Pubdate: Fri, 12 Sep 2008 Source: Salt Lake Tribune (UT) Copyright: 2008 The Salt Lake Tribune Contact: http://www.sltrib.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/383 Author: Lindsay Whitehurst, Staff Writer BOY'S KIDNAPPING MAY BE DRUG-RELATED Utah residents are being asked to watch for a 6-year-old boy police believe was kidnapped from Las Vegas as a result of his grandfather's involvement in the drug trade. Las Vegas police are now searching for both 6-year-old Cole Puffinburger and his grandfather, 51-year-old Clemens Tinnemeyer, who has been missing since May. Tinnemeyer reportedly owes tens of millions of dollars to a Mexican drug cartel, Denby said. He allegedly sold cocaine and methamphetamine as he drove around the country and across the border as a tour guide and owner of a motor home sight-seeing tour company. The boy was taken about 7:20 a.m. Wednesday when two armed men identifying themselves as police officers entered his home, said Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department spokesman Ramon Denby. The two ransacked the house and left the boy's mother and her fiance tied up inside as they escaped in a getaway car driven by a third man. Tinnemeyer was last seen in Las Vegas in May, but in August contacted a family member and claimed he was in Tennessee. "We believe the young boy, Cole, was taken by the Mexican nationals [to] exchange for the grandfather," Denby said. He would not comment on whether the boy's other family members were also involved in the drug trade. The kidnappers are described as Latino, with heavy accents. One is described as approximately 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighing 150 pounds, with shoulder-length, slicked-back black hair. The boy is white, with blond hair and blue eyes. He is 3-feet-11 inches tall and weighs approximately 48 pounds. He also has "distinctly stained" front teeth and an over-bite, the release states. He wears silver-rimmed prescription glasses and was last seen wearing a black T-shirt with W.W.E. John Cena" printed on the front, black Vans brand tennis shoes, blue jeans with a black belt and a black hooded sweatshirt with black, white and blue stars on it. Tinnemeyer is about 5-feet-10 inches tall, weighs 200 pounds with brown hair and green eyes. He has a four-inch scar on his right knee and a three-inch scar on his left shoulder. An Amber Alert has been issued in Nevada for Cole, but authorities are now looking around the country and internationally, including Utah. Anyone with information about Cole or Tinnemeyer is asked to call the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department at 702-828-3591 or, to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin