General Chat / The Kidnapping Caught on Tape...

Some may recall that a few days ago their was an 11 year-old girl who was kidnapped behind a carwash while being videotaped... sadly her body was found dead this morning.

Here's the article:

SARASOTA, Florida (CNN) -- A man has been charged in the kidnapping and death of 11-year-old Carlie Brucia, whose body has been found, Sarasota County Sheriff Bill Balkwill said Friday.

The suspect, Joseph Smith, was jailed Tuesday on unrelated drug and probation violation charges. Smith is a one-time auto mechanic with a long criminal record.

A surveillance video camera caught the girl's abduction Sunday behind a car wash, and her disappearance received widespread national media attention. Carlie's remains were found behind a church near Interstate 75 in the Sarasota area, law enforcement sources said.

"Our sympathy goes out to the entire family of Carlie," Balkwill said tearfully.

Sarasota County Sheriff's Capt. Jeff Bell said his investigators had "fulfilled another portion of our obligation" by finding Carlie and the person responsible for her death.

"We ... assure you that he will pay the ultimate price for what he did to her," Bell said

Carlie's father, Joe Brucia, who traveled from New York to Florida soon after her disappearance, thanked law enforcement and the community for helping in the search for his daughter.

Not attending a news briefing Friday, Carlie's mother, Susan Schorpen, told reporters that her daughter "will always be my baby."

Contacted before the latest charges, the public defender's office said Smith's attorneys, Elliott Metcalfe and assistant Adam Tebrugge, had no comment.

Balkwill said there have been more than 750 leads in the case.

Late Thursday, the girl's stepfather, Steve Kansler, said he had been told that DNA evidence had been found in a 1992 Buick Century station wagon believed to have been used in the kidnapping. Kansler said he did not know the specifics.

Investigators impounded the station wagon Wednesday. Balkwill urged those in the area to try to remember whether they had seen the vehicle between Sunday afternoon and Tuesday.

Police subsequently arrested Smith based on a tip from his housemate.

Authorities said Thursday that Smith was not cooperating with the investigation.

In the videotape, recorded just after 6:20 p.m. ET Sunday, a white man in some kind of a work uniform is seen approaching Carlie. He briefly speaks to her as she hesitates, then takes her by the forearm and leads her away.

The man in the video has tattoos on his forearms. Smith also has tattoos, authorities said.

NASA experts and those at the FBI's lab in Washington worked to enhance the videotape to get a clearer image of the man's face, tattoos and apparent name tag on his shirt.

 
Carlie Brucia's mother, Susan Schorpen, had pleaded for her daughter's return. 
The images have been enhanced and are in Sarasota. Balkwill said the images will be released to the public soon.

Authorities searched Smith's home and a field behind it Wednesday and found nothing immediately linking him to the girl's disappearance, a law enforcement source involved in the investigation said.

Forensic examinations are being conducted on certain items taken in the search, the source said.

Smith's criminal record in the area dates to 1993, when he was convicted of aggravated battery and sentenced to probation.

In November 1997, Smith was arrested on a charge of kidnapping and false imprisonment in neighboring Manatee County. He was acquitted of those charges a year later.

According to records from the Manatee County Sheriff's Department, a woman accused Smith of grabbing her as she was walking along a street and threatening to "cut her if she failed to remain quiet."


Authorities have charged Joseph Smith. 37, in the girl's kidnapping and death.  
A passing vehicle stopped and intervened, allowing her to flee, records said.

The records also said Smith told authorities "he had been in an altercation earlier" that evening "and wanted somebody to walk with."

A few months before, Smith was convicted of carrying a concealed weapon -- a knife, according to his arrest record from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Smith has faced numerous drug charges. In 2001, he was convicted of heroin possession, possession of controlled substances and attempting to obtain controlled substances by fraudulent means. He served a little more than a year in prison. He was on probation when he was arrested Tuesday.

A woman who lives with him said she has known Smith and his ex-wife as well as their three children for many years. She would not say how long he has been living with her.

"He never knew the dark side of anybody," she said.

Smith's neighbor, Ron Thompson, said he was shocked to hear of his arrest.

"[He]has three beautiful little girls," Thompson said. "And he just adored them. And he played with them. And he took good care of them. It's just a different picture than what we see today."

http://www.cnn.com/2...girl/index.html


I find it sad and disturbing to see how sick some people are... I hope the man recieves a punishment far more worse than what he has done to the 11 year-old girl.


BchillerR

That's extremely sad and haunting. Her last moments in the public were caught on camera, and now she's dead. My sympathies go out to her family and friends. This has got to be an extremely difficult and traumatic time for them.

i hope this guy gets beat and raped every fucking day in prison, i hate hearing shit like this, is so fucking stupid, another reason why i dont believe in god, but if he does exist he needs a fucking kick in the ass, this is so depressing to see that video over and over on the news, i cant magine what her parents are going through, there beautiful 11 year old daughter killed for no reason at all because of some twisted fuck, my deepest sympathies go out to the her family, i cant imagine the pain they feel right now...

If God always interfered in every little bad thing, we'd have a utopia, wouldn't we? And that would be heaven, but this is Earth.

That man deserves to spend the rest of his life rotting away in prison.

i hope this guy gets beat and raped every fucking day in prison

That's preatty fucking sick itself

So you're going to be punishing murder by justifying it.

Great.

Prison is good for guys like this. Death penalty= BAD.

If you kill someone over a murder or a crime, really you're just as bad as they are.

If God always interfered in every little bad thing, we'd have a utopia, wouldn't we?  And that would be heaven, but this is Earth.

That man deserves to spend the rest of his life rotting away in prison.

god never interfers with anything, its all chance

and yyo, the only thing we know is she was kidnapped, we dont know what happened to her during that time she was alone with this asshole, so he should be beat into an inch of his life, then left to recover then beat again, sorry if my views are too extreme for you but taking a life of a 11 year old girl for no reason, i think he deserves everything but death

My friends and I were talking about this yesterday afterschool, all agreeing the fucker should be put in the regular jail, with the regular inmates (not a special section for rapists, why should they have rights in jail?), and be beat to death there. That's got to be the most depressing news story I've heard in a long time, and he deserves everything he gets.

And also, if there were such a thing like "God" things like this wouldn't happen.

You cannot serve justice by 'fighting fire with fire'. Plain and simple.

(not a special section for rapists, why should they have rights in jail?), and be beat to death there. That's got to be the most depressing news story I've heard in a long time, and he deserves everything he gets.

So you're going to punish him by commiting another crime?

when I look at the tape on tv it looks like she didn't put up much of a resistence. Sure it is a short tape but if I was the little girl I would have kicked him in the nads as soon as he grabbed my hand then run for help while he was taking in the pain.

Yea. Looked liked she wanted to go.

I could care less about this story though. Things like this happen every day.

Yea. Looked liked she wanted to go.

I could care less about this story though. Things like this happen every day.

That makes it okay?

when I look at the tape on tv it looks like she didn't put up much of a resistence. Sure it is a short tape but if I was the little girl I would have kicked him in the nads as soon as he grabbed my hand then run for help while he was taking in the pain.

yea, im sure an 11 year old would want to go with a 30 year old shes never meet before, you dumb for even thinking that

thats not what I was trying to say. but even if I was then why am I dumb for thinking that? I think she is dumb for not defending herself. if I am a young girl and I see this huge man with tatoos on his arms walking towards me I'm thinking "omg!" and then if he says anything threatening I'm thinking "omg!!!" and then if he grabs me by the arm and trys to take me somewhere I'm gonna be saying "FUCK YOU ASSHOLE!!!!" and fighting for my life to get out of there. You shouldn't let that shit happen to you and by looking at the tape (and I'm not saying that she didn't do it since its just a small amount of footage) she let him take her.

You really think an 11 year old can take on a 30+year old? Hell no. Think logistically dumbass.

Prison is good for guys like this. Death penalty= BAD.

If you kill someone over a murder or a crime, really you're just as bad as they are.

Yes, but tell me that is not a good reason to kill someone. But I would make it painful. That is just bull shit man. These guy deserves the worste possibly. And I believe anyone that is stupid enough to kill someone, a kid at that deserves death. Lets not them enjoy the life they have.

So you're going to be punishing murder by justifying it.

Great.

So you're going to punish him by commiting another crime?

^^

You really think an 11 year old can take on a 30+year old? Hell no. Think logistically dumbass.

A quick kick to the balls will bring a man straight down. She should have fought for her life. She didn't. Now she's dead.