsibility for educating our kids to the realities that are out there. Small cities are no longer immune.”

There are a host of questions surrounding the circumstances of Carlie’s kidnapping. For instance, did the 5-foot-tall, 120-pound girl submit because her kidnapper threatened her with a gun or some other weapon outside the view of the camera?

According to the arrest affidavit, Smith told an unspecified witness that he had kidnapped and killed Carlie. Investigators used information obtained from the suspect to locate the body in underbrush behind a church near Interstate 75. Balkwill said law enforcement officials were still seeking evidence, including Carlie’s pink backpack.

The sheriff and other officials refused to answer questions Friday about how the girl was killed.

Smith was transferred to the jail in neighboring Manatee County, where he was being held in isolation and without bail.

At McIntosh Middle School, where Carlie was a student, children made cards, banners and journals, said Principal Bob Hagemann, who called her “a shining light.”

“You could see Carlie in the hallways, in the media center, in the cafeteria and in the classroom,” the principal said in a television interview. “You could never miss Carlie.

“And now, we are greatly going to miss her.”