He’s not a member of the wealthy Rockefeller family, but a casual courthouse observer could be forgiven for thinking Clark Rockefeller is very important.

Rockefeller — if that is his real name — made a brief appearance Monday at Baltimore City’s Eastside District Court, drawing satellite TV trucks and about 20 reporters to North Avenue. The 38-year-old waived extradition to Massachusetts on a charge he abducted his 7-year-old daughter, Reigh Boss, who also sometimes goes by Reigh Rockefeller.

“He will be taken back to the state of Massachusetts,” prosecutor Patricia Deros told national and local reporters outside the courthouse.

The case gained national attention after the FBI created a wanted poster for Rockefeller, who goes by six known aliases: J.P. Clark Rockefeller, James Frederick, Clark M. Rockefeller III, Clark Mill Rockefeller, Clark Rockerfeller and Michael Brown.

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In court Monday, he wore black glasses, a blue polo short and khaki pants. His thinning hair appeared to be dyed orangish-red. He didn’t speak during a brief hearing in which Baltimore City District Court Judge Norman Braverman set Aug. 15 for a status conference, if police haven’t taken Rockefeller to Massachusetts.

On July 27, police say a social worker was hired to oversee a supervised visit between Rockefeller and his daughter in the Back Bay area of Boston. Rockefeller allegedly grabbed his daughter and jumped into a black SUV, which was driven by an unknown male driver, police said. The social worker attempted to hold on to the vehicle as it sped away, and was dragged a short distance, causing her to let go. She was treated for minor injuries, according to the FBI.

Police say Rockefeller later had a second driver take him to New York City.

Police first believed Rockefeller was trying to flee to Bermuda or Peru on a yacht called Serenity moored in Long Island, but a “concerned citizen” tipped off authorities that Rockefeller was living in a Baltimore apartment and had a 26-foot catamaran moored at a nearby marina.

Investigators called the suspect and told him his boat was taking on water as a ruse to get Rockefeller out of the apartment and away from the child.

He was arrested when he left the apartment, Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis said. Reigh Boss was found apparently unharmed inside.

“Her first words were she was very happy to see very nice people. ... She was ecstatic,” said Noreen Gleason, the FBI’s assistant special agent in charge of the Boston division. The girl lives with her mother, Sandra Boss, who works in London as a partner in a global management consulting firm. The mother collapsed after hearing that her daughter was found alive and was en route to Baltimore. “She fainted, in a way,” Boston Police Deputy Superintendent Tom Lee said.

Rockefeller is charged in a warrant with custodial kidnapping, assault and battery and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

National media have taken a strong interest in the case, with many publications running the name “Rockefeller” in their headlines, as if he were well-known throughout the country. A search of articles on Google News returned nearly 4,000 hits on the name “Clark Rockefeller.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

lbroadwater@baltimoreexaminer.com