By SUELLEN E. DEAN and RALPH GREER Jr.
Staff Writers

UNION, S.C. (10/31/94) -- Law enforcement agents chased more leads Sunday in the abduction of two Union County toddlers. But at the end of the fifth day of their search, they were no closer to finding the children.

Investigators traveled to Chester County Sunday to investigate another sighting of a man who fits Susan V. Smith's description of the abductor.

"We have leads coming in all the time. Chester just happens to be the one we are working on," Union County Sheriff Howard Wells said about 9 p.m. "It is not a lot different than the other ones, but it is important until we find it to be unimportant."

By 10:30 p.m., authorities had decided the Chester lead was a dead end, and the whereabouts of the children remained a mystery.

The nationwide manhunt for 3-year-old Michael Smith and his 14-month-old brother, Alexander, began Tuesday night, when their mother reported that a man had forced his way into her car at a traffic light at Monarch Mill.

Mrs. Smith said the man ordered her out of the car at gunpoint near John D. Long Lake about 9 p.m., then fled with the boys in her burgundy 1990 Mazda Protege. Neither the car nor the children has been spotted since that time.

Speaking to dozens of reporters from across the nation who gathered at the Union County Courthouse Sunday night, Wells said investigators are still stumped.

He said agents had talked again to the children's parents, Susan and David Smith. They wanted to know if the couple remembered any additional details that could be helpful or had received any calls about the children's whereabouts.

Agents have given information to the FBI in the hope that federal agents can form a psychological profile of the abductor, Wells said.

A reward had not been offered Sunday evening, but Wells said officials were considering the possibility. He said authorities were hoping to narrow the investigation before offering a reward.

"At this point, it is possible they are still in Union County," Wells said. "It would be my hope that they are alive and well in this town. That's my hope and prayer."

Divers from the S.C. Wildlife and Marine Resources Department checked the John D. Long Lake again Sunday, while dozens of horsemen rode through surrounding woods and along roadways.

Edward Lear and his wife drove 60 miles from Rock Hill to help search around the lake. They said they got involved because 20 years ago, a friend's 15-year-old daughter disappeared, and she has never been found.

"I run a heavy equipment and machinery repair business, and a lot of times vehicles will get off in the water," Lear said. "I've been looking for oil slicks that would have come from the car. But I can't find any clues."

Wells said investigators returned to the lake, which was searched Wednesday, because they wanted to go over the area more thoroughly, but they found nothing relevant to the Smith case.

"We didn't feel like the first search was conclusive enough, so we had divers who went down to the bottom, but we didn't find anything in that vicinity," Wells said. "Union County is where this occurred, and we have no definite direction. We are working real hard to find out if the vehicle is still in this area. We have had no confirmed sightings of the car during this entire investigation."

Wells said he wanted to continue media pressure to find the car.

Asked if the kidnapping could be a hoax, Wells said nothing has been ruled out but that authorities are still treating the case as an abduction.

"This case is still wide open, and we have not determined a prime suspect."

Investigators also checked out a robbery suspect in Sumter Sunday but determined he was not connected to the Union County case.

Responding to nationwide television broadcasts, people from as far away as California have phoned in tips about the case, but none of them have been productive. The abduction was featured Saturday on "America's Most Wanted," but investigators said that had not yielded any useful clues.

Hundreds of concerned citizens from the town of about 10,000 flocked downtown after church on Sunday to find out how the search was progressing.

Cars traveled in a steady stream down Main Street, and people gathered around the courthouse to talk to reporters and stare at the television satellite trucks.

Nearly everyone was wearing a yellow ribbon, signifying the community's desire for the children's safe return.

Church marquees carried messages of hope and comfort for the Smiths, and congregations took turns praying for the family in a round-the-clock vigil.

"Everyone just wants the safe return of the children," said Sylvia Carson, who was sitting with her family in her car in the Winn-Dixie parking lot after church, a yellow ribbon attached to the antenna.

"This has been a very intense investigation," Wells said, "and we are just wanting to bring this case to an early close and put this family back together."

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