Missing Las Vegas Boy Found Safe

The missing 6 year-old boy, abducted from his Las Vegas home at gunpoint, is safely back in his father’s care. Now, police want to know what the boy’s grandfather knows about the case.

From the Associated Press:

The boy, Cole Puffinburger, was found by a bus driver on a quiet street outside a Methodist church on Saturday night, four days after being snatched from his mother’s home by two men posing as police officers.

Cole was in “extremely good condition” but was taken to University Medical Center as a precaution, Las Vegas police Capt. Vincent Cannito said. He was treated and released to his father’s care early Sunday, hospital spokesman Rick Plummer said.

A bus driver for the disabled discovered Cole walking alone on a residential street, said Jacob Snow, a general manager for the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada. The driver pulled over to see if he was OK.

“Cole approached the bus and asked the driver, ‘Can you take me home?'” Snow said.

The bus driver, who did not want to be identified, took Cole onto the bus and contacted police, Snow said. The child told the driver and riders that he had been dropped off just a few minutes before.

Even before he was found, Cole’s maternal grandfather, Clemens Tinnemeyer, had been arrested. Police said they believe the kidnapping at gunpoint may have been a message to Tinnemeyer, 51, who authorities say may have stolen millions from drug dealers involved in trafficking methamphetamine.

Tinnemeyer was to appear before a federal magistrate Monday in Riverside, Calif. He was arrested there Friday and was being held in nearby San Bernardino on a material witness warrant issued by a federal court in Nevada.

Las Vegas police didn’t know whether Tinnemeyer had a lawyer. Police have declined to elaborate on what role he played in the drug operation or whether the kidnappers had been seeking a ransom.

Messages left at a number believed to be for the Tinnemeyer home were not returned. A black pickup truck sat in the driveway Sunday, but no one came to the door.