The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland • 10

10A THE SUN SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 1985 R.I. detectives pull out all stops in bid to put names to mystery photos 6 We just feel we have an obligation to the people to determine if these are missing people. Frankly, we hope they are not missing. POLICE LIEUTENANT 66 think as we see more of this kind of thing willingness to try new techniques we wUl see a reduction in the numbers of crimes against JAYC. HOWELL 1 1 1 r.

k7 i I friends or family who have recognized them. But authorities have declined to release any. information about those persons, other than to say they are safe and not among the miss-, ing. 1 "We just feel we have an obligation to the people to determine if these are missing people," said Lieutenant Wheeler, who is running the investigation, which has at times involved all of his 35-man detective force. "Frankly, we hope they are not missing." Last week, a South Boston woman said she thought the bright-eyed little girl pictured in one of the photographs was that of her daughter, who disappeared in 1976 at age 10.

But Lieutenant Wheeler said the identification was not positive, and California authorities say the same photograph-may be of a different child. Officials say the national appeal to pub-, lish pictures of unidentified children is-unique. But it is one of many innovations be- ing tried to combat the problem of missing children. He said the concern over the problem has been growing in the last four years and prompted passage in October of the federal act that mandates operation of the national hot line to assist in finding missing children; and helping exploited children. In addition to the phone bank, the national center provides education, advice and training, and lends its staff of 35 experts to police agencies trying to learn better techniques to find missing children.

In fact, it was because staff from the center had been in Rhode Island to offer police there training shortly before Mr. Collins was arrested that the Rhode Island police turned to them for help in identifying the photos. "They did a great job," Mr. Howell said of the willingness of the Rhode Island police to try a new technique. "I think as we see more of this kind of thing, we will see a re-, duction in the numbers of crimes against children." By Doug Struck Sun Staff Correspondent PROVIDENCE, R.I.

They smile in mysterious humor, beaming from photographs, haunting police who wonder who they are. They are the faces of children infants, toddlers and teens on 25 photographs found in the possession of a drifter accused of abducting a California child and holding turn for nearly two years. Rhode Island State Police have made a nationwide appeal to learn who they are, to learn whether they are missing or safe and how their images came to be in the dingy, walk-up apartment of drifter David R. Collins. So far, the police believe they have identified six of the children, all of whom are safe, not missing.

The remainder still perplex them. The photographs were printed in hundreds of newspapers in an unusual display of common purpose, and police and child welfare officials are still sorting through the flood of calls that followed the publication. (The Sun printed the pictures January 17). "We received hundreds of calls," said Jay C. Howell, executive director of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Washington.

The center received the bulk of the calls on their national hot line number, 1-800-843-5678, printed by most of the papers. Rhode Island police turned to the national center, created last year with financial aid from Congress, for lack of any other central clearinghouse for information about missing children. The center has on file photographs of about 2,000 missing children, a tiny fraction but more than at any other organization of the estimated 1.5 million children reported missing each year. The Rhode Island police found the pic- UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL It was in this apartment that police found the photographs, and investigators still are unsure what they have found. Many of the photos are quite old.

Some seemed to be professional portraits, others clearly amateur snapshots. Some of the prints showed small groups of children. Five of them were attached to driver's licenses or license applications from Florida, California and Oregon. Police say the pictures on the licenses apparently are not those of the people whose names and addresses are on the licenses. When the individuals are found, "there will be some questions asked relating to our investigation," said Lt.

Richard M. Wheeler, chief of the detective division of the Rhode Island State Police. Gordon O. Hatfield was startled to recognize his son, Walter, in one of the snapshots, at age 16, sitting on a couch with a former girl frierd. The photograph was probably 13 years old.

Walter, now 29, manages a gasoline station near his father's home in East Bridgewater, Mass. Mr. Hatfield used to correspond occasionally with Mr. Collins, an old high school pal, and says he must have sent the picture to Mr. Collins sometime before he decided that Mr.

Collins was "someone I had to be cautious with." Police have identified persons in other pictures from calls they received from tures while creating a happy ending to the disappearance of Bobby C. Smith, then 11, from his Long Beach (Calif.) home in 1983. The boy was found after police traced the car in which a teenager was killed trying to flee a routine traffic stop. The trace led to Mr. Collins's small apartment in Providence.

Neither police nor prosecutors will say what they have learned about Mr. Collins's connection with the youth who died, 17-year-old Todd LaRue, nor about the 21 months he traveled with Bobby Smith across the country. They, say they have agreed with defense attorneys not to talk about the case before Mr. Collins's trial on charges of kidnapping and sexually assaulting the boy. Mr.

Collins is a 55-year-old drifter who had a 29-year history of mostly small-time crimes: forgery, writing bad checks, auto theft and shoplifting. He had served time in prisons in Connecticut, Texas, New York, Kentucky and Tennessee, and was described by law enforcement officials as a "confidence man." He apparently lived off welfare checks and kept a string of aliases to collect those checks. Police and Bobby Smith's parents now believe he befriended young Bobby, perhaps by giving him quarters for video games, sometime before the child disappeared April 10, 1983. WALTER HATFIELD One photo shows him with ex-girl friend. Bobby was "duped or hoodwinked," police said, and apparently traveled with Mr.

Collins through Oregon, Washington, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts and finally Rhode Island. Neighbors at some of the low-rent apartments they lived in along the way described Bobby as a youth who rarely went to school, was known by several names and seemed at times apprehensive about the older man he called his "Dad." "You'd never see the kid alone. He was always with that older man, even when the other kids were out playing," said Fero Berdecia, who lived next to the cramped apartment that Mr. Collins rented with Bobby last fall. STATE POLITICIANS Steinberg fights WYST for license interest.

Nonetheless, he still expects to hire professionals to run the sta- tion. "In my other business interests, I have key people who are professionals in that particular field," said Mr. Steinberg, who has represented a district in Northwest Baltimore; county for 18 years. "I would do the same here. I don't want to go into bankruptcy because I don't know what I'm doing." He said that he sees a market more FM radio news.

"You don't see many FM stations! covering the legislature, except' RADIO, from 1A ble, any of its stations are fair game." Mr. Cohen had already taken on challenges for four companies against United stations. When WLPL's license came up for renewal in June, 1981, he took on his fifth. That client was SRW, a new company that had grown out of the meetings at the motel. SRW is made up of Melvin A.

Steinberg, president of the Maryland Senate, and Richard Rynd, a Baltimore businessman who has invested with Mr. Steinberg in real estate and other ventures. Two weeks ago, Mr. Cohen's clients won the first round against United. An FCC judge ruled that WYST should lose its license, and that the license should go to SRW.

ASSOCIATED PRESS House Speaker Ben Cardin basked in a shower of confetti as the Maryland General Assembly concluded its 1984 session in April. After that conversation, the two of them got in touch with Mr. Steinberg and Mr. Rynd, the Baltimore businessman. These four then met with Mr.

Cohen on "four or five" occasions at the restaurant in the Colony 7 Motor Inn on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. Mr. Steinberg, Mr. Rynd and Mr. Weinstein, who is now a District Court judge in Montgomery county, then formed SRW.

Mr. Weinstein dropped out of the venture in August, 1982. Although they had no radio background, that did not hurt their application. Under the FCC's rules, it helped. Over the years, the FCC has favored new applicants which are locally owned and managed, and which do not own other stations.

This is part of an attempt to "diversify" the industry a policy that the current commission has relaxed by increasing the number of radio stations a company can own from seven to 12. When a station already has a license, the renewal is usually routine as long as the station's broadcast record meets FCC guidelines. But in cases where questions arise, the FCC has long had a system known as "comparative renewal hearings" where a competing company can file against an existing station. There are people who see this process as a crucial one for an industry where licenses have been limited and it has been difficult to get a spot on the FM dial. That may change; the FCC decided in 1984 to create 1,000 new FM licenses as part of its move toward deregulation.

Mr. Schattenfield, United's attorney, dislikes comparative hearings. "There are some who say that the comparative hearing gives you better programming," he said. "I say let the marketplace regulate that. No one gains from the comparative hearing.

All they do is make the lawyers rich because they drag on forever." Although there is a competing company, the main issue in the hearing is still the broadcast record of the existing radio station. If a station has a good record, it is entitled to a "renewal expectancy" and the challenger's application is moot. Aware of the FCC's policies, a fledgling company usually offers local owners who promise to work full-time for the station. The compa- nies rarely own other stations. Mr.

Steinberg and Mr. Rynd fit that profile, except that they said during the hearings that they would work less than full-time. Mr. Steinberg said he would devote 25 hours a week and Mr. Rynd said 30 hours.

Mr. Schattenfield challenged both men on their commitment, particularly Mr. Steinberg. He pointed out that Mr. Steinberg spends 40 hours a week on his law practice as well as monitoring his business interests, 10 hours a week on Senate business -except when the General Assembly is in session, which requires a full-time commitment.

$60 tickets will be test for Cardin CARDIN, from 1A have to be impressed. The problem he has is will enough people get to know him?" Starting from a position of near political anonymity statewide, Mr. Cardin must become a believable challenger for Attorney General Stephen H. Sachs, who has won two statewide races already; and possible candidate Mayor Schaefer, Whose successes in Baltimore have given him a national as well as a statewide following. 1 But Mr.

Cardin is not the first Annapolis superstar to discover that his reputation does not extend much beyond the city limits. He must depend fn events such as today'? reception, and on other step-by-step organizing, io give him statewide vote-getting power. 1 "My goal is to prove that Ben Cardin can organize, can raise money. That's my challenge in 1985," he said. Today's $60-a-ticket event at the Baltimore Convention Center represents his first major effort to show broad-based, statewide political strength.

1 To some extent, there could be less here than meets the eye. Many members of the legislature and many in the Maryland commu- nity at large will come to Mr. Car-din's party today because they like and admire him but not necessarily because they will support him in 1986 or even give him much of a chance to win. i The financial votes he gets, in other words, are likely to come faster than the votes of political confidence. He faces an extremely difficult chore an impossible dream for anyone without Mr.

Cardin's rather legendary determination and capacity for work. "If the race is going to be won on the issues," said Delegate Howard P. Rawlings (D, Baltimore), "Ben Cardin clearly is the front-runner. His problem, which he and his organization are aware of, is that he doesn't have the glamour of Steve Sachs and Mayor Schaefer." 1 Mr. Sachs, of course, has more than glamour to recommend his campaign.

As a two-term attorney general, he has a proven statewide organization. In fact, Mr. Cardin's effort today almost certainly will be corn-bared with Mr. Sachs's 50th birthday party almost exactly one year ago. Some 5,000 tickets for that event were sold at $50 each, putting $250,000 in the Sachs for Governor treasury.

Mr. Cardin's aides say between 4,000 and 5,000 tickets were sold last week and the orders were still coming in. All the high-intensity fund-raising and other maneuvers almost two years ahead of the election have generated a political atmosphere unusually rife with scenarios and theoretical political tickets both alarming jand encouraging to Mr. Cardin. Among these speculations is the suggestion that Mayor Schaefer, notwithstanding behavior that makes ihim look like a candidate, might prefer to stay in City Hall.

Under this itheory, the mayor would run for governor only if he thought Mr. Cardin could not win. But the question is, does Mr. 'schaefer and more important, do 1 requested anonymity. Others report that Mr.

Cardin is improving as he travels about the state in search of support from political opinion leaders who he hopes will form the foundation of a statewide organization. "He doesn't come in and dazzle you with that political BS," said Delegate Michael J. Sprague (D, Charles), "but we've taken him around to business groups and political clubs and he's been very impressive." In recent weeks, on the strength of his highly successful fund-raising, Mr. Cardin has hired a team of nationally known professional campaign directors: William Hamilton, of Bethesda, one of the top three political poll-takers and strategists, and Maxey Irwin, a Tennessee-based communications consultant. A "media person" someone to advise the candidate on speaking style and appearance, among other things is likely to be the next staff WPOC," he said.

"I would do more." Asked about the possible conflict of a news staff that has to report on -the political actions of its boss, he. said: "Number 1, the probability oft this being resolved in less than four? or five years is remote. I don'L know where I'll be politically in four: or five years. "But if I'm still in the General As-; sembly or elected office, I would' have to be very, very sensitive to criticism, to the appearance of a-conflict. It could only hurt me politically.

"I couldn't say, 'I'm only talking4 to 92 There would have to be'-stringent guidelines. If the conflict couldn't be avoided, if I had to! choose one or the other, I would possibly get out of public life. I'm not going to foul myself up, either business-wise or politically. It's economy ics; this is going to be a tremendous financial investment, and I'm not: going to throw it all down the In their application, Mr. Steinberg's company estimated that it' would cost $400,000 to construct a4 facility and run the station for the first three months.

Mr. Steinberg's criticism of' WYST's news operation brings firm objections from WYST. John A. Columbus, the general, manager of both the AM and FM sta-i tions, said in an interview that the stations have a full-time news tor, Scott Harriss, and one full-time-street reporter. The stations, which broadcast from the penthouse atop Sutton Place Apartments in Bolton; Hill, have had a news director since 1978.

In his decision, Judge Coufal acknowledged that WYST improved its news coverage substantially from' 1978 to 1981 and that the FCC has -said that the most recent three-year, period before a renewal hearing is; the "most relevant" but that the improvement was not enough to overcome its record in other years. Mr. Columbus said, "Judge Cou-' fal is placing too much emphasis on' our earlier record." At present, he said, the news staff? gathers the news for both stations, but the broadcasters do different1 newscasts except during morning rush hour, when all programming is "simulcast" on AM and FM. Mr. Schattenfield said that he believes that Judge Coufal's decision'; goes against the grain of the FCC's; recent decisions, and that WYST will1 win on appeal.

He points out that' Judge Coufal has ruled against Unit-' ed before, and the company has won1 at a higher level. Mr. Steinberg expects the whole" matter to be resolved in court, the next step after the FCC. "It will be years before this is. over," he said.

"But I like chal-' lenges. I ran for Senate president be-" cause it was a new challenge. This! will be one, too." The judge, Frederic A. Coufal, criticized WYST's quantity of news and public affairs programming, saying it barely met the FCC guidelines calling for 6 percent "non-entertainment" programming. He also faulted the station for "duplicating" some of its public affairs programming on its sister AM station (formerly WSID, now also WYST, the AM station is not being challenged in this case).

The battle, however, is not over. The three-year-old case is being appealed and will take at least two more years to resolve. In the meantime, Baltimore's radio audience will continue to hear WYST when it turns to 92.3 on the FM dial. But in one sense, the FCC judge's decision has already made Baltimore history. No one can recall any federal official or agency ever recommending that a Baltimore radio station lose its license.

The story behind the battle for WYST is a story of a changing industry and of federal policies that encourage the kind of challenge brought by Mr. Steinberg's company. It is also a story with some humor. An effort by WYST's lawyers to use a detective agency to "investigate" Mr. Steinberg went awry when someone leaked the results of the "investigation" to Mr.

Steinberg. The investigation itself found that Mr. Steinberg was well-regarded and had an excellent credit record. It is a story with high stakes. WYST is a multimillion-dollar property with a large audience among young and middle-aged adults who listen to the soft rock and folk format more than 135,000 listeners during morning rush hour, according to recent ratings.

It has operated for 23 years; it is one of nine radio stations and two cable TV companies owned by United, spread from New York to California. And it is a story with political implications. If Mr. Steinberg's company should eventually win the license, and Mr. Steinberg follows through with plans to take charge of community and public affairs programming, the possibility arises that his news staff could be faced with a boss who makes news.

Mr. Steinberg's involvement goes back to early 1981, according to testimony in the case. At that time, Mr. Cohen was working with state Senator Laurence Levitan (D, Montgomery) on a possible challenge to WINX-FM, a United -Broadcasting station in Rockville. Mr.

Levitan's law partner, Paul H. Weinstein, testified that he and Mr. Levitan talked about United's problems in other cities and the opportunity to file against the United FM station in Baltimore. his key supporters believe 'Mr. Cardin can win? Delegate Paul Weisengoff (D, Baltimore), an ally of the speaker, says Mr.

Cardin will get an undetermined length of time perhaps until late summer to prove he is a credible opponent for Mr. Sachs. "Ben will get his chance," Mr. Weisengoff said. As the 1986 campaign continues to shape up, Mr.

Cardin finds himself unintentionally, he says in the middle of an "anyone but Sachs movement" prevalent in some political circles and especially in the business community. This movement grows out of Mr. Sachs's record while prosecutor, when he successfully pursued some of Mayor Schaefer's political friends. In addition, the attorney general's pro-consumer record leads some businessmen to conclude falsely, Mr. Sachs says that he is unfriendly toward business.

For those who oppose Mr. Sachs, Mr. Schaefer's popularity makes him the preemptive favorite. And Mr. Cardin must begin to convince this group that he is just as strong.

He insists that he is in the race to stay, to run on his own record and not as an alternative candidate. The task before him now is demanding. On the coffee table in his State House office, a small wooden map of Maryland, cut into a jigsaw puzzle of pastel blue and red, shows the geographical dimension of his task. Traveling and speaking almost incessantly, he said, he has found the task more arduous than he had anticipated. His strategy is to make a series of "quality contacts" with political toilers, business leaders and others whose views when taken together will help determine who runs for governor in two years.

Credibility, he said, begins with these men and women. He continues to be. handicapped, some of his colleagues and friends say, by a campaign style that would make an Internal Revenue Service investigator appear charismatic by contrast. "He just doesn't have pizzazz. He just doesn't project," said a delegate from Baltimore who member hired, according to Mr.

Irwin. Perhaps one of the most difficult tasks facing Mr. Cardin in the next 2's months will be juggling his political activities and his role as speaker in Annapolis. It is no small feat. Mr.

Cardin says he has attempted to divorce his campaign fund-raising as much as possible from Annapolis. He has not always succeeded. In December, one of Mr. Cardin's chief campaign aides, Robert A. Rombro, met to discuss ticket sales with many top Annapolis lobbyists in the offices of Delegate Frederick C.

Rummage, chairman of the House Economic Matters Committee. Mr. Rummage's own campaign fund-raising activities prompted a five-page statement by Mr. Cardin last week cautioning House leaders about using their positions to leverage campaign contributions. Mr.

Cardin says he did not know about the meeting arranged by Mr. Rombro in Mr. Rummage's office. "A small amount of the money has come from the lobbying corps, but the overwhelming majority has been from outside Annapolis," he said. In an interview, Mr.

Steinberg said he would cut back on his other duties to meet his commitment to the radio station. Because of his political duties, his law practice is used to running without him. "I don't anticipate spending more than an hour or two a week on the law practice," he said. If he wins the battle, he said, it will become his paramount business.