Clark Rockefeller, the mystery man who claimed to be a member of the fabled American clan, was arrested on Saturday, August 2, for allegedly kidnapping his small daughter in Boston during his first custodial visit since his December, 2007 divorce.

Although Rockefeller had apparently planted stories about escaping from the continental United States in a luxury yacht, cops say he had actually obtained a 26-foot catamaran, described by observers as a �fixer-upper.�

Cops say after docking the boat at Baltimore�s Anchorage Marina, he and his seven-year-old daughter Reigh camped out in an apartment on nearby Ploy Street, in the city�s Mount Vernon section.

There, cops say he was spotted by a citizen who recognized the fugitive and his daughter from news reports and contacted authorities.

This enabled law enforcement to lure Rockefeller into the open by phoning the apartment and claiming that the boat was �taking on water.�

At about 3:25 PM, as representatives of the Boston Police and FBI were preparing to monitor the AMW hotline during a segment scheduled to air the same night, Rockefeller stepped into the sunlight, leaving his daughter behind in the apartment. There, he was immediately apprehended by the FBI.

Agents then entered the apartment, and were warmly greeted by the girl, described as a perennially cheerful kid with an advanced vocabulary.

Police say that Rockefeller had snatched the child by telling a driver that he was going through a nasty break-up with a gay lover. Thus, when a social worker held onto the vehicle after Rockefeller allegedly shoved her through the door, the driver believed that he was simply helping the man escape from an uncomfortable domestic situation.

But tracking the fugitive was difficult, since little is known about Rockefeller prior to his 1993 marriage. Authorities could never attach him to a driver�s license, social security number, passport or birth certificate. In order to avoid revealing identification, he allegedly shunned airplane travel after 9/11, and refused to allow his daughter to obtain a social security number.

On an AMW segment that aired on the night of his capture, Rockefeller could be heard telling a friend to call him using a blocked number � one more effort, police suspect, to evade detection.

He�d recently liquidated hundreds of thousands of dollars, authorities said, into American eagle gold coins.

The child�s mother, Sandra Boss, who�d made a heartfelt plea for Rockefeller to return the little girl � known to loved ones as �Snooks� � several days earlier was relieved that the operation was carried out without incident, as well as news of her daughter�s safety.

Members of the Boston Police Department, who�d taped the segment with AMW earlier in the week, extended their gratitude to the more than 200 tipsters who phoned in leads, and the FBI, as well such agencies as the Suffolk County (MA) District Attorney's Office, the U.S. Attorney's Office, the New York City Police Department, the Massachusetts State Police, United States Coast Guard, and the Baltimore Police Department.

The charges include: felony Custodial Kidnapping, Assault and Battery and Assault and Battery Dangerous Weapon.