Amber Alert Issued in Florida
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, along with Tony Harris. And we continue to watch this Amber Alert in Florida. The search is on for Clay Moore, a 13-year-old allegedly taken from his bus stop earlier today. A press conference is just about to get under way involving the sheriff, Sheriff Charlie Wells of Manatee County. Here he is.</s>SHERIFF CHARLIE WELLS, MANATEE COUNTY, FLORIDA: And we've checked out all of those, and we've come up drive thus far. We have -- our deputies are completing field interrogation cards on all of those vehicles that we stop. And we're obtaining that information. In addition -- and I think we've probably stopped about 20 to 25 vehicles that looked like a match that didn't pan out. We're also getting an awful lot of response from the local community here that's interested in volunteering to help us out. And we're coordinating those efforts through one of our captains that will be working on that. Our nonessential personnel, all sworn law enforcement officers, we're moving them away from -- many of them that may have desk jobs, or involved in inside jobs, are out on the streets involved in this search. Many of our jail personnel as well. We've placed them on alert, and they're out involved in the search. So, virtually all of our qualified people that -- in law enforcement are involved. The FBI is on the scene. They arrived about 30, 40 minutes ago. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is here, and they're cooperating with us as well, and assisting us. This is -- as you know, you local people, you know that this is a largely rural area here. And so we're having to canvass this area one section at a time. There's a lot of citrus, you know, tomato farms, just farming community and rural, so there's a lot of places to hide. And obviously, we've asked for your own choppers to report anything back down to us. If they see anything that's suspicious, we have our air cover up as well. Our choppers are up. And so we've got our fingers crossed. I know that many of you have asked to speak with family members. And I don't really think that they're quite ready to talk to you yet. I understand we're coming back out at 2:00 to talk with you, and we'll see if maybe one of the family members would like to come out with us. But they're very emotional at this time. The father and the mother are here on site with us. We've had them in the command bus. And also, they're roaming outside looking for information. They're anxious to hear any information that -- that we can give them.</s>QUESTION: Sheriff, would it be a good time for you to talk to the families right now, everyone at home and at work? What should they do right now?</s>WELLS: I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you.</s>QUESTION: What should the families at work and at home that are not related to this incident right here, what should they do in terms of their kids at schools in the surrounding areas?</s>WELLS: Well, I think it's business as usual with everybody not involved in this incident. Because we have nothing -- no reason to believe that this has stretched anywhere beyond just one incident. So, I think carry on as usual. People -- kids in school need to stay there. Their parents pick them up this afternoon when school is out.</s>QUESTION: You've got 15 kids who were also at the bus stop, sheriff. They're still inside. How are they right now?</s>WELLS: They're doing fine. And their parents -- many of them have their parents here with them. And we are re-interviewing those kids, and I'm glad you brought that up, because as a result, I wanted to change our earlier description. The initial description, as for the kids, was that this was an Hispanic male. But after re-interviewing, we have determined that it's possibly a white male with a dark tan and not necessarily Hispanic. We have reason to believe that while he looked Hispanic, he did not sound Hispanic. So it could very well be a white male with a dark tan.</s>QUESTION: Was Clay Moore simply the closest person to his truck?</s>WELLS: We believe that's true, that it was -- it was just the opportunity that presented itself was the reason that he chose him. He was the closest one, he was the one in the street. And was obviously -- there's no doubt about it in our minds that he was taken against his will, he was taken at gunpoint, and he was forced into that vehicle.</s>QUESTION: Was there any conversation or shouting during that time?</s>WELLS: There was conversation along the lines as, "Sir, I don't know you. I don't know you." And other than that, I can't really get much more specific than that.</s>QUESTION: What did the family say?</s>WELLS: The families?</s>QUESTION: Yes.</s>WELLS: Well, you know, they're just emotional, and they're very shook up right now, as we all are, because, you know, they -- they know that their child is missing, and they don't know who he is with. And so they're hopeful, and we're hopeful as well.</s>QUESTION: Sheriff...</s>WELLS: What direction the truck went? I'm not sure I know.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: East. East.</s>WELLS: Possibly east.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Toward Fort Hamer (ph).</s>WELLS: Toward Fort Hamer Road (ph). Possibly east, toward Fort Hamer Road (ph), but we don't know that for sure.</s>QUESTION: Sheriff, we're not far from I-75. How concerned are you that this man has left the area?</s>WELLS: Well, on one hand, I'm very concerned about that. Obviously, we would like to keep him pinned in the local community here. But at the same time, thanks to Amber Alert and thanks to the media, we're able to get this information out regionally and then statewide. So, yes, it's a concern. I think we have more of a sporting chance to -- you know, to bring the child safely home if we can keep him localized.</s>QUESTION: What sort of tips are you receiving, Sheriff?</s>WELLS: Just mostly the tips are suspect vehicle. You know, a red, maroon, pickup truck, those kind of tips. So, I mean, that's basically it.</s>QUESTION: Are there any</s>WELLS: Yes, we have visual roadblocks. In other words, the units -- our department units are there. And they just observe. But not stopping every vehicle that comes through.</s>QUESTION: Where are those?</s>WELLS: Those would be up on 301 and 41 and at Interstate 75.</s>QUESTION: Sheriff, getting back to the interstate question, have you talked to the FHP? Do they have -- did they mobilize more people...</s>WELLS: Yes, we have FHP here as well. A Florida Highway Patrol lieutenant is on site with us, and just making it a lot easier to coordinate our efforts with them. But, yes...</s>QUESTION:  (OFF-MIKE) WELLS: Well, at last they have -- the information is out to all the troopers. And they will be -- they will have their watchful eye on the interstate for the suspect vehicle. And in the past in these kinds of cases they've been most helpful and have apprehended -- in many cases, apprehended the suspect.</s>QUESTION: Sheriff, it would seem logical that you would talk to sex offenders in the area. Can you give us any idea, are you doing that? How many in this area? That kind of thing.</s>WELLS: Well, that would be -- that would be a common sense approach. And obviously we will do that. And we do have sex offenders that are registered. Sure, we'll be check that out.</s>QUESTION: Are you in the process of doing that now?</s>WELLS: Absolutely. There's about 300 of them. And so it will -- you know, it's a tasking job but, yes, that would be one of the first things that we do. Yes, sir?</s>QUESTION: Sir, can you give me a sense of how big the search is at this point in terms of the manpower that you have?</s>WELLS: It's huge. It's huge. All of my department -- our department size is about 1,200 people. We have everybody that we can scrape out of nonessential personnel, along with our sworn deputies, and we'll use whatever it takes, whatever it takes.</s>QUESTION: Any chance you have any home video of this child taken before today?</s>WELLS: I don't know the answer to that right now. We -- the photograph -- the pictures that we presented in the last press conference, to my knowledge, is all that we have available. But we will be doing more of that as the day goes along. We're just trying to give the -- give the parents a little chance here, you know, to maybe -- calm down is not the word, but, you know, so that they'll be better to assist us. It's just a real emotional situation, as you might imagine, so you have to proceed slowly in the information that you get out of his folks.</s>QUESTION: Are there other witnesses other than the students that were at this bus stop?</s>WELLS: Other witnesses? Well, we had maybe a couple of reports, possible witnesses that -- other than the students, and one we're still trying to locate. Another that we have interviewed. Three comes to mind. And so, by a witness, you know, not necessarily -- some of them not necessarily a good eyewitness, but saw something that looked suspicious prior to the -- prior to the actual incident.</s>QUESTION: What about plans after school for bus stops? Any plans to have extra deputies or anybody there to keep an eye on the kids?</s>WELLS: Well, in this area, let me assure you, we've got extra deputies. I mean, this should be about the safest area in the county right now. So when they drop kids off out of the -- off the buses, I think everything is going to be OK here. This would be the last place that we would expect to see any kind of offender until we've resolved this issue.</s>QUESTION: Still not sure if it was a Florida tag on the pickup? Is that right?</s>WELLS: Yes, right. No information on the tag. None whatsoever.</s>QUESTION: Sheriff</s>WELLS: We've had reports of possible -- possible sightings in the past. We have not confirmed whether it's the same vehicle or not, but obviously a similar vehicle that reported in this area. We're trying to nail that down right now. It will take us a while.</s>QUESTION: Does his description match any sex offenders in the area?</s>WELLS: I don't know that yet. We'll know that soon, though. It won't take long to be able to identify those people. We're in the process of doing that. People are working on that now.</s>QUESTION: A sketch I think you were referring to, Sheriff? You were referring to a sketch?</s>WELLS: Not a sketch, but we have the identification -- you know, description of the suspect. And the sexual offenders that he was asking about, we have photographs of them. So, yes, we'll try to do some piece-matching of those to determine if that's -- if they would be a possible suspect.</s>QUESTION: Sheriff Wells (OFF-MIKE)?</s>WELLS: Well, no. Earlier -- in the earlier press conference somebody asked me that, and so I went back and tried to verify if we've had any reports of attempted abduction here. They -- I am told that there was an attempted abduction in Pinellas County, one in Hillsborough, and one in Sarasota. But nothing that we can confirm here in Manatee County.</s>QUESTION: Sheriff, does the victim have a cell phone?</s>WELLS: We...</s>WHITFIELD: You're listening to Manatee County sheriff Charlie Wells talk about the search intensifying for Clay Moore, a 13-year-old boy who was allegedly taken from his bus stop earlier today. He is believed to be wearing a green polo shirt, khaki pants, and a black jacket with the markings of Manatee School of the Arts. It's believed according to eyewitness accounts that he was taken from a group of kids who were waiting at the bus stop. He was a little isolated, standing closer into the street, making him an easy target for this man who allegedly came in with his older red pickup truck. And according to eyewitness accounts, this man had a gun. There were some words exchanged. And all that the sheriff would say is that the little boy said, "But I don't know you." And so now the search intensifies throughout Manatee County and beyond for this little boy right here.</s>TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And a short time ago, former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack -- you see him here live continuing on with his press conference in Des Moines, Iowa -- announcing that he is dropping out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. A short time ago, he answered the "why" question.</s>TOM VILSACK (D), FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The reality, however, is that this process has become to a great extent about money, a lot of money. And it is clear to me that we would not be able to continue to raise money in the amounts necessary to sustain not just a campaign in Iowa and New Hampshire, but a campaign across this country. So it is money and only money that is the reason that we are leaving today.</s>HARRIS: And there you have it. Tom Vilsack from just a short time ago explaining why he is dropping out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. It comes down to money. We have heard figures of $120 million to $200 million to run a presidential campaign to get to the finish line. Tom Vilsack saying that he just does not believe he could raise the money necessary to compete. Tom Vilsack with his wife by his side live there in Des Moines, Iowa. At the top of the hour, our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider, will be joining Kyra Phillips and Don Lemon in the NEWSROOM to talk more about this decision from former Governor Vilsack. And if you would like to follow more of this press conference ongoing right now, you can go to cnn.com/pipeline and you can follow more of this press conference going on right. And another press conference, another briefing, an update on the search for this 13-year-old boy is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. this afternoon.</s>WHITFIELD: That's right.</s>HARRIS: That is something else you can find, we will cover right here with Don and Kyra in the NEWSROOM throughout the afternoon here on CNN. But right now, let's take a quick break and join YOUR WORLD TODAY in progress.