CLEARWATER, Florida — It was the middle of the night on Sept. 11, 2000, when eight-year-old Zachary Bernhardt vanished. In the 24 years since his disappearance, the boy has been at the center of Florida's longest-running Amber Alert.
While his case remains unsolved, Clearwater police said its detectives are still committed to finding out what happened to the boy.
"Someone out there knows something or has information that could help solve this case," the department said Wednesday on Facebook.
Bernhardt was last seen at his home, an apartment at 2690 Drew St. in Clearwater.
His family has been fighting for his safe return ever since.
"He still could be out there and show up tomorrow. But if he shows up tomorrow, that could also be good or bad. We have to be prepared for both," his aunt Billie-Jo Jimenez said in a previous interview.
Using age progression technology, authorities created an image of what Bernhardt could look like now as a 32-year-old man.
Zachary vanished in the year 2000. He was last seen sleeping in his mother's bed in their apartment on Drew Street. His mother, a single woman, was off that night from her job where she typically worked the night shift.
According to Zachary's grandmother, Carole Bernhardt, his mother was trying to stay awake so she could take him to school in the morning. She did house chores around the apartment and then went for a walk. But when she came back at 4 a.m., her son was gone.
"She called screeching and screaming she was hysterical and Billie Jo got on the phone, kept saying try to be calm he’s probably hiding from you,” Carole said.
Since that night, and the initial search for Zachary that involved hundreds of volunteers, helicopters, and cadaver dogs, Zachary's family has never wavered in their efforts to find him or given up hope that he might someday be found.
"We love him. We miss him. We want him home. It doesn’t get easier. It’s not something that is easy. Everybody says, oh in time. It doesn’t work that way with us. You know? Our loved one’s still out there," Billie Jo said.
Anyone with information that could help detectives solve Bernhardt's disappearance, call 727-562-4242.
Previous reporting from 10 Tampa Bay contributed to this article.
