By SUELLEN E. DEAN
Staff Writer

UNION, S.C. (10/30/94) -- A week ago, only the residents cared about this place. This week, the whole world is looking on the map to find this small textile town.

Camera crews and national correspondents are camped out on Main Street with their Northern accents, fancy coats, satellite dishes, computer gadgets and traveling production crews.

The story -- the disappearance of two young children from their mother's safety -- is every parent's nightmare.

"You never want to be in the national spotlight on something like this. Never in your wildest dreams do you imagine this kind of attention. But you have to be prepared to handle it," says Union County Sheriff Howard Wells, who started his law enforcement career 20 years ago as a city police officer.

He was narrowly elected sheriff two years ago.

Wells, who before Tuesday had only been on local television stations a time or two, has been seen and heard around the world.

Union, a quiet, peaceful little textile town, has never had so much attention.

But with two of its children missing, everyone is watching for the end to Tuesday night's disappearance of Michael, 3, and Alex, 14 months old.

Their mother, Susan Smith, 23, said her sons were taken from her at gunpoint during a carjacking.

A stranger, she said, jumped into her unlocked car while she was stopped for a red light in Monarch, a few miles from downtown Union.

Wednesday morning, the children were in the hearts of viewers across the nation as their father, David Smith, 24, an assistant manager of a local grocery store, begged for their safe return.

It has been everyone's top story.

Five days into the investigation and still no children. No burgundy Mazda Protege.

Local, state and federal law enforcement agents have been combing the area since the incident. They are continuing to sift through calls from people claiming they recognize the description of the mystery carjacker to psychics who claim to have visions of which way the car is traveling and where the children can be found.

By Saturday morning, Sheriff Wells had been interviewed by every major network and television magazine show in the country, including America's Most Wanted and Larry King Live. All eyes were focused on Union County and its spokesman.

"I saw the story on the Japanese station," said Clark Canupp, a Salvation Army volunteer who was working a concession stand.

Canupp was passing out free hot coffee and donuts to the out-of-town media troop Friday night as temperatures dipped into the 40s.

"I've got a satellite dish," Clark said.

"They showed the photos of the little boys, but I couldn't understand what the Japanese people were saying. I understood the word `Union' but that's all.

"Union must be getting worldwide attention if they are showing it in Japan," said Clark, who lives in Monarch near where the carjacking was reported Tuesday night.

"It's not a good feeling to make it around the world with this kind of news."

Clark and other Union County residents were finding the attention overwhelming.

Residents, who are living in the middle of this story as it unfolds, have been drawn to their living rooms to watch tabloid shows like American Journal and A Current Affair.

They have found their town on NBC's Dateline and CNN. It has topped the news on every station the last few nights. And the BBC (British Broadcast Co.) has called the family, interested in the story.

Investigative reporters from Washington and New York are milling around downtown, talking to local business people and passersby, trying to get a feel for Union. A People magazine photographer and reporter arrived Friday.

The national media have filled the town's two hotels and taken over the Inn at Merridun, a bed and breakfast in one of the many antebellum homes in the historic county. Community Cash and other friendly locals have sent food and drinks to the courthouse for the out-of-town media.

"It looks like New York City around here," said Shirley McLeod, as she helped close up Moseley's Diamond Showcase on West Main Street Friday night.

Usually by 6 p.m., the sidewalks begin to roll up and people around Union call it a day. But it has looked like the height of the holiday shopping season. Main Street has been a steady stream of traffic -- and at times traffic jams -- as news crews and residents come to town to find out the latest developments in the story.

"This has hurt and touce. Everyone can put themselves in that mother's place," McLeod said.

"Our little town hasn't seen anything like this before," said Kellie Allen, standing in 's with McLeod. She and other residents have been interviewed several times and are becoming accustomed to the kinds of questions they get asked.

Between the news shows, residents were also making their way downtown to see the media circus. One recent night, a few folks were on their way home from visiting the local funeral home and decided to swing by the courthouse to find out the latest.

"It's a compelling story. It's every mother's worst nightmare -- two kids plucked from their mother and then disappearing from the face of the earth," said Brian Cabell, a CNN correspondant from Atlanta, as he stood on the steps of Union's Courthouse.

"You can't help being riveted by this."

Bob Dotson, a correspondent with Dateline, stood outside the historic courthouse in the cold air to tell the latest and then excused himself for a minute, taking refuge in the production crew's car so his nose could unthaw.

"I don't want my nose to look like Rudolph on the air," he said.

More than a dozen crew members from Washington and Florida were busy gathering information for a blow-by-blow look at the Union mystery to be shown on Dateline Tuesday night.

"It's a huge national story," said Tracey Vail, an associate producer who was camped out at the courthouse around midnight Friday.

Dateline producers as well as the producers of American Journal were working on getting more interviews with Susan and David Smith for future in-depth stories. But family members, saying they were drained from all the attention, have stopped all interviews except with a designated spokeswoman.

American Journal, hoping perhaps to get a new angle on the story, flew Marc Klass, the father of 12-year-old Polly Klass, to Union. Last year, Polly Klass was kidnapped from her home and found dead 65 days later.

"I think it's great that there is this much attention going to missing children," said Klass, as he stood outside the courthouse waiting to hear whether he was going to talk to the Smith family.

"It means that a lot of attention is being placed on this issue.

"This brings back a lot of memories. We had 65 days of this. The difference is that I took every opportunity I could to speak. I just think these parents are very young and very afraid. And they are probably tired and need time to regroup," Klass said.

Around town, people also were talking about how proud they were of their sheriff and how he has taken to the television screens looking like a well-polished crime investigator.

Though Wells has been hit with hundreds of questions, some of them about the possibility of the incident being a hoax, he has come across calm and well-organized.

"If there is anything good in this it is Howard Wells taking control," said Sam Kerhulas, as he stocked magazines in the family newsstand that has been on Main Street since 1919.

The offers to help search for the boys has been as overwhelming as the media attention.

People have come in from out of town in private planes offering their services. Members of the National Horsemen Association, who have searched for missing children in other high-profile cases like the Adam Walsh tragedy, also have arrived.

"We welcome the national attention on the premise that it will help turn up the children and the attention will be too hot for the suspect to handle," said Wells.

"But we don't want the world to form a negative opinion about our small community.

"This is a random occurrence. We aren't a violent community. This isn't a L.A. or New York. I really hope the world can look at Union County residents and see that we are handling this case in a professional and thorough manner, and we are using all the resources we have to investigate this case," Wells said.

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