NO CLUES IN ONLINE CHAT ON FUGITIVE FBI AGENTS SEEKING JESSE HOLLYWOOD.

Byline: Orith Goldberg Staff Writer

WESTWOOD - FBI agents failed to receive tips about fugitive Jesse James Hollywood during a live Internet chat Thursday but were hopeful that questions about the $30,000 reward offered in the murder-kidnap case would lead to more promising results.

The chat session, conducted at the FBI's Los Angeles office, prompted enough interest to keep agents busy for an hour as they fielded 54 questions from computer users in the San Fernando Valley and as far away as Finland.

``I'm happy that there is any interest in a case like this, because that shows the public is curious or concerned,'' said special agent Louis Perez, who is working on the case with special agent Kevin Kelly.

While the session didn't elicit clues leading to the arrest of Hollywood, wanted in connection with the brutal kidnap and murder of 15-year-old Nicholas Markowitz of West Hills last August, they were encouraged by questions about the posted reward.

``We hope to receive some tip from this that might lead to his apprehension,'' said Patrick A. Patterson, FBI Assistant Special Agent in charge of the violent crimes program. ``The more we draw attention to this, the quicker we apprehend this individual.''

While the Hollywood case has been profiled on the Fox television show ``America's Most Wanted'' four times since last August, officials said Hollywood was the focus of Thursday's chat because of the gruesome nature of the crime.

Nicholas was allegedly kidnapped Aug. 6 at the direction of Hollywood because of a drug debt owed by Nicholas' halrother, Benjamin Markowitz. Two days after he was bound, gagged and shot, Nicholas' body was found near a Santa Barbara County nature trail.

The chat was the second planned during a monthlong series on FBI fugitives. The first such session was conducted July 26 and focused on James J. ``Whitey'' Bulger, wanted by the agency's Boston office for his role in more than a dozen murders committed from the early 1970s through the mid-1980s as well as other money- and narcotics-related crimes.

Patterson said such sessions could be a lucrative tool used to obtain important information about wanted fugitives.

``It really helps us reach out and touch a lot of screens, and this is why this is so effective,'' Patterson said, adding, ``If it takes 10 years, we'll continue to look for this guy.''

Thursday's chat could be accessed through the FBI's Web site - www.fbi.gov - and focused on a variety of questions ranging from the authenticity of a name like Jesse James Hollywood to how authorities believe the fugitive has managed to stay on the run.

Authorities did not discount the possibility that Hollywood himself could have logged on to ask the agents questions.

``I think it's possible any fugitive could do something like that,'' Perez said.

In response to inquiries, officials said they have no evidence that Hollywood is hiding with friends but said the FBI becomes involved in such cases when fugitives are believed to have crossed state lines, a federal- statute violation referred to as unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

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