Police Still Searching for Missing 3 Year Old Luke Finch, Parental Abduction … Arrest Warrant Issued for Paul Martikainen

3 year old Luke Finch has been missing since November 28, 2009 when he was reportedly a victim of a parental abduction by 35 year old Paul Martikainen. Luke Finch was last seen wearing a blue sweatshirt, blue pants and black and red fire engine sneakers.

Paul Martikainen, Luke Finch

A “Missing Child Alert” has been issued for Luke Finch as well as an arrest warrant for the tot-dad, Paul Martikainen. It is believed that the two are on a sail boat sailing in the Gulf of Mexico. The Coast Guard has deployed fixed wing air craft and have asked boaters to be on the look out for any sightings of a gray sailboat.

Cocoa police have issued an arrest warrant for Paul Martikainen, the 35-year-old father who disappeared into the Gulf of Mexico on a sailboat with his 3-year-old son Saturday.

Martikainen faces one count of interference with custody, said St. Petersburg police spokesman Bill Proffitt.

Meanwhile, authorities – including the U.S. Coast Guard and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission – are actively looking for the 32-foot Bristol sailboat the two were last seen in.

Witnesses said they saw Paul Martikainen and Luke Finch aboard a 32 foot sail boat at the Salt Creek Marina in St. Petersburg, FL.

After Debra Vanskiver saw Finch and Martikainen on the news Saturday night, she called the police to tell them she’d had seen the pair at the Salt Creek Marina in St. Petersburg.

“When they showed the picture of the father that was pretty much a big shock to me and my husband,” she said. “I absolutely recognized him. He was a customer of our company as well as the marina.”

Vanskiver called St. Petersburg police and the U.S. Coast Guard. When officers arrived, they found Martikainen’s 1995 green Ford Explorer at the marina. Finch and Martikainen were last seen there about 5 p.m. Saturday, police say.

Witnesses said they saw the two board a 32-foot Bristol sailboat and leave the marina, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Cocoa Police Department at (321) 639-7620.

To get more updates, discuss the case and provide your opinion, go to Scared Monkeys.net Missing Persons Forum: Luke Finch.