Latest case a reminder of unsolved 1978 abduction

By Mary Manning (contact)

Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008 | 6 p.m.

Police: The Search for Cole

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Metro Police press conference on the Cole Puffinburger kidnapping case.

Sun File Photo

Cary Sayegh

Oct. 16 -- Police: Boy’s kidnapping linked to drugs
Oct. 16 -- Boy’s kidnapping leaves behind neighborhood of fear
Oct. 15 -- Amber Alert issued for boy, 6, kidnapped at gunpoint

UPDATE: Police: Kidnapped boy’s grandfather a ‘person of interest’

The latest kidnapping of 6-year-old Cole Puffinburger is a chilling reminder of another sensational abduction that has never been solved.

Cole was snatched at gunpoint out of his home on Cherry Grove Avenue near the intersection of Hollywood and Lake Mead boulevards on Wednesday by three men who posed as police officers and forced their way into the house.

There has been no ransom note and police are racing to find the child.

This kidnapping has been linked to drug activity by Metro Police, who are working with the FBI and law enforcement agencies nationwide to find Puffinburger, a first-grade student at Stanford Elementary School.

The kidnapping of 6-year-old Cary Sayegh of Las Vegas from the Albert Einstein Hebrew Day School, 1600 E. Oakey Blvd., on Oct. 25, 1978, remains the most publicized unsolved kidnapping in Las Vegas history.

The only suspect brought to trial, Jerald Burgess, was found innocent after a 1982 trial. He served time for rape and fraud in two unrelated cases before being released from prison in 1989.

Burgess became tied to the Sayegh kidnapping when he led police to one of the boy's shoes found in a desert area bordered by Desert Inn Road on the north, Flamingo Road on the south and the Boulder Highway on the east.

Sayegh, the son of prominent Las Vegas businessman Sol Sayegh, owner of the Carpet Barn rug store, and Marilyn Sayegh, vanished from the school's yard.

The parents received only one ransom call shortly after the kidnapping from a person asking for $500,000.

Cary Sayegh has never been found.

In another kidnapping that led to a brutal slaying, 16-year-old Bishop Gorman High School junior and Las Vegas Sun copy girl Terry Romeo was kidnapped, sexually assaulted and left in a desert area in 1973.

Terry Romeo was the fourth child of Dr. Donald and Barbara Romeo. The physician worked at the Clark County jail from 1960 to 1978 and was the ringside physician at major professional boxing matches in Nevada from the 1960s through the 1980s.

Police captured David Ray Bean, who is serving a life sentence without parole at the Ely State Prison for that crime.

Discussion: 2 comments so far…

By VegasFan

10/18/08 at 10:54 a.m.

Suggest removal

Ok, not to open up old wounds...and certainly the kidnapping of Cary Sayegh was big and if true devastating to his family....but do you not remember, LVSun, another little twist to the story at the time? I'll give you a hint so that maybe your lack of institutionalized memory might be jogged. The "prominent" businessman was under some or other investigation concerning the alleged bribing of a public official whose name rhymes with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Here's what the RJ recounted about 10 years ago....

" At the time of the kidnapping, Sayegh had been indicted along with two other men for trying to bribe then-Gaming Commission Chairman Harry Reid, who immediately reported the July 1978 bribe attempt and cooperated with authorities.
Because of the kidnapping nearly three months later, Sayegh's case was severed from the other two defendants -- Jack Gordon, who later married and divorced LaToya Jackson, and cemetery salesman Joe Daly.
Gordon and Daly were both convicted of conspiracy. Then-U.S. Attorney Mahlon Brown dropped the charges against Sayegh, saying his role in the conspiracy was "considerably less."
Prosecutors said that Sayegh's personal tragedy was "punishment enough." "

Then again, I guess "prominent businessman" is one way to describe the father....
By bluemoon

10/24/08 at 12:36 p.m.

Suggest removal

Interesting that in both cases, the link of the parent or grandparent to drugs/organized crime/political scoundrels has been reported. Parents need to be positive rolemodels. I am certainly going to do my part.

The problem is when the parent is an innocent witness. We don't know about Cole's mom but it is certainly a possibility that she did not know or she chose to ignore the crimes around her, thinking that would be the best way to protect her son.... until the criminals literally knocked on her door... dressed as cops, no less. The line between the good guys and the bad guys is blurring of late. Life is not black and white... night and day.... moon and sun. Identities merge into one. If you live a life of good or a life of bad long enough, does it take over?

Can I really trust someone who tried to commit a crime, but then "changed his mind" and wants to be our guardian angel? Can a criminal go good? Can I trust that? I want to believe that people are good. I need to believe that. But reality keeps knocking.... actually... I think it's knocking right now! Gotta go! Later!