Why a Texas private investigator needs $25,000 to look for missing Wichita boy
A GoFundMe effort seeks $28,000 in donations to hire a Texas private investigation firm to help find Lucas Hernandez, the 5-year-old Wichita boy missing for almost two months despite an extensive law enforcement investigation.
Of the $28,000 being sought, $25,000 is needed “up front” to hire the private investigator, according to an online letter attributed to Jonathan Hernandez, Lucas’ father. Hernandez couldn’t be reached Tuesday. The letter — titled “Help me find my boy!” — said an additional $3,000 that is being sought would help cover a GoFundMe processing fee. As of Tuesday, the fund had raised $1,805 in a day from 29 people.
Philip Klein, president of Klein Investigations and Consulting, on Tuesday confirmed that his hiring is dependent on $25,000 being raised to pay him. That amount is necessary to cover transportation and lodging costs for a team of investigators, Klein said. He said he would cover separate investigative costs. His business is in Nederland, in southeast Texas.
Klein said he got a call last Wednesday from a friend of Lucas’ family. If the money is raised and he is hired, he said, “I made it very clear: I am not coming for any family member. I’m coming in to look for Lucas.”
Wichita police have said all along that they don't think Lucas Hernandez was abducted. A Wichita police captain has said that he does not believe Lucas just walked out of the house. Wichita police declined to comment Tuesday on the plan to hire a private investigator. More than 100 officers and FBI agents have investigated the child's disappearance.
Klein said he has been featured on the TV show "Dateline" and that Lucas’ case has drawn national and international attention. He has spent about 15 hours looking into the case so far, he said.
What could his team bring to an investigation that Wichita police and the FBI have not?
“That’s a great question,” Klein responded. He said he could assemble a team of specialists with search and interview skills who would bring “a new, fresh set of eyes,” who could uncover something possibly missed by police detectives.
If he gets hired, he said, “I represent little Lucas. I’m going to go find that boy if we can.”
Wichita police have said that Lucas’ stepmother, Emily Glass, reported him missing about 6:15 p.m. Feb. 17. Glass told police she had taken a shower that Saturday afternoon and that when she awoke from a nap, Lucas was missing. The family had recently moved to a rental home on South Edgemoor. Glass, 26, has been described in a court document as a stay-at-home mother who took care of Lucas while his father worked out of town.
Four days after she reported the boy missing, police said they arrested her on suspicion of endangering Lucas and a 1-year-old child. Prosecutors charged her with only one misdemeanor — endangering her 1-year-old daughter. A police affidavit used to justify her arrest said Glass told a police detective that the day before Lucas Hernandez disappeared, “she smoked a few bowls” of marijuana, then drove her 1-year-old daughter to Olive Garden, near Central and Rock, for dinner.
The affidavit mentions Lucas only by his initials. It refers to his disappearance but gives no other information about him. Part of the document obtained by The Eagle had been blacked out.
Glass has remained in jail on a $50,000 bond on the single count of child endangerment. A judge rejected her request that her bond be lowered so she could get out of jail.
Hernandez told The Eagle in a March 12 interview that he would welcome Glass home if she can gain release from jail. “I am standing by her until either some other information comes out or something about the case breaks,” he said then. “If it involves her, obviously it would be different. Obviously, my thoughts would be changing if she was implicated in any way involving Lucas.”
This story was originally published April 10, 2018 at 2:25 PM with the headline "Why a Texas private investigator needs $25,000 to look for missing Wichita boy."