Boston police dismiss Rockefeller sighting on Caribbean island

By Maria Cramer and Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

Boston police have dismissed a reported sighting of Clark Rockefeller and his 7-year-old daughter on the Caribbean's Turks and Caicos Islands, saying the information about the alleged fugitive kidnapper was not credible.

Boston police spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said this afternoon that the alleged sightings Thursday of Rockefeller and his daughter at a NAPA auto parts store and a 7-11 convenience store on the island of Providenciales could not be verified. The search will continue for Rockefeller and Reigh Storrow Mills Boss, who was abducted Sunday afternoon in the Back Bay.

Detective Sergeant Calvin Chase of the Turks and Caicos Islands Police had confirmed the sightings earlier today, saying that workers identified the pair in photographs they were shown this morning. The witnesses said the girl's hair had been cut so she looked more like a boy.

At one store, the man used a Visa credit card bearing the name of "David M. Gibson."

Boston police today released more information they hope will help narrow the search for Rockefeller and the daughter he allegedly kidnapped Sunday.

Rockefeller, 48, who has been described as a stocky man with thinning blond hair, may have dyed his hair orange or red. But he has a permanent white patch of hair on the back of his head that authorities said is hard to conceal.

Those who know him have described him as speaking with an accent that sounds like Boston Brahmin, European or Scottish. He speaks some Russian, likes sailing, physics, and art and frequents libraries, police said.

Rockefeller, who was divorced from the child's mother, Sandra Boss, in December, is now facing a charge of felony custodial kidnapping in the taking of Reigh Storrow Mills Boss.

Police said Rockefeller has claimed to be home-schooled and may tell others that his daughter has been home-schooled.

Police believe he recently purchased "significant amounts" of American Gold Eagle coins and may be trying to exchange them for currency.

Police are also looking for any witnesses who may have seen the pair at 5 Marlborough St. in Boston's Back Bay, where Rockefeller and Reigh were whisked away Sunday at about 12:30 p.m. in a black SUV.

They are also looking for anyone who might have seen them around Garden and Cambridge streets, the area where they were dropped off by the SUV driver, at the Lewis Wharf in Boston, and Grand Central Terminal in New York.

Police also released more specific details about Reigh, who goes by the nickname "Snooks." The 4-foot-tall, blonde, blue-eyed girl, whose hair may have been cut so she looks like a boy, speaks with a British accent, has a large vocabulary, uses big words, and will spark a conversation with anyone.

She is friendly and affectionate and has a distinctive walk. She usually hops every five to six paces. Her favorite color is pink, and she loves the book and the movie adaptation of "The Little Princess," police said.

Police have received hundreds of tips from around the country about where the pair may be including the Turks and Caicos; Port Jefferson, N.Y.; and Smyrna, Del.

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