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Relatives Beg For Baby's Safe Return

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Keith Morelli And Darlene McCormick / The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 2, 1997

TAMPA — Investigators hope a segment on "Larry King Live" Monday night will help break the case of a missing infant.

The grandfather and aunt of 5-month-old Sabrina Paige Aisenberg — missing since last week — presented their plight to a national audience Monday evening, as sheriff's authorities admitted they need help.

Stan Sadowski and Elaine Wineberger appeared on CNN's "Larry King Live" at 9 p.m. Monday, begging for the safe return of the child to her Valrico home.

Within 45 minutes of the end of the segment, about 20 calls were logged into the communications center at the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, said a department supervisor. Tips came from as far away as Monterey, Calif., he said. All the calls will be logged and the information given to detectives.

Besides Sabrina's relatives, sheriff's Lt. Greg Brown and Gregg McCrary, a retired FBI agent in Washington, appeared on the show.

King described the apparent abduction of Sabrina as "a strange case."

Although King boasts a worldwide audience, the few callers to the show were from the Tampa Bay area. Two of the three callers questioned the demeanor of the child's parents in the days after Sabrina was discovered missing, saying that Marlene and Steve Aisenberg's smiles and apparent detachment were suspicious.

Sadowski said people react to stress in different ways, and Wineberger said, "It is not fair to judge what you saw" without knowing all the facts.

One caller asked if the parents took a lie detector test, but Brown would neither confirm nor deny one was administered. He did say no ransom note has been received by the family.

McCrary said the parents have to be thoroughly questioned by detectives, because, "They have more information than anyone else" about what happened that night.

"You have to eliminate them as suspects first," he said.

He said the most likely abductor is someone who wants a baby, and if that's the case, chances are good the baby will one day be returned.

Sheriff's investigators earlier in the day said progress had been made in the case. The sheriff's office is pursuing 65 leads, most from the local area, said sheriff's Maj. Gary Terry.

Still, investigators are asking those with information on someone who may have just adopted, started caring for or babysitting a 5-month-old child to contact the sheriff's office at 247-8665.

Some of the tips have come from people who have noticed infants showing up suddenly in families, Terry said. Authorities are hoping people may have noticed something unusual during Thanksgiving.

"There may have been some gatherings ... where a family member saw a child they may not have seen before," said Terry.

Investigators also plan to contact adoption agencies locally and elsewhere, Terry said.

With the national exposure Monday night, tips are no longer limited to the Tampa Bay area, where the case has generated substantial publicity.

More than 40 local, state and federal investigators have questioned relatives and neighbors, and searched ponds and woods with divers and tracking dogs in the area surrounding the quiet suburban neighborhood.

Sixteen detectives set traffic stops in the neighborhood from around midnight until 6:30 a.m. Monday to interview neighbors again, Terry said.

The baby was last seen by her mother about midnight Nov. 24. Authorities confirmed Monday there was no sign of forced entry, but gave conflicting information on whether an interior door was left unlocked. The garage door was open all night, authorities said.

Marlene and Steve Aisenberg are cooperating with authorities, Terry said. But they have not been ruled out as suspects, he said.

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