David and Sean Goldman

After years of seeking the return of his son, Sean, the pair are on their way to the US from Brazil.

Boy Is Reunited With American Father in Brazil

A 9-year-old at the center of an international custody dispute was reunited with his father Thursday morning in Rio de Janeiro, ending a protracted family fight that spilled over into diplomatic relations between the United States and Brazil.

The reunion played out in the full glare of the news media as the Brazilian family of the boy, Sean Goldman, led him through a gantlet of cameras and microphones to the United States Consulate, where his father, David, was waiting.

Related Post:
The fight for Sean Goldman continues

Brazilian Federal Court deciding a Hague Case

Fighting for Sean

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Missing financial funding and statements?

The Miami Herald recently ran the  story Fort Lauderdale nonprofit for missing children nets $5M.  One of the comments on the article asks why  “A Child Is Missing” hasn’t released financial information pointing out that they are a 501 (c) 3 charity. In actuallity, the organization has yet to receive the funds but is one step closer. Should you visit their revamped website, you may too wonder why there are no links to any financial statements.

According to their site, A Child Is Missing (ACIM) is a national non-profit 501(c)3 that helps law enforcement throughout the United States locate missing children, the elderly (Alzheimer’s/dementia), the disabled, and college students missing on campus through a high-speed telephone alert system. They are described as a non-profit but when you click on the link, it redirects you to the Association of Missing & Exploited Childrens Organizations AMECO where you will find this note at the bottom of the page.

NOTE: This project is supported by Grant No. 2008-MC-CX-K014 awarded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view or opinions in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.

The bill, the A Child Is Missing Alert and Recovery Center Act (H.R. 1933) requires the Attorney General to make a grant to the A Child Is Missing Alert and Recovery Center. The bill specifies the following uses of funds:

To operate and expand the A Child Is Missing Alert and Recovery Center to provide services to federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies to promote the quick recovery of a missing child in response to a request from such agencies for assistance by utilizing rapid alert telephone calls, text messaging, and satellite mapping technology;

 

To maintain and expand technologies and techniques to ensure the highest level of performance of such services;

 

To establish and maintain regional centers to provide both centralized and on-site training and to distribute information to federal, State, and local law enforcement agency officials about how to best utilize the services provided by the A Child Is Missing Alert and Recovery Center;

 

To share appropriate information with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the AMBER Alert Coordinator, the Silver Alert Coordinator, and appropriate federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies; and

 

To assist the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the AMBER Alert Coordinator, the Silver Alert Coordinator, and appropriate Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies with education programs.
The bill authorizes $5 million for each fiscal year from Fiscal Year 2010 through Fiscal Year 2015.

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“Boy X” and DNA

Should police be required to collect DNA evidence for people who are missing as well as from unidentified bodies and put them in a national database for possible matches? They already encourage parents to keep DNA from their children as a preventive measure should they go missing.

Several states would like to establish:

• criteria for police to determine whether an adult is a ‘‘high risk missing person”

• require police to provide family with contact information for missing-persons organizations

• collect DNA evidence for anyone missing more than 30 days

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) – The Montgomery County coroner’s office has identified a teen’s body found strangled May 20, 1974, who has simply been known as “Boy X” for the past 35 years.

Crime lab officials say “Boy X” is James Dean Johnson, who ran away from the care of Hamilton County Children’s Services the same year his body was found.

Missing persons connecting the dots

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Campaign for the Missing

From Project Jason:

 

Hello,
 
Most of you have heard of our Campaign for the Missing, a state by state effort to pass legislation which would positively impact how missing and unidentified deceased person cases are handled. (http://www.projectjason.org/legislation.html)
 
We’ve been successful mentoring volunteers with the passage of legislation in 6 states, with several more active. These efforts will continue on. 
 
I recently learned of an effort called Ideas for Change in America. This is a is a citizen-driven project that aims to identify and create momentum around the best ideas for how the 111th Congress can turn the broad call for “change” across the country into specific policies. The project is nonpartisan, and is not connected to the Obama Administration.

 

In this effort, the top 10 rated ideas will be presented to the Obama Administration on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2009 as the “Top 10 Ideas for America.” The sponsor organization, Change.org, will then launch a national campaign behind each idea and mobilize the collective energy of a selected and related nonprofit, the millions of members of Change.org, MySpace, and partner organizations to ensure that each winning idea gets the full consideration of the Obama Administration and Members of Congress.

 

The “Top 10 Ideas for America” will be determined through two rounds of voting. In the first round, ideas will compete against other ideas in the same issue category. The first round will end on December 31, 2008, and the top 3 rated ideas from each category will make it into the second round. The second round of voting will begin on Monday, January 5, and each qualifying idea will compete against the qualifying ideas from all other categories. Second round voting will end on Thursday, January 15.

 

I have submitted “Establish National Protocol in Missing and Unidentified Person Cases” for consideration. It is now on the website and votes can be placed. It is listed in the Criminal Justice category.

 

What I ask of you is your vote. It’s as easy as clicking on the link above, and then on the Vote button. There is also a widget you can copy and place on your website, blog, Facebook, or MySpace page. It will, however, take more than your vote. It will take you forwarding the link to your friends and family, and asking them to vote. It will take many of you adding the widget to your page.

 

My son, and thousands upon thousands of other sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, etc, might be an unidentified body lying in a morgue waiting to be buried or cremated without DNA analysis done. When that happens, and it may already have, my family may never have the answers we desire. We need to put a halt to this tragedy on top of tragedy and take whatever steps are necessary to ensure everything that can be done in these cases is done. (There is much more to it than DNA, but that is one of many key elements.)

 

Please vote, and forward this email to everyone in your address book.
Collectively, we are the voice for the missing, speaking for those who are not among us but who are forever in our hearts.

 

Kelly Jolkowski, Mother of Missing Jason Jolkowski
President and Founder,
Project Jason
All missing persons are loved by someone, and their families deserve to find the answers they seek in regards to the disappearance.
 
www.projectjason.org
Help us find the missing: Become an AAN Member
http://www.projectjason.org/awareness.htmlhttp://www.change.org/ideas/view/establish_national_protocol_in_missing_and_unidentified_person_cases

 

As you can see by the posted information and link to the protocol, this is the 2008 revision of the Campaign for the Missing legislation. While we have never pursued federal passage, this seemed like a good opportunity to make an attempt, or at least bring attention to our plight if nothing more. Education is important, with so many not having awareness of the situation as it exists, and what those of us who live with this experience daily. If we do not try, nothing will be accomplished, that is a certainty.

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NCIC Missing Persons 2007

The National Crime Information Center’s (NCIC) Missing Person File was implemented in 1975. Records in the Missing Person File are retained indefinitely, until the individual is located or the record is canceled by the entering agency.

The National Child Search Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5779, 5780) requires law enforcement to immediately enter into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database every reported case involving a missing child. The intent of this law is to ensure that law enforcement disseminates as quickly as possible information vital to the recovery of a missing child. The steps for entering a child abduction into NCIC are critical:

Enter the information immediately—with NO delay. Law enforcement should enter a child into NCIC immediately without delay. The initial entry should be reviewed within one hour of entry into NCIC and verified as to the entry time, accuracy of the descriptive information of the victim and/or perpetrator, vehicle used in the abduction, and other information that could help law enforcement apprehend the perpetrator. (Information about the perpetrator should also be entered in the Wanted Person File if a warrant is issued, and the records should be linked.) Unfortunately, in some cases data about an abducted child was not entered into NCIC until hours and even days after the child’s disappearance. Such delays can have disastrous consequences.

Use the proper NCIC category. Child abduction cases should be entered into the NCIC Missing Person File in either the endangered or the involuntary category, and the child abduction (CA) flag should be entered. An NCIC number will be automatically assigned when the record is entered. The reporting agency should assign a case or originating agency case (OCA) number to the preliminary or initial investigation. Each entry of a child age 17 or under should be reviewed to ensure that the information has been entered into the appropriate category. NCIC will then send an immediate notification to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). NCMEC call center staff will get in contact with the appropriate law enforcement agency to conduct the intake of the case and offer all available resources. The designated supervisor should also audit each entry within one hour of the initial entry to verify and authenticate each record, signature, and time.

NCIC MISSING PERSON FILE CATEGORY/AGE/SEX/RACE 2007

	UNDER 18	18 AND OLDER	ALL AGES
TOTAL	643,744	171,213	814,957
JUVENILE	617,939	8,697	626,636
ENDANGERED	14,206	79,885	79,885
INVOLUNTARY	6,165	15,582	21,747
DISABILITY	3,439	30,964	34,403
CATASTROPHE	90	245	335
OTHER	1,906	35,840	37,746
FEMALE	366,205	73,531	439,736
MALE	277,530	97,679	375,209
UNKNOWN	9	3	12
ASIAN	9,653	4,405	14,058
BLACK	216,759	44,314	261,073
INDIAN	8,417	1,590	10,007
UNKNOWN	13,392	4,696	18,088
WHITE *	395,523	116,208	511,731

* Includes Hispanic

 Source: NCIC Active/Expired Missing and Unidentified Analysis Reports

 

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