Zachary Bernhardt

Eight-year-old Zachary "Zach" Bernhardt was last seen on September 11, 2000 in Clearwater, Florida.

Background
Zach lived with his mother, Leah Hackett in an apartment complex. They frequently changed homes and were facing eviction at the time Zach went missing. Zach's father wasn't involved in his life.

Disappearance
In the early morning hours of September 11, 2000, Leah was suffering from insomnia, so she left the apartment to take a short swim and a walk around the area. Zach was asleep when Leah left the apartment. When Leah returned, Zach was missing.

Early in the investigation, the police thought that Leah knew more about Zach's disappearance than she was saying; however, Leah maintains her innocence in Zach's case.

A man named Kevin Jalbert (who lived near Leah and Zach's apartment) told an acquaintance that he was a child murderer and was prepared to search for another victim in early 2001. He was later arrested for attempting to solicit an undercover police officer to help him abduct, rape and murder a child. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison. Jalbert denied kidnapping Zach, but he failed a polygraph test about his possible involvement in Zach's diappearance. The police said that they have been unable to rule Jalbert out as a suspect in Zach's disappearance.

In January of 2002, a 5-year-old boy was abducted from the same apartment complex that Zach disappeared from. According to the boy, his abductor lured him into a car promising him ice cream and drove around with him for ten hours. The boy was later found alive in a trash bin in Bushnell, Florida and was rescued by a passing motorist. Investigators looked to see if the boy's kidnapping and Zach's disappearance were connected, but they couldn't find any evidence to support this.

Zach's case is classified as an endangered missing person.