Missing Without A Trace (17 page)

If you share a bank account with your missing loved one, you can probably access your account online and look at recent debit card transactions. If you see any activity on the missing person’s card, determine the location of the transaction. Is it a customary place for your loved one to use their debit card? In any case, share this information with the investigating officer. Similarly, if you are the account-holder for the cell phone that your loved one uses, call your cell provider and ask if the person’s phone has been used since they went missing. (Again, if you have reason to believe that the person was abducted,
do not call the cell phone
, which will likely alert an abductor to the presence of the phone.) If you cannot gain access to bank transactions or cell phone records, the police can, so be proactive. Ask the law enforcement investigator if they are contacting your cellular service provider and your bank.

Many nonprofit organizations provide free services to help families search for a missing person. Do not hesitate to call the groups listed in this chapter—and don’t wait too long. Most of these organizations have twenty-four-hour hotlines and they can provide comprehensive resources to help you jumpstart your search. Remember, time is of the essence.

Some children do not broadcast any obvious warning signs or say anything before they leave but, in other cases, you can spot signs that your child is thinking about running away or even making such plans. If you know these signs, you can be alert and try to prevent it from happening. As the parent of a teenager, you can educate yourself on these warning signs and others. Stay involved in your child’s life, but be careful not to impede too much on their privacy. In some instances, the more you push, the harder they rebel. Here are some warning signs to notice:

• Changes in behavior, like sneaking out at night, skipping school, increased tardiness, or rebellious or argumentative behavior;

• Changes in the friends with whom your child hangs out;

• New tastes in music, changes in personal style;

• Alcohol or drug use;

• Uncharacteristic mood changes, such as being tired a lot, falling grades or a sudden disinterest in school, personality changes or suicidal indications;

• Increased use of the Internet or telephone (which might signal a child’s unhappiness with their current situation and the desire to leave for what they believe is a better life);

• Searching web sites for maps;

• Withdrawing money from accounts;

• Direct red flags, such as threatening to run away or telling friends or others about the idea.

Get the Word Out

Collect recent photos of your missing person and select one photo that clearly shows the person’s face. Select a second photo that shows their full body. Make copies of these photos and then provide them to the police.

As soon as possible, you should prepare informative posters to publicize the fact that someone in the community is missing, and to provide the public with details about your missing person so you encourage your neighbors to pay attention to any clues. You want to people to notice your case so they will generate leads that law enforcement can follow up on. Several of the non-profit organizations listed in this chapter will provide you with comprehensive help free of charge to produce these posters; one of these groups is the NCMEC at 1-800-THE-LOST.

Your poster should include the two photos—a clear one of the person’s face and a second one that shows the full body. In addition, you should include:

• The missing person’s name and date of birth;

• The missing person’s physical description;

• Any known information about what the person was last wearing;

• Information about the last time and place anyone saw the person;

• Anything you know about the circumstances by which they went missing;

• Any information about persons who might have been involved in their disappearance;

• Police contact information.

Ask friends and other volunteers to help you to distribute and post these posters. Start locally, concentrating the posters in the area where
your loved one was last seen. Then, as you print more posters, expand your distribution to regional areas.

To quickly spread word that your loved one is missing, use the Internet and, particularly, social media. If you are not already a member of some of the social media sites, don’t take the time to enroll in them. Instead, give your poster to friends and other volunteers who are members of the various communities, and ask them to initiate a campaign to publicize your case. Each posting should include one or both of the photographs, the basic information from the poster, and a request that the recipients please repost the message.

Finally, contact the media. Call your local newspaper, television and radio reporters and tell them about your missing loved one. Explain the circumstances under which the person went missing and ask if you can email a photograph. Work with your police investigator to handle the media. You want to keep your story on the public’s minds so people remain alert and think to call in with any leads. After your initial story, you’ll need to be creative to keep your story in the news. Look for different “headlines” to give the press a new angle to cover so they can continue to focus on your missing loved one.

If the story begins to fade, you might offer a reward for information leading to the location of your loved one.
However, be wary of possible exploitation
. Even at such a traumatic time, scammers might prey upon you by claiming that they have information that’s vital to the case, and they’ll part with this bogus information if you’ll just part with your money. Report any such incidents—and all leads—to law enforcement before you pay out any rewards.

National Resources

The Doe Network
www.doenetwork.org
Assists law enforcement in solving cold cases concerning unexplained
disappearances and unidentified victims
.

National Crime Information Center (NCIC), FBI, Criminal Justice
Information Services (CJIS) Division
Clarksburg, West Virginia
304-625-2000
www.fas.org/irp/agency/doj/fbi/is/ncic.htm
Maintains searchable database for law enforcement agencies
.

CLEARINGHOUSE: National Center for Missing Adults (NCMA)
Corporate Headquarters: 479-871-1059
Hotline: 800-690-FIND
Registration: [email protected]
General Inquiries: [email protected]
www.theyaremissed.org/ncma/index.php
National clearinghouse for missing adults helps coordinate agencies
and provides state, national and international resource lists and national
missing-persons database
.

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC)
Hotline: 1-800-THE-LOST (800-843-5678)
www.missingkids.com
Helps find missing children and assists victims of abduction/exploitation
as well as their families and caregivers
.

NamUs—National Missing and Unidentified Persons System
www.namus.gov/index.htm
[email protected]
A clearinghouse for missing persons and unidentified decedent records,
NamUs also completes DNA testing and forensic services
.

National Runaway Switchboard
1-800-RUNAWAY (1-800-786-2929)
www.1800runaway.org
Help for teenagers who are thinking of running away from home, have a
friend who has run and needs help, and runaways who are ready to go
home
.

Association of Missing & Exploited Children’s Organizations (AMECO)
703-838-8379 | Toll Free: 877-263-2620
www.amecoinc.org
[email protected]
An organization of member organizations that provide search support
services from case assistance in making flyers and notifying communities
.

Social Security Administration (SSA)
Division of Certification and Coverage
800-772-1213
Program helps people contact a missing person without compromising
the missing person’s privacy. Searchers write a letter and send it to
SSA, which will search a database of individuals’ names and addresses.
If possible, SSA will forward the letter to the person, who can decide
whether they wish to respond
.

Next-of-Kin Registry
www.pleasenotifyme.org
Global organization provides a free resource for supplying emergency
contact information for next of kin
.

One Missing Link (OML)
Springfield, MO 65808
417-886-5836 | Toll-Free: 800-555-7037
www.onemissinglink.org
Affiliated with the NCMEC, OML facilitates networking between
agencies and assists families with referrals and poster distribution
.

Salvation Army
800-698-7728
Offers assistance to the family of an adult who has been missing for more
than six months
.

America’s Most Wanted
www.amw.com
In addition to the television program, AMW provides missing-persons
and missing-children search services and other resources. AMW only
features cases that have been reported to police; submit cases in writing
.

Project Jason
www.projectjason.org
Phone: 402-932-0095
[email protected]
Nonprofit organization provides case assessment, resources, and support
for families of the missing
.

Polly Klaas Foundation
Hotline: 800-587-4357
www.pollyklaas.org
[email protected]
Nonprofit that helps find missing children, works to prevent children from
going missing, and promotes laws to help keep children safe
.

Operation Lookout: National Center for Missing Youth
Hotline: 1-800-LOOKOUT (800-566-5688)
www.operationlookout.org
[email protected]
Search assistance and family/victim support services
.

Community United Effort (CUE) Center for Missing Persons
910-343-1131 | 910-232-1687
www.ncmissingpersons.org
Search services including making posters, printing, search/recovery
resources, bulk mailings, case aid requests of law enforcement, and
general casework
.

The Laura Recovery Center
281-482-LRCF(5723) | Toll Free: 866-898-5723
www.lrcf.org
Works to promote education and prevention and provides search services
.

People-Search Websites
www.skipease.com
www.anywho.com
www.rootsweb.com
www.autotrackxp.com

Find the Hospitals in Your Area

These websites facilitate a search of hospitals in a given region or locality, to generate a list of hospitals with their names, addresses and telephone numbers
.

www.doctordirectory.com/doctors/directory
www.hospitallink.com
www.helplinedatabase.com/hospital-us/index.html
www.yellowpages.com

Search the Jails in Your Area
This website facilitates a search of jails in a given region, so that you can produce a list of jails with their addresses and telephone numbers
.

www.inmatejailsearch.com

State Clearinghouses

ALABAMA

Alabama Bureau of Investigation / Missing Children
Montgomery, AL
800-228-7688
[email protected]
www.dps.alabama.gov/abi
www.community.dps.alabama.gov

ALASKA

Alaska State Troopers, Missing Persons Clearinghouse
Anchorage, AK
907-269-5497 | Toll Free: 800-478-9333 (in-state only)
[email protected]
www.dps.state.ak.us
www.dps.alaska.giv/AST/abi/missingpersons.aspx

ARIZONA

Arizona Department of Public Safety, Criminal Investigations Research
Unit
Phoenix, AZ
602-223-2158
[email protected]
www.dps.state.az.us
www.arizona.uscity.net/Missing_Persons

ARKANSAS

Office of Attorney General, Missing Children Services Program
Little Rock, AR
501-682-1020 | Toll Free: 800-448-3014 (in-state only)
[email protected]
www.ag.state.ar.us

www.acic.org/missing/imdex.htm

Morgan Nick Foundation, Inc
.
Alma, AR 72921
479-632-6382 | Toll Free: 877-543-HOPE (4673)
[email protected]
www.lbth.org

CALIFORNIA

California Department of Justice, Missing/Unidentified Persons Unit
Sacramento, CA
916-227-3290 | Toll Free: 800-222-3463 (nationwide)
[email protected]
www.ag.ca.gov/missing

Amber Foundation for Missing Children, Inc.
Pinole, CA
510-222-9050 | Toll Free: 1-800-541-0777
[email protected]
www.missingchild.org

Child Quest International, Inc.
San Jose, CA
408-287-4673 (HOPE) | Toll Free: 1-888-818-4673 (HOPE) sightings
[email protected]
www.childquest.org

Children of the Night
Van Nuys, CA
818-908-4474 | Toll Free: 1-800-551-1300
[email protected]
www.childrenofthenight.org

Interstate Association for Stolen Children, Inc
.
Rancho Cordova, CA
916-631-7631
[email protected]
www.geocities.com/CapitalHill/6042

The Carole Sund/Carrington Memorial Reward Foundation
Modesto, CA
Toll Free: 888-813-8389
[email protected]
www.carolesundfoundation.com