Several years ago, I heard about a young adult named Wallace Richards. Wallace was 23 in November of 2005, and was known as a dependable friend and a loving son. He was engaged to a lovely aspiring reporter, and was not involved in drugs or any trouble. One day, after dropping off a friend at work, he went missing. He had promised to pick up his friend after work, but was not heard from again. His car was found nine days later.
Since his disappearance, Wallace’s family has held vigils. His friend has set up a web site. His fiancée has covered his disappearance in several articles for the local news station, and his mother has been on national television shows including the Nancy Grace show covering missing persons. Still, no news has been uncovered.
I hope that one day the young man will be found unharmed. In the mean time, I am determined to keep looking for him, and to explain to others what they can do if someone they love becomes lost or missing. I have read a number of books and talked to family members of Wallace and others who are missing, and have tried to document a list of procedures to follow if someone needs help. I never thought I would have to use these procedures myself, but that all changed about 10 days ago.
My family and I were enjoying a trip to the beach, and had spent an hour or two playing in the surf. There were five adults in our party, and only four kids. I felt that the ratio was pretty good, and that we could easily keep an eye on everyone. After taking a turn watching the kids and helping them up from the more powerful waves, I went off to body surf for a few minutes. As I rode a wave in, my wife signaled me that something was wrong. I wandered over, thinking it was time for a bathroom trip or a lunch break. Then I heard the words that I NEVER wanted to hear. My daughter Michelle was missing.
Immediately, I started running in circles, not knowing whether to go north or south along the shore to look for her. She had told her mom she was going to rinse the sand off of her hands, and had walked down to the water, and then just vanished. Her mother was now in a panic as well. My brother handed me a cell phone and told me to call 911. (Thank you, brother, for snapping me back to sensibility!) So, I called the 911 dispatcher and reported my daughter was missing. She asked where we were, and then asked about my daughter’s height, weight, race, clothing, and name.
I was beside myself. All the stories I had read about kidnappings and kids disappearing immediately started playing in my mind. I asked God to please help me find my daughter, as I thought that He knew what it was like to know the pain of a Son in trouble. I went out to the street and asked the lady in a store that sold souvenirs if she had seen my little girl. (My daughter liked the hermit crabs that the store sold, and I thought maybe she went there to look at them.)
Finally, after about thirty minutes that seemed like an eternity, I got a call that a lifeguard had found my little girl. Apparently, she had wandered off looking for shells and had quickly gotten lost. Thankfully, she knew to go to a lifeguard for help. Self-consciously but gratefully, I fell to my knees and thanked God for a positive resolution to the traumatic event.
When my daughter was brought back in the lifeguard’s truck, my life was quickly returned to normal. For many, it’s not that quickly resolved. Here are the steps to follow if someone you love goes missing.
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Immediately call 911. (There is no required “waiting period” before a report can be filed.)
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Give the dispatcher the person’s name, birth date, height, weight, clothing, and any unique identifiers such as glasses, braces, tattoos or piercings.
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Request that your child’s name and identifying information be immediately entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) Missing Person File.
If Your Child Is Missing - Call the National Center For Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST - (If they are 12 or under, and you feel that the missing person was abducted, call your local FBI office.)
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Then, log onto or refer the responding law enforcement agency to www.beyondmissing.com: This website allows registered law enforcement agencies to immediately create and distribute missing flyers to other targeted law enforcement agencies using the Internet. Parents can also create, download and print flyers for duplication, but not database or electronically distribute missing flyers. There is no cost for either service.
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Notify all local media assignment desks: The sooner television and radio begin notifying the community that a child has been kidnapped, the better the chances of recovery.
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Notify your local non-profit Child Locator Service: They can provide an array of services pertinent to your situation. Child Locator Services exist to assist in the recovery of missing children.
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If you believe that your child has run away: Contact the National Runaway Switchboard at 1-800-621-4000.
If An Adult Is Missing - Call the Center for Missing Adults at 1-800-690-FIND or go to the National Center for Missing Adults website.
Prayer is a good idea, and so is seeking support from friends and loved ones. One important thing to do is write down all names and information every time you talk to anyone regarding the missing person. These notes can help you when you need to follow up with law enforcement and other agencies, and give you a list of folks to thank when your loved one comes home.
Finally, DO NOT list your contact information on the missing posters. Use the numbers provided by law enforcement. There are a lot of people who seem to enjoy harassing those in bad situations, and having personal contact information to these people can make a bad situation worse. This will also limit the opportunistic people who may try to contact you to offer their psychic or other “services” which are often just attempts to make money from your tragedy.
Losing a loved one to death is a painful experience. Losing a loved one to the unknown is much more traumatic, because there is no closure, and there will always be doubts. With these tips, hopefully you can bring them home safe.
I have had several people search for names in this website. I can only assume that these people are looking for someone they love who is missing.
If you need help looking for someone, I would be happy to do all I can, at no cost to you.
I can provide:
- a page to put all the information
- a place to put up photos
- a domain name. (In other words, if your loved one was missing, I could register “www.yourlovedonesname.com”, and point it at your page.)
I would be happy to do that for anyone who contacts me at the contact form on Voiceless Victims.
Of course, the first thing you should do if someone you love is missing is call 9-1-1. There is NO minimum time that a person must be missing before the police will take a report. That’s just a myth from television.
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If Your Child Is Missing - Call the National Center For Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST
If An Adult Is Missing - Call the Center for Missing Adults at 1-800-690-FIND
The following is a list of tips, a lot of which comes from the Child Seek Network:
Act immediately if you believe that your child is missing.
• If your child is missing from home, search the house checking closets, piles of laundry, in and under beds, inside old refrigerators—wherever a child may crawl or hide.
• If you still cannot find your child, immediately call your local law-enforcement agency.
• If your child disappears in a store, notify the store manager or security office. Then immediately call your local law-enforcement agency. Many stores have a Code Adam plan of action—if a child is missing in the store, employees immediately mobilize to look for the missing child.
• When you call law enforcement, provide your child’s:
- name:
- date of birth
- height
- weight
- any other unique identifiers (such as eyeglasses or braces)
- what clothing he or she was wearing
• Request that your child’s name and identifying information be immediately entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) Missing Person File.
• After you have reported your child missing to law enforcement, call the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children on our toll-free telephone number, 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).
Remember, there is NO 24 or 48-hour waiting period.If you meet resistance demand to speak to the watch commander and insist that they take a report and enter the information into the National Crime Information Computer (NCIC) at once.
Notify the Federal Bureau of Investigation: If you suspect a predatory abduction. The FBI will initiate a kidnapping investigation involving a missing child of tender years, defined as a child twelve years or younger, even though there is no known interstate aspect. The FBI will monitor other kidnapping situations when there is no evidence of interstate travel, and it offers assistance from various entities including the FBI Laboratory. They have written protocols, dedicated agents, unsurpassed resources and vast experience in this specialized investigative field.
Log onto or refer the responding law enforcement agency to www.beyondmissing.com: This revolutionary Website allows registered law enforcement agencies to immediately create and distribute missing flyers to other targeted law enforcement agencies using powerful Internet tools. Parents can also create, download and print flyers for duplication, but not database or electronically distribute missing flyers. There is no cost for either service.
Notify all local media assignment desks: The sooner television and radio begin notifying the community that a child has been kidnapped, the better the chances of recovery.
Notify your local non-profit Child Locator Service: They can provide an array of services pertinent to your situation. Child Locator Services exist to assist in the recovery of missing children.
If you believe that your child has been kidnapped: Contact Team H.O.P.E., a parent support network for families with missing children. Team H.O.P.E. volunteer parents have experienced the agony of searching for their own children. They provide practical and emotional support for parents whose children are victims of predatory kidnapping, parental abduction, international abduction, adult missing and runaways and can be reached at 1-800-306-6311.
If you believe that your child has run away: Contact the National Runaway Switchboard at 1-800-621-4000.
Keep your home phone attended by someone your child knows:
Take care to preserve your physical and emotional welfare: Friends, neighbors and even total strangers will be working toward a successful resolution, but you must remember to eat and sleep regularly. This will be the most daunting and difficult journey that you will ever take and you will need sobriety, presence of mind and good judgment if it is to be successful. Seek emotional and psychological support from your church, a social service agency or even a professional counselor with experience in your type of situation. Remember that you alone are leading the battle for the return of your missing child.
Suggestions by the Polly Klaas Foundation
Missing Adult Check-List
After double-checking with friends, family, work, and school to be sure that the person is missing and not just on a vacation or on a leave of absence, do the following:
Contact the local, county, or state law enforcement agency to make a missing person report (you do not have to contact all three if one opens an investigation).
Ask the law enforcement agency to open a missing person investigation.
Obtain a case number or copy of the report, if possible.
Ask for the detective or investigators name and extension number or direct line.
Ask the police department to enter the missing person’s information into the National Crime Information Center’s (NCIC) database and obtain the NIC number, if possible (starts with “M” followed by nine numeric digits, M-123456789).
Provide as much information as possible on the person’s behavior and whereabouts prior to the disappearance. It is very important to honest with the investigators.
Did the person take any personal belongings like money, wallet, or purse?
Check for a letter or note that may have been left.
Did the missing person say they would be traveling elsewhere or meeting anyone?
Notify your state clearinghouse, if they register missing adults (Center for Missing Adults can assist you with finding the phone number)
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Notify other non-profit organizations that assist with missing adults.
Circulate missing person posters of the missing adult except in locations prohibited by city codes. Ask the managers or owners of convenient stores, malls, businesses, and other high traffic areas to post a flyer of the missing person.
Contact hospitals, jails, and medical examiners in the area and give them a flyer.
Find out your state’s laws on victim’s rights because you may be entitled to certain privileges as the family member of a missing loved one.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions!!
Ask how you can help (posting law enforcement approved flyers, contacting other organizations, etc.).
Verify that the missing person is still entered in NCIC.
Update the law enforcement agency and missing person organizations with your contact information (like mailing address, e-mail, and home, work, or cell phone numbers) if you move or have them changed.
General Tips
Don’t be afraid to ask a trusted family member or friend to help relay the information to other organizations.
Never use your own contact information like phone numbers or address on a missing person poster because it could put you in a vulnerable position. Use the police office's number. They are equipped for such situations.
Keeping notes of your important conversations is IMPERATIVE.
It is always nice to see a family who has been through hard times use their experience to help others. Shawn Hornbeck's Family (Pam and Craig Akers) has established the Shawn Hornbeck Foundation and a website called A Lost Child to help others who have missing kids.
Not only are they putting that knowledge out to help others, but this weekend they had a success story, when EMILY GRAEBER was brought home
From the Associated Press: ST. LOUIS - Pam and Craig Akers made international headlines last year when they were reunited with their 16-year-old son Shawn Hornbeck after he was missing for four years. This week, the Akers quietly made it possible for another family to feel that joy.
I think what the Akers are doing is awesome!
