Key facts
- Name: Zachary Michael Bernhardt (the Charley Project lists him as “Zachary Michael-Cole Bernhardt”; other sources shorten it)
- Age at disappearance: 8
- Last seen: September 11, 2000, ~4:00 a.m.
- Location: Savannah Trace apartments, Drew Street, Clearwater, Florida (second-floor unit)
- Status: Still missing — Florida’s longest-running AMBER Alert; Clearwater PD says it is not a cold case
- Investigating agency: Clearwater Police Department, (727) 562-4242
The swim
On the night of September 10, 2000, eight-year-old Zachary Bernhardt fell asleep beside his mother while they watched TV. Leah Hackett, 29, carried him to her own bed. She couldn’t sleep — she read, watched TV, went online. At some point she drove a bag of garbage to the dumpster. She checked on Zachary: peacefully asleep.
Then, around 4:00 in the morning, she left the apartment again. She went for a swim in the complex pool. She didn’t take a towel or a swimsuit; she swam in the clothes she was wearing. She didn’t lock the door.
She came back freezing and went straight into a hot shower for some twenty minutes. When she checked on Zachary again, he was gone. Everything else in the apartment looked absolutely normal. At approximately 4:45 a.m. on September 11, 2000, Leah was on the phone with Clearwater police reporting her son missing.
There was no sign of forced entry. No evidence of a struggle. Bloodhounds found no scent trail showing Zach had left on foot. An eight-year-old boy had vanished from a second-floor apartment in the dark, between his mother’s swim and her shower, without disturbing a thing.
Two days later, Leah stood before a bank of television cameras and pleaded: “Please don’t stop looking for Zach, and help bring Zach home.” Then she mostly disappeared from public view herself.
The largest investigation Clearwater had ever seen
What followed was one of the largest cold-case investigations in the history of the Clearwater Police Department. Local, state, and federal agencies. Dive teams. Bloodhounds, then cadaver dogs. They searched the miles around Savannah Trace for days, then weeks, then months, then years.
They found nothing connected to Zach.
Zachary’s is the longest-running AMBER Alert in the state of Florida — still active, more than a quarter century later. Clearwater police have been blunt about two things: this is not a cold case, and “they believe the mother knows more.”
Leah Hackett — now Hanson — left the area about two years after her son vanished. Where she went is itself a point of conflicting records: the Charley Project lists her as living in Hawaii, while the 2026 Deck coverage describes her as having moved back to her hometown and later to North Carolina, having remarried and divorced, and living a private life away from the cameras she faced in September 2000.
In 2018, Ashley Flowers covered the case on Crime Junkie. In September 2026, she returned to it on The Deck — this time with what was described as unprecedented access to the investigation, walking the events of September 11, 2000, with Lieutenant Anthony Monte, the detective currently responsible for finding Zach. Twenty-six years on, the department still doesn’t know what happened to him.
Theories: what might have happened
His mother knows more. This is the police’s position, stated publicly: they believe Leah Hackett knows more than she has said. The timeline she gave — the late-night swim in her clothes, the unlocked door, the twenty-minute shower while her eight-year-old slept alone — has drawn skepticism for 26 years. What must be said: she was never charged, never arrested, and the presumption of innocence applies. A strange story is not evidence of a crime.
An intruder took him. The unlocked door is the open window in this theory — literally. Someone could have entered while Leah was at the pool, taken a sleeping child, and left without a trace. What undercuts it: no forced entry, no sign of struggle, no scent trail, no witness, and no intruder ever identified in one of the largest investigations the department has run.
He woke up and wandered. An eight-year-old wakes, finds his mother gone, the door unlocked, and goes looking — for her, for the pool. But the bloodhounds found no trail of a child leaving on foot, the apartment was on the second floor, and the massive search of the surrounding miles found nothing. Children who wander leave traces. Zach left none.
Twenty-six years. A swim at 4 a.m., a shower, an empty bed. The longest AMBER Alert in Florida history, still blinking. And a detective in Clearwater who still has the file on his desk.
Have information?
Contact the Clearwater Police Department at (727) 562-4242. In an emergency, dial 911.
Timeline
- September 10, 2000, ~11:00 p.m. — Zachary, 8, falls asleep beside his mother watching TV; she carries him to her bed.
- September 11, 2000, ~4:00 a.m. — Leah leaves the apartment unlocked for a swim in the complex pool.
- September 11, 2000, ~4:30 a.m. — She returns, showers for ~20 minutes, and finds Zachary gone.
- September 11, 2000, ~4:45 a.m. — She calls Clearwater police. No forced entry, no struggle, no scent trail.
- September 2000 — Massive multi-agency search begins; Leah pleads on television: “Please don’t stop looking for Zach.”
- 2000–2026 — Searches continue for years; Zachary’s AMBER Alert becomes Florida’s longest-running.
- ~2002 — Leah leaves the Clearwater area; later remarries, divorces, lives privately.
- 2018 — Crime Junkie covers the case.
- September 2026 — The Deck revisits it with Lt. Anthony Monte, the current lead detective.
- Today — Still missing; Clearwater PD: not a cold case.
FAQ
Is Zachary Bernhardt still missing?
Yes. As of October 2026, Zachary Bernhardt has been missing for 26 years. His AMBER Alert — the longest-running in Florida — remains active, and Clearwater police say the case is not cold.
Was Zachary Bernhardt ever found?
No. Despite one of the largest investigations in Clearwater Police Department history — dive teams, bloodhounds, cadaver dogs, years of searching — no trace of Zachary has ever been found.
How old would Zachary Bernhardt be today?
Zachary was 8 when he disappeared in September 2000 — he would be 34 or 35 years old today.
What do police think happened to Zachary Bernhardt?
Clearwater police have said publicly that they believe his mother, Leah Hackett, “knows more” than she has said. She was never charged, and the presumption of innocence applies.
What happened the night Zachary Bernhardt disappeared?
According to his mother, Zachary fell asleep around 11 p.m. on September 10, 2000. Around 4 a.m., she left their second-floor apartment unlocked to swim in the complex pool, returned, showered for about 20 minutes, and found him gone. There was no forced entry and no sign of a struggle.
How can I help?
Share this case file. If you have any information, contact the Clearwater Police Department at (727) 562-4242.
Sources
- Official / law enforcement: Clearwater Police Department, (727) 562-4242; Lt. Anthony Monte statements (2026).
- News: Tampa Bay Times archives; WiLD 94.1, “Tampa Area Residents Who Are Still Missing.”
- Reference: The Charley Project; NamUs.
- Media: Crime Junkie (2018); The Deck, “How Did Zachary Bernhardt Disappear From His Apartment?” (Sept 2026).
Corrections (October 2026 fact-check): minor — disclosed the conflicting accounts of Leah Hackett’s whereabouts (Charley Project: Hawaii; 2026 Deck coverage: hometown, then North Carolina) and the name variant “Zachary Michael-Cole Bernhardt” (Charley) vs. “Zachary Michael Bernhardt.” Also disclosed: accounts of that night’s timing differ across sources — the Charley Project reports Leah left the apartment around 2:00 a.m., while the 2026 Deck retelling places the swim around 4:00 a.m. with a 4:45 a.m. police call. Her age (29 at the time) as stated here could not be corroborated by authoritative sources. Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 2026.