ELYRIA — The FBI and Cleveland police have released a sketch of a person of interest that authorities want to talk to about a kidnapping in Cleveland last month and an attempted abduction in Elyria in February.
The sketch depicts a man who was spotted in the West 104th Street neighborhood in Cleveland on May 21, the day 6-year-old Neveah Wylie was taken from inside her home about 2 a.m. She was released about 17 hours later and has told investigators she was held in a bedroom that had moose, grass and trees on the wall, something police believe to be wallpaper.
The composite sketch of a suspect in a Cleveland abduction, and an abduction attempt in Elyria.
Elyria Police Chief Duane Whitely announced last week that the kidnapping of Neveah had been linked forensically to a Feb. 25 incident in which a man came through the bedroom window of a 10-year-old girl and tried to grab her legs in her Furnace Street home.
The girl managed to free herself and fled to her father’s room. He grabbed a gun and ran outside, but didn’t find the man who had entered his daughter’s bedroom.
The father later told police that his security system had showed that someone appeared to have entered his home through a door he never used the day before and opened windows.
The suspect in the Elyria incident was described as a white male in his 20s wearing black clothing and a ski mask.
A still photo of a man walking in the area of the Cleveland abduction about 2 a.m. May 14, about a week before Neveah was taken, shows a man with facial hair wearing a hat or visor and a hooded jacket with a possible logo on it. He also was wearing dark shoes with light-colored soles. That individual is considered a person of interest in the case.
Investigators also are looking for a between 2003 and 2005 Pontiac Grand Am with four doors, a sunroof, a spoiler, black side mirrors and a bra on the front.
The FBI and CrimeStoppers are offering rewards totaling $20,000 for information that leads to the man responsible being identified and prosecuted.
Elyria police Capt. Chris Costantino said some tips have come in but declined to discuss specifics.
Anyone with information on the case can call a confidential tip line at (216) 622-6842.
The post Police release sketch, seek tips on kidnapping suspect appeared first on Chronicle-Telegram.