The Aisenberg case so far

The Aisenberg case so far

New developments have made the last week one of the most dramatic in years for the investigation into the 1997 disappearance of 5-month-old Sabrina Aisenberg. Here's the story so far:

The St. Petersburg Times reported on July 26 that the Hillsborough Sheriff's Office had been asking residents of the Aisenbergs' old Valrico neighborhood questions about a boat and showing them mug shots.

They were acting on leads from an informer named Dennis Byron. He told investigators that his friend, a felon named Scott Overbeck, said in a 2005 conversation he had disposed of Sabrina's body by dumping it in crab traps in Old Tampa Bay.

Sheriff's investigators wired Byron and put him in a jail cell with Overbeck to get the admission on tape. Those recordings haven't been made public, but in a sworn statement, Byron says Overbeck told him he retrieved a boat with the dead baby inside from the Aisenbergs' house.

Byron believed the handoff was organized by an investigator who worked for the Aisenbergs' defense attorney Barry Cohen. That investigator, John E. Tranquillo, died in 2006.

An outraged Cohen said the Sheriff's Office was trying to implicate him in Sabrina's disappearance, partly as a vendetta for failing to convict the Aisenbergs.

The Sheriff's Office denied it. While investigators won't comment on the case, Byron's attorney said authorities told him they had independent evidence confirming Byron's account.

In the past six months, detectives have focused on people who knew Overbeck and a 12-foot boat kept at his house. In a sworn statement, Overbeck said detectives told him they had found blood in the boat.

Sheriff David Gee said his office has done all it can on these particular leads, but the investigation continues.

Michael Van Sickler, Times staff writer