Clay Moore, with his mother Traci Kelle, at a news conference earlier today. (News Channel 8 Image)

By MIKE WELLS AND CHIP OSOWSKI

Clay Moore, who was kidnapped at gunpoint Friday morning in Parrish, appeared at a news conference this morning with his mother, father and stepfather.

He didn’t say anything, but his family recounted how he escaped.

“We, as a family, are proud of Clay, how he handled the situation and his bravery,” said Clay’s father, Tim Moore.

Traci Kelle, his mother, thanked God and everyone for their prayers.

“Friday morning it was really terrible,” she said. “I can’t put into words how horrifying it was” to get the news of her son’s kidnapping.

She described Clay as an average 13-year-old boy who just wants to get back to playing with his friends.

“He is doing great and has got good spirits about him,” she said.

Clay’s stepfather, Steve Kelle, recounted how Clay came to have the safety pin that played such a big role in his escape from the man who kidnapped him.

The safety pin, he said, was pinned to Clay’s sleeve of his Manatee School of the Arts jacket, which Clay had ripped earlier. Kelle said that Clay had been told by his parents to “pin it up because it was kind of his own fault.”

Clay had been fingering and playing with the pin while he was in the kidnapper’s truck, Steve Kelle said. He had torn it off and as the kidnapper walked him out of the truck into the woods, and Clay thought to put it into his mouth. Kelle said he asked Clay how he had the forethought to do that. Clay told him, “I just thought it would be helpful,” Kelle recounted.

Clay had been bound to a tree with duct tape and had one of his socks taped into his own mouth, investigators said.

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“He was left there, which is truly unimaginable to us, even today,” said the stepfather.

Because he was hot and sweaty, Clay was able to wriggle and losen the bindings. When he got the sock out of his mouth, the pin dropped to the ground.

“He somehow maneuvered around and got a stick to pick up the pin again,” said Steve Kelle, “and dropped it into his hands.”

He used the pin to pick at the tape and the other bindings, Kelle said.

His hands had been bound in front of him. He ran out of the woods and found a farmer and used the farmer’s cell phone.

“It was a phone call I almost didn’t answer because I got a lot of calls that morning,” said Steve Kelle, explaining that he didn’t recognize the number. He heard a voice that said, “‘It’s Clay and I’ve been kidnapped.’”

Kelle said the teenager sounded as calm as if he were calling from a friend’s house.

Manatee County Sheriff Charlie Wells said he found the story totally fascinating. He did not offer any new information about Vicente Ignacio Beltran-Moreno, 22, the man suspected of kidnapping Clay in an attempt to get ransom money.

Wells said he was very optimistic about catching Beltran because there are so many leads. He would not discuss where they thought Beltran is because that could hurt the investigation.

Investigators earlier said they found a ransom note at the Mexican immigrant’s home. It took hours for detectives to sort through his aliases before they could match a name to a face, according to the sheriff’s office.

Anyone with information about Beltran-Moreno’s whereabouts is urged to immediately call 1-866-634-TIPS.

After being thrust into the spotlight, Clay Moore’s family is now pleading with news reporters to let them return to a normal life.

“Give us our privacy,” the elder Moore asked of journalists.

Chris Chmura in Tampa contributed to this report.

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