
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, November 4, 1994                   TAG: 9411040130
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: FAIRFAX                                  LENGTH: Short

FAIRFAX BOY KIDNAPPED AS FAMILY SLEPT

A 6-year-old boy was abducted early Thursday as he and his family slept, then was assaulted and dropped off hours later 30 miles away near a Rockville, Md., cemetery, police said.

A jogger found the boy dressed only in underwear.

Authorities are looking at two similar, unsolved cases in the Washington area to see whether they are related to the latest abduction.

The Fairfax County boy was taken from his bedroom sometime before 2:30 a.m. while his parents and younger brother were sleeping nearby, police said. The abductor carried the boy to a car and drove him from the neighborhood, authorities said.

The boy's father discovered he was missing after checking on the child, who has a history of sleepwalking. The father called police after a brief search of the area. There was no sign of forced entry to the house, police said.

About 7 a.m., a jogger found the boy near St. Mary's Cemetery. She took the child to her home and called police.

``I haven't encountered one like this, where you've had a child taken from his home,'' Fairfax police Maj. Dana Libby said. ``It's not someone who's known to the child.''

Asked whether the child was sexually assaulted, Libby said: ``I'm simply saying he was assaulted.''

He was taken to Fairfax Hospital, where he was treated for injuries and released to his parents.

by CNB