Parents of Missing Girl Charged

By PAT LEISNER
09:07 PM ET 09/09/99

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - The parents of a 5-month-old girl reported missing nearly two years ago were charged Thursday with conspiracy and lying to investigators. The federal indictment against them said they discussed the girl's death and possible stories to tell police.  Steven and Marlene Aisenberg allegedly lied about the disappearance of their daughter, Sabrina. Although prosecutors said she was not kidnapped, authorities still do not know what happened to the girl after her mother reported her missing from their suburban home in Brandon on Nov. 24, 1997.

The indictment said the parents provided a fake picture of the girl, solicited money for a bank account for her then used the money to pay credit cards and schemed to wrongly blame a Michigan man for the abduction.

The Aisenbergs were arrested near Baltimore where they now live. Their lawyer did not return calls seeking comment.

The indictment detailed a conversation in which Mrs. Aisenberg blamed her husband for the baby's death.  ``The baby's dead and buried. It was found dead because you did it,'' Mrs. Aisenberg told her husband less than a month after the reported disappearance. ``The baby's dead no matter what you say - you just did it.''

He replied: ``Honey, there was nothing I could do about it. We need to discuss the way that we can beat the charge. I would never break from the family pact and our story even if the police were to hold me down. We will do what we have to do.''

In another conversation, Aisenberg was quoted as telling his wife: ``I wish I hadn't harmed her.'' And Mrs. Aisenberg replied: ``I just can't take the rap for this,'' according to the indictment.

Federal agents would not disclose the source of the conversations.

Hillsborough County Sheriff Cal Henderson, whose office led an exhaustive kidnapping investigation that covered 49 states and six countries, said the indictment indicates ``the child is not alive.''

``But we just don't know,'' he added.

Aisenberg, 35, is charged in five counts; Mrs. Aisenberg, 36, is charged in six counts. If convicted he would face a maximum of 25 years in prison and a $1.25 million fine; she would face up to 30 years and a $1.5 million fine.

When reporting the baby's disappearance, Mrs. Aisenberg said she last saw her daughter around midnight and that her crib was empty when she returned to the girl's room at 6:30 a.m.

A month after Sabrina's disappearance, the Aisenbergs publicly pleaded for her safe return. Mrs. Aisenberg spoke through sobs, asking whoever had the baby to drop her off at a safe place and notify authorities.

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