In a story about an alleged abduction almost the complete opposite of Madeleine McCann’s, an infant taken from his mother by a knife wielding assailant, Bryan Dossantos-Gomes remains missing from Ft. Meyers, Florida.
There have been insinuations of human trafficking rings, ransom demands, frustration with how the case was handled and criticism of the parents. What is different is his parents, Maria Fatima Ramos dos Santos and husband Jurandir Gomes Costa, lack the resources and possible understanding to mount a campaign similar to the McCann’s. There is no website, no celebrities making pleas on their behalf or international interest. They are unable to garner the support to keep their son’s case in the media to the degree of the McCann’s. Once front page news in Florida, there are seldom any updates or progress reports.
They weren’t vacationing at a resort but living in the U.S. illegally searching for a better life. His disappearance became intertwined with the ongoing debate over illegal aliens. In some ways he became a victim of the immigration battles between the U.S. and Mexico though his parents are not Mexican citizens. The fact they are in the U.S. illegally makes some less caring, other less willing to come forward with information and may have hampered the efforts of authorities to find him.
When all is said and done, they have one common bond with the McCann’s, the longing for the safe return of their child.
When a child goes missing 
Having made someone aware of this, why don’t you start doing something?
You have no pictures – details, age etc. This doesn’t have to stop with Madeleine McCann. It has started with her. Don’t bleat about the have and have not’s. Those with the power can do something. Start the campaign for this little one.
Madeleine’s campaign was started by her aunt and a media report. It has been picked up but the public. Get off your butt and start something for these parents.
Karen UK
Karen,
Click on his name or the popup for the information you wanted. I have the same power you do a PC with an Internet connection. This isn’t the first post about him and I have nothing but admiration for what the McCann’s are able to do.
Karen
You are right, this is not a story about haves and have nots, it is a story about using resources. Having information to give to the public etc. Knowing what can be done.
We all would feel the same for any child abducted. No matter what station in life if we knew about it. The McCann’s made sure everyone knew. They should be commended. If all us parents had the “worst happen” in our moments of bad decisions, imagine how we would all feel? Every parent out there knows there was a time when even for a few minutes we did not show the best judgement, imagine, somthing happening at that moment. None of us are perfect and who would imagine……
Madeleine’s disappearance raised my awareness of protection with my children. I cry every day for the McCann’s and Madeleine, and of course for any innocent victim of the “ills of the world”.
Susan,
That was the point. The McCanns used or were affforded resouces not available to all parents in missing children cases. It does not diminish what they are trying to do.
The media coverage of Madeleine’s abduction is unprecedented compared to any others. It is a story about have and have nots. There is no other case that has received a fraction of the attention hers has.
In the U.S. Amber Alerts are issued almost daily somewhere. There are at least 40 children every year that are abducted and either murdered or never recovered yet the public is unaware. In many of those cases the parents reported the child missing and made passionate pleas.
Our organization is Kid Finders Network. We were in Fort Myers, Fl. back in February trying to help the police and the family. We took one of our mobile billboards dedicated to Baby Bryan to try & help generate new leads. We left it there for 3 months. The police said it did generate new leads but at the end of 3 months they felt it had cooled off. We moved the mobile billboard to another case. We do not charge for our services, we work strictly on donations.
If they feel it would help we would be more than happy to go back. We tried to generate media attention but it was very difficult and they did not seem to be as interested as they should be.
We would love to help again. We need the publics support to keep our organization going and to help generate public interest for these cases.
Check out our website and see what we are about.
http://www.kidfindersnetwork.com.
We are also doing, child id cards and digital fingerprinting, another free service. We are a 501(c)(3) organization.