http://blog.missingkids.com/

Uber Partners With National Center for Missing & Exploited Children to Help Bring More Missing Children Home

Tue, 28 Jun 2016 10:38:30 -0400

Donated Uber rides will help reunite families after a missing child has been located.

ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 28, 2016 – Today, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® and Uber announced a new partnership that will help reunite missing children with their families. Uber is joining NCMEC’s reunification assistance program to give free rides to families who need help reaching their missing child after they’ve been located.

“Last year there were more than 460,000 reports of missing children made to law enforcement in the U.S.,” said John F. Clark, NCMEC president and CEO. “Thankfully, most missing children are recovered, but our work does not end when the child is located. With Uber’s generosity, we’ll now be able to do more to help bring families back together.”

Since it was created in 1984, NCMEC has assisted law enforcement in the recovery of more than 222,000 missing children. Some children are located hundreds or thousands of miles from where they went missing. The reunification assistance program was created to help families in financial need make travel arrangements at no cost to them once their child is found. Other partners in the program include American Airlines™, Amtrak and Greyhound®.
“We are pleased to be joining NCMEC’s reunification effort to help reunite families. Working alongside some great transportation companies, we are very proud of the small role we can play in helping these children get an Uber ride home,” said Niki Christoff, Head of Federal Affairs at Uber.

Uber first began working with NCMEC in 2015 to redistribute AMBER Alerts to its drivers in 180 U.S. cities, reaching a network that covers 75 percent of the U.S. population.

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About the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is the leading 501©(3) nonprofit organization working with law enforcement, families and the professionals who serve them on issues relating to missing and sexually exploited children. Established in 1984 and authorized by Congress to serve as the nation’s clearinghouse on these issues, NCMEC operates a hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST® (1-800-843-5678), and has assisted law enforcement in the recovery of more than 218,000 children. NCMEC also operates the CyberTipline, a mechanism for reporting child pornography, child sex trafficking and other forms of child sexual exploitation. Since it was created in 1998, more than 10 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation have been received, and more than 158 million suspected child pornography images have been reviewed. NCMEC works in partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. To learn more about NCMEC, visit www.missingkids.org. Follow NCMEC on Twitter and like NCMEC on Facebook.

If you would like to schedule an interview with a spokesperson from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, please email media@ncmec.org.

Sextortion: A growing crime in the digital world

Fri, 24 Jun 2016 11:42:17 -0400

(A screen capture from our Sextortion PSA. Viewable on YouTube)

Lucas Michael Chansler found all 106 of his young victims the same way he found 14-year-old Ashley Reynolds. With a click of a mouse.

Ashley was safe at home, perusing social media sites on her computer, when a stranger began threatening her online. He told her he had naked photos of her, and if she didn’t send him more, he was going to show them to people she knew. Ashley ignored him. The man persisted.

He made it sound like if she’d just send him the photos, he’d leave her alone. Against her better judgment, she finally complied. But then he wanted more and more – and he had an increasingly lurid list of demands. Ashley felt terrorized, and utterly helpless, until her mom stumbled across the explicit images on her daughter’s computer.

That’s when the FBI stepped in and cracked one of the biggest “sextortion” cases in history, one with young victims in 26 states, three Canadian Provinces and the United Kingdom. And those were just the 106 children investigators could find. They seized images in Chansler’s possession of nearly 350 victims, all young girls between the ages of 12 and 16. Chansler was sentenced to 105 years in prison.

Here at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, known as NCMEC, we’ve seen a growing number of these types of cases, a relatively new form of child sexual exploitation online. Sextortion occurs when non-physical forms of coercion are used, such as blackmail, to acquire sexual content from children, including photos and videos, or to extort money or to engage in sex with a child. Chansler was exploiting his victims for the images to produce what he would call an “epic video.”

At our Alexandria, Va., headquarters, we operate the CyberTipline, the nation’s reporting mechanism for suspected online child sexual exploitation. The number of overall reports, predominately child sexual abuse images, continues to grow exponentially. Last year, the CyberTipline received a record 4.4 million reports. So far this year, we’ve received 4.6 million.

“NCMEC staff recognized and grew deeply concerned with the growing number of sextortion incidents involving children being reported to the CyberTipline,” said John Shehan, vice president of our Exploited Children Division. “The emotional impact on the children is profound and heartbreaking. The information motivates us to stay current on the technologies and the methods offenders are using target children. Our aim is to prevent these incidents from ever occurring through education.”

NCMEC Research Analyst Stacy Jeleniewski analyzed a subset of reports of suspected sextortion – 801 submitted to the CyberTipline from October 2013 to June 2015 – and saw patterns emerge about the victims who are targeted; where, when and how sextortion is occurring; and who reports them to the CyberTipline.

Overwhelmingly, the victims were female children with an average age of 15, although some girls were as young as eight. The crime most often occurred on a phone or tablet messaging app, social networking sites or during video chats. Commonly, the offender would approach the child on a social networking site and then try to move their communication to anonymous messaging apps or video chats where he or she would obtain sexually explicit images from the child.

(Ashley Reynolds, a woman fighting sextortion)

Like Ashley, the child would then be threatened to have the images posted online for family and friends to see if the child did not do what the offender wanted. But other tactics emerged in the analysis, including reciprocation, as in “You show me yours, and I’ll show you mine.” Offenders would develop a bond with the child through flattery and praise, often pretending to be younger or a female.

Threats were also exhibited – threatening to harm the child or their family, threatening to create sexual content of the child using digital-editing tools, even threatening to commit suicide if the child would not provide sexual content. In some cases, the offender would pretend to be a modeling agent to get the child to agree to the various poses he wanted.

Most reports were made to the CyberTipline by Internet companies, the victim or parents and guardians. In fewer cases, they were made by peers and authority figures such a teachers or police.

“The impact of this coercive crime can be devastating,” said Jeleniewski, who conducted the analysis. “These children are being blackmailed and, because of that, may experience a range of emotions, including hopelessness, fear, anxiety and depression. Some children are even suicidal or attempt to take their lives.”

Children can easily connect with others online, share pictures and talk in real-time through live-streaming on computers, gaming systems, tablets and smart phones.

“It’s not only vital that people understand that this is happening, but that it’s literally happening in the palms of children’s hands, including the places they should feel most safe—their homes,” Jeleniewski said.

If you have information regarding suspected child sexual exploitation, please report at www.CyberTipline.com or call 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).

Seeing Father’s Day With Fresh Eyes

Fri, 17 Jun 2016 15:31:40 -0400

By Mike Hill

I work at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, and I’m also a father.

Father’s Day is a day when dads celebrate with their children. As we celebrate Father’s Day with our families this weekend, it’s very easy to forget about the fathers out there whose children are missing.

These dads will not be celebrating. They’ll be clinging to the hope that one day, there will be a phone call or a knock on the door.

I can only imagine the sound of that knock and the hope that these fathers have that their children are behind that door, safe and sound.

What it must feel like to embrace your child after they have gone missing and returned home is beyond comprehension. Some children may never return home, and many families will never have the answers they desperately want. For these fathers, hope is all they have. Hope that their child is out there somewhere, trying to find their way home.

Mike Hill

I started my career at NCMEC in 2002 when I was 23 years old. I became a father for the first time in 2013 and again in 2016. My daughters have completely changed my perspective about what I do for a living. The issues I deal with every day are what drive me. But becoming a father has made my job all the more personal.

My girls are my heart and soul. I live every moment for them. They are truly my whole world. A child is a precious gift, and my wife and I are truly blessed to have two healthy children of our own.

As anyone who works at NCMEC can tell you, it’s easy to grow accustomed to hearing about cases of missing children, child sex trafficking or online predators. The FBI received more than 460,000 reports of missing kids last year alone. Our CyberTipline received 4.4 million reports last year of suspected child sexual exploitation. But not until you actually become a parent, does it really hit home. At least that’s the way it was for me.

I want to raise strong, empowered girls, who will one day grow into strong, empowered women. I believe that working at NCMEC has given me a head start and empowered me with the knowledge to keep my family safer.

Photos by Sarah Baker (NCMEC)

I kiss my babies goodbye every morning I leave for work, and I pick them up and hug them as soon as I get home. My 2 ½-year-old thinks daddy goes to work to play with Clicky, our NetSmartz Internet Safety Robot.

What she doesn’t know, is that her daddy is Clicky, inside and out. For 15 years, NCMEC has been teaching children to be safer online with the prevention education program, NetSmartz (www.netsmartz.org.)

I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to provide the voice of Clicky for the majority of my adult life. I’ve also been able to feel what it’s like to look through his eyes as I’m high fiving kids in the Clicky costume.

To children like my daughters, Clicky is real. He teaches kids to be empowered so they can make safer decisions online and in the real world. He’s a hero and a role model to children, and in some small way, even though he’s a fictional robot, I look up to him. The same way I hope my girls will one day, look up to me and be proud of their father for what he chose to do for a living.

This weekend, as my family celebrates Father’s Day, I’m going to take a moment to remember those dads who aren’t celebrating. Those dads whose heart must sink deep into their chests every time someone knocks on the door. Those dads who are waiting for their babies to come home.

Hope is all they have…and hope is why we’re here.

“Today and every day, I honor your memory, Lori”

Fri, 10 Jun 2016 15:14:55 -0400

By Sheryl Stokes

The murder of three Oklahoma Girl Scouts in 1977 shocked the nation. On June 13 that year, Michelle Guse, 9, Denise Milner, 10, and Lori Farmer, 8, were beaten, raped and murdered on their first day at camp. Lori was my childhood friend. Her murder changed me and the course of my life. It’s hard to talk about, even 39 years later, but I will try.

Lori lived one street over and rode the bus with me to school. My first memory of Lori was my first day of school after moving to Oklahoma. She gave me a seat on the bus when no one else wanted to let the “new kid” sit down, smiling the whole time. She was a beautiful and kind little girl who was protective of her siblings and inspired me to love to read almost as much as she did.

I found out about the murders on the news. As an 8-year-old child, I watched in horror. I heard what happened in detail. I saw the photos. I remember hearing Lori’s name over and over and thinking to myself, this can’t be our Lori. It rocked our community and our neighborhood.

Shortly after it happened, I remember hearing adults say the murderer was still out there and that he might come back and hurt more children. Words can mean something completely different to a child than to an adult. To me, “out there” meant outside my window or out in our neighborhood. Coming back meant that maybe he had been here before.

Back then, there was not really any help for the families, community and friends. We were left to figure it out on our own. For a long time, I would wait until everyone else went to sleep, and I would take a pillow and my dog and spend the night in my closet. I was terrified that the murderer would come back. I knew my dog would bark if someone approached, and it was really soothing to pet him and talk to him about how I felt. I remember him licking the tears off my face as I poured my heart out to him night after night. My heart ached for all of the families, and I wondered how Lori’s family was ever going to be okay again. I really missed my friend.

Sheryl, 8 Lori, 8

Ten months after the largest manhunt in Oklahoma history, Gene Leroy Hart was arrested and charged in their murders. At his trial, at which he was acquitted, there was a big crowd of people at the courthouse holding up signs in support of Hart, but no one was holding up signs for the children. What about the three beautiful little girls who were murdered? Who was advocating for them and supporting their families? I knew from a young age I was going to be an advocate for kids when I grew up. I wanted to make sure families and friends would not be alone if the unthinkable happened to them.

Many years later, I saw John Walsh on “America’s Most Wanted.” He was the first person I had ever seen who was really angry there was nowhere for families to turn for help when their children went missing. His son, Adam, was abducted from a Florida shopping mall in 1981 and later found murdered. When he talked about Adam, I could see the love he had for that little boy. I could also see his anger.

Our situations were different, but I could relate to his anger. I was angry too. I was angry that Lori’s life was taken on purpose, and I was angry when I thought about what her last moments on Earth must have been like. I was angry at myself because I wasn’t there to help her. I was angry that no one was held accountable, and that people were forgetting that it ever happened. I was angry that no one was at the courthouse with signs supporting the children and their families.

I was also in awe of how John and his wife, Revé, took something so terrible and made something so amazing: The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. What a beautiful way to honor Adam’s life and make meaning of a tragedy. John and Revé became my earthly heroes and, as a child, I hoped to be advocates just like them one day.

Six years ago, I got my wish. I began working for the national center they founded, known as NCMEC. I’m a specialist in the Family Advocacy Division. Every day I get to advocate for children and help their families through one of the most difficult and isolating times in their lives. FAD provides crisis intervention and helps families of missing and exploited children find support in their communities so they don’t have to go through something like this alone.

Thirty-nine years later, I’m still waiting for answers. I still believe the murders will be solved. I live each day with continued hope for answers for the families. Someone knows what happened, and my hope is someday that person will come forward.

I have photos on my desk of Lori, Denise and Michelle that I see every morning when I walk into my Alexandria, Virginia office. I wish I could tell Lori how much she impacted my life, and that I have held her closely in my heart for 39 years. I wish I could tell her that I have a close relationship with her family today, and that they are some of the most resilient and loving people I know. Today and every day, I honor your memory, Lori.

Dear Morgan: We’ll never stop searching for you

Wed, 08 Jun 2016 15:47:29 -0400

Tomorrow, June 9, marks 21 years since Morgan Nick was abducted from a Little League Baseball field in Alma, Arkansas at the age of 6. Her family has never stopped searching for her, and will never give up.
Below is a letter that her mother penned for her 26th birthday.
View and share her poster here.

(Morgan Nick, missing since 1995, and her kitten Emily.)

Dearest Morgan,

Today is your 26th birthday. Today marks twenty birthdays without you here. We miss you so desperately and our hearts are ragged with grief. We have searched for you every single day since the day you were kidnapped from us at the Little League Baseball field in Alma, Arkansas.

You were only 6 years old. We went with our friends to watch one of their children play in the game. You threw your arms around my neck in a bear hug, planted a kiss on my cheek, and ran to catch fireflies with your friends.

It is the last time that I saw you. There have been so many days since then of emptiness and heartache.

On this birthday I choose to think about your laughter, your smile, the twinkle in your sparkling blue eyes. I celebrate who you are and the deep and lasting joy that you bring to our family.

I smile today as I think about your 5th birthday. For that birthday, we took you to the Humane Society with the promise of adopting a kitten. You, my precious little girl with your big heart, took one look around the cat room and picked out the ugliest, scrawniest, most pitiful looking kitten in the entire place. Such a tiny little thing, that it was mostly all eyes.

Dad and I used our best parental powers of persuasion to get you to pick a different kitten, to look at the older cats, to choose any other feline besides that poor ugly kitty. It looked like someone had taken the worst leftover colors of mud, stirred them together, and used them to design a kitten.

You planted your five-year-old feet, looked us straight in the eye and declared that this was the kitten you were taking home. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. You would not budge and you resolutely refused to take a second look at any other cat or kitten in the room. You had a fire of conviction in your heart.

The unexpected obstacle we faced was that we were not able to adopt on that Saturday, but had to wait until Monday to finalize. For the rest of the weekend and all day Monday, you fretted and pouted and worried that someone else would take “your” kitten home with them. We tried to assure you that no one else would want that cat. We didn’t want to say it was because it was so tiny, or so ugly, or so-nothing-at-all-but-eyes. You could see only beauty and you were in love.

Finally, Monday afternoon came and dad brought it home with him after work. In that moment, your daddy was your biggest hero because he had saved your kitten.

You tenderly snuggled that little bit of fur into your arms and declared that her name was Emily. You adored your new kitten and she loved you right back. Emily gained some weight and filled out a bit. Her colors started to take shape. We began to see the same beauty in her that you had seen in that very first moment.

Where you went, Emily went. You played together. You ate together. You watched Barney together. You slept together.

Which brings me to the photo. It captures everything we love about you. I would slip into your room late at night and stand there, watching the two of you sleeping together, in awe of your sweetness, and my heart would squeeze a little tighter.

So many birthdays have passed since then. So many days since a stranger ripped you from our hearts.

My sweet girl, if you should happen to read this, we want you to know how very important and special you are to us. You are a blessing we cannot live without. We feel cheated by every day that goes by and we do not see your smile, hear your bubbly laughter, or listen to your thoughts and ideas. We have never stopped believing that we will find you. We are saving all our hugs and kisses for you.

Please be strong and brave, with a fire of conviction in your heart, just like the day you picked out your kitten!

On this birthday we promise you that we will always fight for you. We will bring you back home to our family where you belong. We will always love you! We will never give up.

Love Mom & Dad

Launch of #RockOneSock Campaign Raises Awareness for Missing Children’s Day

Wed, 01 Jun 2016 14:40:26 -0400

To everyone who joined the #RockOneSock campaign in the month of May – Thank You! We here at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children were blown away by the support and awareness that the campaign helped to garner for missing children.

We were touched to see photos from family members of missing children, survivors, celebrities, athletes, members of the media, advocates, mommy bloggers, law enforcement, corporate partners, pets and many more. People were wildly creative and energetic with their Rock One Sock photos and the campaign even trended nationwide on Twitter on May 25, Missing Children’s Day. Overall the campaign truly helped to raise awareness and support for the work and programs of the National Center and, more importantly, it stood as a symbol of hope for the families of missing children that we stand by them and we will never stop searching.

So to each and every person (and pet) who donned one sock during the month of May, we say thanks.

Below are just a handful of the posts from the campaign that show how much fun everyone had while participating:

So @John_Walsh challenged me to #RockOneSock for @MissingKids I challenged @JoshSundquist and he beat me to it! Me: pic.twitter.com/POkGkPptvQ
— Pauley Perrette (@PauleyP)
May 28, 2016

I took the #RockOneSock challenge to raise awareness for @missingkids. #JasonSudeikis you’re next! pic.twitter.com/wGMNkbHvq6
— Tony Hawk (@tonyhawk)
May 27, 2016

Members of FBI’s Office of Public Affairs are rocking one sock in honor of Nat'l Missing Children’s Day #RockOneSock pic.twitter.com/JxHObQR2NT
— FBI (@FBI)
May 25, 2016

A photo posted by T. J. Holmes (@officialtjholmes) on May 25, 2016 at 5:47am PDT

A photo posted by Cris Clapp Logan 🎨 (@crisclapplogan) on May 18, 2016 at 5:04am PDT

A photo posted by Investigation Discovery (@investigationdiscovery) on May 25, 2016 at 10:16am PDT

A photo posted by Sir Rusty von Wolfstock (@rustythebrowndog) on May 25, 2016 at 4:20pm PDT

A photo posted by Dance Labz (@dancelabz) on May 22, 2016 at 12:11pm PDT

You can view many more #RockOneSock images by searching for that hashtag on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.

#RockOneSock for Missing Kids

Wed, 25 May 2016 17:03:36 -0400

Our president and CEO, John F. Clark, demonstrates #RockOneSock for National Missing Children’s Day at the Department of Justice.

Missing Children’s Day 2016

Tue, 24 May 2016 09:47:35 -0400

When 6-year-old Etan Patz disappeared on his way to school in New York City on May 25, 1979, there was no national response or database in place to aid in locating him. Two years later, when Adam Walsh, also 6, was abducted from a retail store, there was still no regional or national response system in place to help local law enforcement search for him. These prominent missing children cases and others pushed Congress to enact the Missing Children’s Act in 1982 which mandated the entry of missing child information into the FBI’s National Crime Information Center database, known as NCIC. It was also the launching pad for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

National Missing Children’s Day was first proclaimed in 1983 by President Ronald Reagan and is observed every year on May 25, the anniversary of the disappearance of Etan, to encourage parents, guardians, caregivers and others concerned with the well-being of children to make child safety a priority.

“The search for Etan Patz has continued for more than three decades,” said Robert Lowery, vice president of the Missing Children’s Division at NCMEC. “We never forget a child no matter how long they have been missing. National Missing Children’s Day honors this commitment to help locate and recover missing children like Etan by reminding parents, guardians, families and communities that every child deserves a safe childhood.”

The good news is more missing children come home safely today than at any other point in history. As for Etan, his case may finally be on the verge of closure as the Manhattan District Attorney considers trying his case a second time after the recent trail against Pedro Hernandez ended in a mistrial. Regardless of the outcomes of the trial, Etan’s legacy lives on through the work of NCMEC each day and by bringing awareness to missing children each year on May 25.

“National Missing Children’s Day is a day to remember Etan and the many other missing children who are still out there – we never, ever stop looking,” Lowery said. “It is also a day to take action: Look at a poster of a missing child, share it or take time to talk with a child about safety.”

FIVE WAYS YOU CAN HELP:

ONE: ROCK ONE SOCK

In honor of National Missing Children’s Day (May 25), the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children launched a new nationwide campaign: Rock One Sock! We’re asking everyone to rock one sock for missing kids, take a “footsie” and post to social media using hashtag #RockOneSock. Let’s start a movement!

Our friends at Discovery Communications helped us create this awesome PSA. Check it out!

TWO: SHARE A POSTER

On National Missing Children’s Day this year, can you take a moment to share the poster of a missing child in your state? Just one small act can bring a child home safe. Sharing a child’s image is law enforcement’s single most effective tool in recovering missing children.

CLICK HERE to find a poster of a child missing in your state.

THREE: KNOW WHAT TO DO

Know what to do if your child goes missing. Create a child ID kit for each of your children and update it at least once a year.

FOUR: TALK TO YOUR KIDS

Know what to tell your children about child abduction. Simply teaching your children about “stranger danger” may leave them vulnerable to other forms of child abduction. According to NCMEC’s research, teaching our children to avoid strangers is not enough. We must also teach them how to recognize and respond to risky situations. In fact, 83% of children who escaped their would-be abductors kicked, yelled and pulled away to escape.

Read more parent tips on http://www.kidsmartz.org/ to make sure your children are prepared.

FIVE: TEACH YOUR KIDS ONLINE SAFETY

More children age 12-17 are online and on mobile devices than any generation before. This poses a unique challenge for parents to ensure the safety of their children from online threats. NCMEC’s NetSmartz program provides tips and discussion topics for parents to teach their kids how to responsibly and safely use digital citizenship. There are also sections for teachers and law makers, as well as cartoons and comics for kids and teens. http://www.netsmartz.org/Parents

No matter how you get involved with Missing Children’s Day this year make sure you’re doing something in the fight to #KeepKidsSafe. And remember, one small act can bring a child home safe.

Rock One Sock this May for Missing Children!

Fri, 20 May 2016 14:40:57 -0400

In honor of National Missing Children’s Day (May 25), the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children launched a new nationwide campaign: Rock One Sock!

We’re asking everyone to rock one sock for missing kids, take a “footsie” and post to social media using hashtag #RockOneSock. Let’s start a movement!

Our friends at Discovery Communications helped us create this awesome PSA. Check it out!

Why Rock One Sock?

We know that missing children’s issues do not affect every household, but this is a small gesture you can do to show that you stand in solidarity with missing children and their families.

After you post your footsie, continue to spread awareness and support by tagging friends to either do the #RockOneSock challenge or make a donation to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Need some inspiration? Check out what others are posting!

A photo posted by NCMEC (@1800thelost) on May 17, 2016 at 11:11am PDT

A video posted by NCMEC (@1800thelost) on May 17, 2016 at 2:08pm PDT

Our friend & supporter, the amazingly talented @BryanCranston showing the audience how to #RockOneSock #HopeAwards pic.twitter.com/NVIvS2uMFl
— NCMEC (@MissingKids) May 12, 2016

A photo posted by NCMEC (@1800thelost) on May 18, 2016 at 5:09pm PDT

#rockonesock to support @MissingKids 🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/sQEIjrN35A
— Alexandra Raisman (@Aly_Raisman)
May 11, 2016

Join me & #RockOneSock with @missingkids to help raise awareness for missing children. We’ll never stop searching! pic.twitter.com/6wwY8823RW
— Montel Williams (@Montel_Williams)
May 8, 2016

@MissingKids Just thought we’d drop in. #TheSimpsons pic.twitter.com/jI7XTYeK85
— The Simpsons (@TheSimpsons)
May 17, 2016

Will you #RockOneSock this May as a symbol of hope for all the #missing children? #tweetyourfeet #neverstopsearching pic.twitter.com/uhwCngnRvY
— Angie Goff (@OhMyGOFF)
May 17, 2016

.@MissingKids: way ahead of you. I support 100% #RockOneSock pic.twitter.com/Q1fVfypg7w
— Jonathan Scott (@MrSilverScott)
May 13, 2016

@FBIOmaha employees stepping up to support #RockOneSock https://t.co/1K5AqLeKlZ pic.twitter.com/uKFynBtbT4
— FBI Omaha (@FBIOmaha)
May 18, 2016

Sextortion, Technology, Philanthropy Heroes Honored at NCMEC Hope Awards

Fri, 13 May 2016 00:08:22 -0400

by Barbara Worth; photos by Sarah Baker, Carol Summers and Amanda Newcomb

She never saw him, but through her computer screen, the stranger got right in her face. “Naked pictures,” remembers Ashley Reynolds, then 14. “The subject line said something about naked pictures that he has of me.”

He kept messaging, demanding explicit photos. “He was not going to stop,” Reynolds says in an FBI videotape. “He was set on sharing my picture with whoever he could to ruin my reputation.” She was frightened just enough to send seven pictures, then more, and more, responding to escalating demands and further blackmail until she was sending 60 pictures a day.

Reynolds had been ensnared in sextortion. The torment lasted months, until her mother discovered it and called The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s CyberTipline – the national mechanism for reporting suspected child sexual exploitation. NCMEC contacted the FBI, which not only found and successfully prosecuted the offender, but uncovered computer records showing he had terrorized nearly 350 other girls in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom.

This week at NCMEC’s 2016 Hope Awards, Reynolds was honored with the “Courage Award” for bravely taking on a predator and going public about her ordeal in hopes of helping others. Also at the dinner in Washington, Facebook was honored with the “Charles B. Wang International Children’s Award” for its commitment to child safety and its innovative use of technology to mobilize the public on behalf of NCMEC’s mission. And a special Hope Award was given in memoriam to Joseph R. “Beau” Biden III who was deeply committed to the protection of children. He used his two terms as Delaware’s attorney general to change the way his state prosecuted crimes against children and to rescue children from abusive situations.

Every year, NCMEC celebrates inspiring work done to protect children. The Hope Awards recognize leaders in child safety, honor survivors and remember children who are still missing. “We hope one day all missing children come home and that there will be no more exploitation,” says John F. Clark, NCMEC’s president and CEO.

In hopes of warning and educating others about sextortion, Reynolds has chosen to speak about her ordeal to children, parents and law enforcement. The lead investigator who helped track down and arrest her abuser, FBI special agent Larry Meyer, appeared with Reynolds on the Hope Awards stage. "I’m thrilled that she’s getting this award,“ says Meyer. "She has done a great job in bringing this new trend in child sexual exploitation to the public.”

(Photo: Ashley Reynolds along with her parents, actor Bryan Cranston and FBI Special Agent Larry Meyer)

Meyer said in an interview that the FBI has identified 115 victims of this one sextortion scam alone. There are likely many more victims. At the Hope Awards, Reynolds said that as our virtual world grows, sextortion "is only getting worse." As she puts it, "I was virtually kidnapped…I was abducted by a stranger…my parents saw me every single day but they had no idea."

Though sextortion is made possible by technology, technology is also being enlisted to fight both it and other forms of child sexual exploitation – and to help find missing children. Facebook has been a long-time partner in NCMEC’s fight to protect children and has been a leader in the effort to apply technology and innovation to the issues of missing and exploited children. The social media giant was one of the first adopters of PhotoDNA, a technology that uses hash values to find similar images among millions. Facebook’s use of this technology has vastly elevated the voluntary detection of suspected child sexual abuse images and helped remove countless children from abusive situations. Facebook’s ability to connect with the public is an incredible asset in sharing information about missing children. Facebook is also a secondary distributor in the AMBER Alert program and has donated tools to help increase the number of people who see posts about missing children.

"I’m really excited that our service is playing a vital role in this incredible program,” said Facebook’s Joel Kaplan. He added that Facebook is now working to expand the presence of AMBER Alerts to countries around the world.

(Photo: Joel Kaplan, Facebook vice president, public policy who accepted the Charles B. Wang International Children’s Award, stands with NCMEC board member Emily Vacher, Facebook’s director of trust and safety, and actor and child advocate Bryan Cranston)

Raising awareness about the need to protect children was part of Beau Biden’s life mission. As Delaware’s attorney general, Beau created a Child Predator Task Force to track down and arrest people who committed sex offenses against children. The task force convicted more than 200 predators and rescued more than 120 children from abusive situations. “The Beau Biden Foundation for the Protection of Children” was founded after his death on May 30, 2015 at the age of 46.

His younger brother Hunter accepted the award posthumously for Beau, whom NCMEC co-founder John Walsh called “our star attorney general of all time." Before his death last year, Beau Biden had spoken about safety to some 30,000 kids – visiting middle and high schools after work, after his national guard duty – staying until every kid’s question was answered. "He was tireless, guided by a firm sense of right and wrong,” said Hunter Biden at the Hope Awards. "We need more Beau Bidens in the world. I wish we still had one.“(Photo: Beau Biden, Feb. 3, 1969 – May 30, 2015)

(Photo: Hunter Biden accepts Hope Award on behalf of his brother, Beau Biden, from NCMEC co-founders John and Reve’ Walsh. Also shown is Manus Cooney, NCMEC board chair.)

Next year, NCMEC will celebrate more inspiring stories and astounding dedication to the work of helping children. We thank all who support the critical mission of our organization and the partners and friends who help make our work possible.

A Father's Letter to his Missing Son: "We have missed out on a lot of important things together..."

Fri, 06 May 2016 13:32:51 -0400

Eleven-year-old Joshua Hale was allegedly abducted by his mother, Erin Hale on November 3, 2015. A felony warrant was issued for Erin on December 3, 2015.

Today, Joshua’s father, Mike, has penned a heartfelt letter to his missing son pleading for his safe return home.

Joshua,

I can’t explain how much I miss seeing your smiling face… It has been almost six months since I have seen your face or heard your voice. There is not a minute that goes by that I don’t think about you.

I hope you’re ok… I hope you’re well. I’m not sure why this has happened to us, but I hope you come home to your family and friends that miss and love you. We continue to look and search for you. We will always continue to look and search for you. I pray each night that you call. I pray each night that you will return home to us.

I miss you, Bud…more than you will ever know.

You will never know how sad I am without you. We have missed out on a lot of important things together… I think of the minutes, hours and days that have passed and the experiences that we have not been able to share together. We love you. We miss you with all of our hearts we hope you come home soon.

We love you,

Dad

Knowledge is Life for Children with Autism Who Wander: Ask This Mom

Fri, 22 Apr 2016 14:12:47 -0400

By Barbara Worth, graphics and photos by Sarah Baker

The nightmare: You’re standing in the middle of traffic on a busy expressway. You have no shirt, no shoes, no belt, and your pants are slipping off. Cars are speeding past; any second, one could hit you. You try to call for help, but you cannot speak: You can make only unintelligible noises. Drivers are honking at you, yelling at you, swearing at you. You crouch, hands over your ears, seeing no way to save yourself. Finally, you wake up, relieved to know it was just a bad dream.

For you, that is. For one 12-year-old boy this past February, it was reality. Like many children with autism, the boy is a wanderer. Kids like him tend to walk or run away from safe environments to get close to their often-dangerous fixations, such as traffic signs or, most often, bodies of water. Many move so fast that first responders can’t move fast enough, and the children don’t survive.

Between 2011-2015, there were 98 deaths of children with autism who wandered, the vast majority from drowning, according the National Autism Association.

The boy in our story survived. He is alive today because after he wandered onto the Northwest Expressway in Oklahoma City, he was spotted by Ashlee Cody, a mom whose 7-year-old daughter has autism. When she saw the boy caught in traffic, she says something in her knew he was “just like my daughter. He didn’t know where he was and what he was doing .”

Cody began calling out to other drivers, “He has autism!” She parked her SUV. A pregnant woman agreed to watch Cody’s two children, and a jogger walked with Cody into traffic. Together, they guided the boy to safety. Cody retrieved a pair of noise-canceling headphones from her car and placed them over the boy’s ears. He calmed down instantly. “I gave him soothing things,” she says: a juice box, an orange lollipop, an electronic tablet so he could draw. When the police arrived, the lost, misunderstood boy who had been helplessly trapped in traffic, “was so happy…he was hugging me,” says Cody. “He was drawing happy faces.”

Knowledge. Understanding. Compassion. They made all the difference to this boy, and to other children with autism who wandered, went missing and were safely recovered. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children recently joined forces with Autism Speaks and The Massachusetts State Police to train about 400 first responders at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts on how to effectively search for and recover these children. Their most important takeaway, according Mike Murphy, program manager in NCMEC’s Missing Children Division, was that “Every autism call is both critical and unique.” Critical because of the high mortality rate among wanderers, and unique because the signs of autism can be very confusing if first responders aren’t familiar with them.

Photo of attendees at Foxborough seminar.

For example, children with autism may be non-verbal, so an officer who knows that won’t be surprised if they don’t respond to simple questions. Some children might speak, but only use lines from favorite movies. Others may simply repeat words spoken to them. Still others might appear to be deaf, only to run away if they hear something that frightens them, such as sirens, lights, or an authority figure saying, “I don’t know what to do with this kid.”

Like Cody, a trained officer will understand that noise-making could be a child’s attempt to say, “I need help,” in the only way he knows how. Seeing a child cover his ears with his hands would be a sign that he is over-stimulated, as Cody understood when she gave the noise-canceling headphones to the boy she led from traffic. Further, children with autism might not perceive that an officer’s uniform connotes authority, and they might walk away instead of showing respect. Or, they might simply be afraid, as they are often bullied. If officers know these things, and know that these children commonly wander to bodies of water or into traffic, or shed their clothes, they should be less likely to mistakenly suspect that the children are on drugs or should be handcuffed – an action that Cody stresses would further overwhelm a child with autism.

…and there are many of them. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in 68 children is diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum. More than half of these children are prone to wandering. The behavior is known as “wandering” or “elopement” in the autism community, but “bolt” may be a better descriptor. Many of these children take off in a flash. NCMEC’s Murphy warns first responders, “You will be encountering someone with autism, I promise you. It’s not if: It’s when.”

Tracy Eldridge, chief dispatcher at the Rochester Communications Center in Massachusetts, wants to be prepared for the call before it comes in. “We are going to be ahead of it, not behind it,” says Eldridge, who attended the training session in Foxborough. Drawing from material provided by NCMEC and leading autism advocacy groups, she’s working with parents and caregivers to set up “Operation Special Alert.” It will consist of detailed information about local residents with special needs, including autism, and procedures for her dispatchers to follow. They will know to ask callers, who may be panicked, if a wandering child is verbal, needs medication, has specific triggers or fears, whether they’ve wandered before and where to – information that sets up a correct response for those headed to the search area.

Photo of Tracy Eldridge, Chief Dispatcher, Rochester Communications Center, Rochester, MA. Courtesy Tracy Eldridge.

Moms like Cody know firsthand that such informed responses are vital. She’s aware of the possibility that the next wandering child caught in traffic could be her daughter. She says, “I may need somebody to help rescue Peyton someday.”

To report a missing child, including one you suspect may have autism, call law enforcement and The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678). To get a copy of NCMEC’s guide for investigators go to www.missingkids.org/lawenforcement. More resources are at www.awaare.org, a collaboration of autism agencies providing resources and tools, including the Big Red Safety Box.

Advocates for people with special needs on the field at Gillette Stadium following first responder training sessions.

Using Social Media to Give Kids Back Their Names

Fri, 15 Apr 2016 13:00:05 -0400

by Christine Barndt

Two years and counting with NCMEC’s “Help ID Me” Facebook page

“We just thought…is there something more we can be doing for these kids?” Carol Schweitzer, a senior forensic case specialist at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, knew that social media was going to change the way we search for missing kids, and could hold the key to identifying the more than 700 unknown deceased children on file with the center.

NCMEC’s Unknown Victim Identification Program was launched in November 2011 to assist medical examiners, coroners and law enforcement who are investigating the deaths of unidentified children.

Two years ago, the UVIP team decided to undertake the task of getting decades of images out to the public, from facial reconstructions to photos of clothing and jewelry found on young victims. They launched the Facebook page, “Help ID Me,” in April 2014 to bring the public into the search for the identities of deceased children…some of whom have remained nameless for decades.

“Up until 2014, we were really at the mercy of others to get these images out to the public,” said Schweitzer. There’s only so many pictures we could fit on a poster.”

The team was inspired by identifications they saw from other social media sites and decided it would be the perfect avenue to reach the wide audience they needed.

“We got really excited about the idea that a Facebook page could reach the people who may have known our kids…siblings, neighbors, childhood friends,” said Schweitzer.

What many people may not realize is how difficult it is to search for an unidentified child. Relying on reports of missing kids is not enough because many children are never reported missing. In fact, 38 percent of the kids NCMEC has identified weren’t reported missing. That’s an astounding number and one that underscores the difficulty of the team’s work. How do you search for someone you don’t know is missing?

Over the last two years, the UVIP team has assisted law enforcement in the identification of 34 children and they can tie at least seven of those IDs directly to social media.

“You never know what’s going to spark recognition,” said Schweitzer.

And so, the team will continue its efforts to find answers for the hundreds of kids still waiting to get their names back.

Check out the unidentified cases in your state and “like” the Help ID Me page at www.facebook.com/HelpIDMe

Happy Birthday Erin!

Thu, 14 Apr 2016 17:28:28 -0400

Erin,

Happy Birthday!

The fact that this is your 30^th birthday seems so unreal.

The 30^th Birthday is a huge marker for everyone as we move through our lives. Most people have a list of the things we will “have achieved”, “have learned”, “have adventured”, or “have enjoyed” by the time we turn 30. You are a planner and a list maker. I know you had a list at 15: Actress of the highest caliber. Platinum award winning musician. Broadway star. Mom to three kids. Horse trainer. Veterinarian. All around amazing person. Your hopes and dreams when you were growing up were high. Then plans got interrupted.

Your 30^th Birthday is an even bigger marker for us celebrating it without you. We celebrated 15 birthdays with you. This makes the 15^th birthday celebrating it without you present. That is half of your life. It means you have been gone from us as many years as you were with us. When I realized the significance of this, about two months ago, I was in the car on the phone with my friend. I started crying as soon as the words were out of my mouth. You are 30. I want to celebrate. But sitting and crying seems just as appropriate.

I have NOT lost hope of finding you. I WILL celebrate a birthday with you. The biggest party ever! Some people have lost hope. I can’t blame them. We all have had to figure out how to get through the last 15 years with our heads still on straight. We have all done it in our own way. We carry you with us. But in our heads, you are still 15. We can’t see you as any other way. Even when the age progression pictures show us otherwise. None of those capture your smile. I know we’ll know you by your smile.

We are having a party for you this weekend. Pizza, games, cupcakes, streamers, all of the best things for a party. I know you can throw a better party than I can. You always got everything right, even the little details. Details like glitter and confetti. There will be no glitter. The glitter was yours. I don’t like glitter very much anymore.

We have invited your friends. I never realized how many friends you have. How many lives you touched. I hear such great stories all the time from people. From friends, family, teachers, and a dance coach I hadn’t met. Even the secretary at the high school speaks highly of you. We all miss you. We all want you home. Please come home.

We love you. I love you. More than I probably ever told you. “I Love you” doesn’t even seem to cover it in a way that magnifies it enough. Now that you aren’t here to say it to, it seems even more empty. It needs to be so much more. “Love is a rose. But you better not pick it. It only grows when it is on the vine.” I used to love singing you that song. I wish you were still on the vine. I still sing the song. To any little one that will lay still long enough. And I tell them about you. And how great you sang it too.

Happy Birthday Erin! Wherever you are. We love you. I wish that was enough.

Love,

Mom

View Erin’s poster

Here Erin’s photo is shown age-progressed to 29 years

Kevin and Avonte’s Law to Assist in Locating Missing Children with Autism

Thu, 14 Apr 2016 12:30:44 -0400

by Deborah Hennig

Nearly half of children with autism will wander, or elope, from safe environments and many of these children are attracted to water or other dangerous environments. In 2014, a 14-year-old boy with autism, Avonte Oquendo, wandered away from his school in New York City, sparking a massive search. Tragically, Avonte drowned in New York City’s East River before rescuers could find him.

“Children with autism can exhibit unique behaviors that can make finding those who wander especially challenging,” said Robert G. Lowery Jr., vice president of NCMEC’s Missing Children Division. Working with autism organizations, NCMEC has developed special search protocols to help find these children as well as other useful resources, which are available at http://www.missingkids.org/autism.

Avonte’s story helped birth Kevin and Avonte’s Law of 2016 (S. 2614), which will help families locate missing loved ones who have Alzheimer’s Disease, autism or other related conditions that may cause them to wander away from their caregivers. The bill was introduced in the Senate on March 1, 2016 by Senators Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), Charles E. Grassley (R-IA) and Thom Tillis (R-NC). On April 5, 2016, Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-IL) was added as a cosponsor.

The bill, named in honor of Avonte Oquendo and another boy with autism, 9-year-old Kevin Curtis Wills, who jumped into Iowa’s Raccoon River near a park and tragically drowned in 2008, passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 14, 2016 and now faces a vote in the Senate.

“I’m honored to join Sen. Grassley and Sen. Schumer in their effort to create a system that will help locate children with autism who are prone to wandering,” said Sen. Tillis. “This legislation will give families in North Carolina and across the nation the peace of mind that our local communities and first responders have the resources to help find missing children with autism spectrum disorder and adults with Alzheimer’s Disease.”

The legislation will reauthorize the expired Missing Alzheimer’s Disease Patient Alert Program and includes new provisions to support people with autism. The legislation allows for the use of Department of Justice grants by state and local law enforcement agencies and non-profit organizations to develop and implement training and education programs intended to help proactively prevent individuals with autism from wandering. The bill also provides access to resources for state and local agencies to aid in locating these individuals when they go missing and permits the use of federal funding to establish or enhance notification or communications systems for the recovery of missing children with autism.

“We’ve all seen the heartbreaking stories of families frantically trying to locate a missing loved one whose condition caused him or her to wander off,” Sen. Grassley said. “We’ve also seen benefits of the AMBER Alert program and other notification systems to locate missing children and bring relief to families through community assistance.”

Kevin and Avonte’s Law will use similar concepts and other technology to help locate people with Alzheimer’s Disease or other forms of dementia as well as children with autism spectrum disorders who may be prone to wander away from their families or caregivers. It will also make resources available to equip first responders and other community officials with the training necessary to better prevent and respond to these cases.

“With better information sharing, communities can play a central role in reuniting these children with their families,” Sen. Grassley said.

You Can Help Save a Wandering Child

Fri, 08 Apr 2016 12:11:34 -0400

The month of April is #AutismAwareness month and here at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children we hope every American will take 5 minutes to learn about the dangers that families of children with autism face. In the U.S. alone, it’s estimated that autism affects over 3 million people. It’s estimated that one out every 68 children has an Autism Spectrum Disorder, and according to a 2012 study in Pediatrics, nearly half of children with ASD wander or bolt from safe settings. Individuals with ASD are often attracted to water, yet have little to no sense of danger. Drowning is a leading cause of death in children with ASD.

Finding and safely recovering a missing child with autism presents unique and difficult challenges for families, law enforcement, first responders and search teams. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has special search protocols and checklists to help first responders.

As part of Autism Awareness month we had the National Autism Association take over our Instagram account to help spread awareness. Check out some of the top posts from the takeover below, or follow us on Instagram to see all of them. https://www.instagram.com/1800thelost/

A photo posted by NCMEC (@1800thelost) on Apr 2, 2016 at 8:38am PDT

It’s estimated that one out every 68 children has an Autism Spectrum Disorder, and according to a 2012 study in Pediatrics, nearly half of children with ASD wander or bolt from safe settings. Individuals with ASD are often attracted to water, yet have little to no sense of danger. Drowning is a leading cause of death in children with ASD. @NationalAutism #Autism #AutismSafety #WorldAutismAwarenessDay #instagramtakeover

A photo posted by NCMEC (@1800thelost) on Apr 2, 2016 at 11:54am PDT

Nearly half of children with #autism will wander, or elope, from safe environments. And more than one-third of children with autism are considered nonverbal. Finding and safely recovering a missing child with autism presents unique and difficult challenges for families, law enforcement, first responders and search teams. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has special search protocols and checklists to help first responders. @NationalAutism #Autism #AutismSafety #WorldAutismAwarenessDay #NCMEC #Instagramtakeover

A photo posted by NCMEC (@1800thelost) on Apr 2, 2016 at 1:52pm PDT

“Once you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism.” Share & help educate! @NationalAutism #AutismAwareness #WorldAutismAwarenessDay #Instagramtakeover

A photo posted by NCMEC (@1800thelost) on Apr 2, 2016 at 3:58pm PDT

“This is my worst nightmare. I have an almost seven-year-old daughter with autism. She is a wanderer/runner. She is easily over stimulated and will run to try to get away from noise. You can’t imagine how frightening it is as a mom to not know what to do to keep her safely tucked in bed. Or to be able to take her to the park and not feel safe even for a moment.” – Tambra W., Mother of a child with autism @NationalAutism #Autism #AutismSafety #WorldAutismAwarenessDay #Instagramtakeover

A photo posted by NCMEC (@1800thelost) on Apr 3, 2016 at 8:52am PDT

Drowning is the leading cause of death resulting from a wandering incident. Please follow the link for a list of @ymca locations that offer special needs swimming lessons, and be sure that your child’s last lesson is with clothes and shoes on. @NationalAutism #Autism #AutismSafety #Instagramtakeover @thecommunityymca @ymca

NCMEC’s Team Adam now deploying on patterns of attempted abductions

Fri, 01 Apr 2016 14:17:53 -0400

First, two middle school students were approached by a man in a van on their way to school and told to “get in.” Then, another student standing on the sidewalk was waved over by the same man.

Before 9 a.m. on Sept. 18, 2015, police in Berkeley, California knew they had a potential predator on their hands who needed to be caught…and quickly. He had already made two attempts at luring three kids into his van.

A month later and the cases were piling up. The town of Berkeley had experienced five incidents of attempted abductions involving seven local children. That’s when Mike Woods, one of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s “Team Adam” consultants, recognized the pattern and offered the organization’s assistance.

“These are practice runs,” said Woods. “We can’t take these lightly.”

At NCMEC, attempted abductions are never treated lightly. For the past 10 years NCMEC analysts have been working tirelessly to proactively track and collect data concerning attempted abductions. This is done in an effort to identify possible patterns, share that information with law enforcement and provide technical assistance and resources directly to law enforcement investigating these incidents. It also presents an opportunity to possibly prevent a child from being abducted in the future.

The center analyzed data from more than 11,500+ cases and uses these insights for prevention education. This analysis found the majority of incidents:

involved the suspect driving a vehicle.
occurred between 2 p.m. - 7 p.m.
happened when the child was going to or from school or a school related activity.

And overwhelmingly, children got away by running, yelling, kicking, pulling away or attracting attention.

“We know that people who attempt to abduct children will continue to try until they are successful,” said Robert Lowery, vice president in the Missing Children Division at NCMEC. “Team Adam consultants make sure investigators have the resources they need to find these perpetrators before they are able to abduct a child.”

Team Adam is named for Adam Walsh, the son of NCMEC co-founders John and Revé Walsh, who was abducted and murdered in Florida in 1981. The program’s consultants are retired law enforcement professionals with years of investigative experience at the federal, state and local levels. They provide rapid, on-site assistance to law enforcement agencies and families in serious cases of missing children, and now, with what we have learned about attempted abductions, the program has expanded to assist when these patterns emerge, like the recent string in Berkeley.

The attempted abductions in Berkeley remain unsolved, but the resources of the National Center will be available until law enforcement has answers. According to Woods, a retired 30-year veteran of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, it’s not until you experience a missing child case or attempted abduction case, that you really know how to respond effectively.

“NCMEC’s goal is education; to educate law enforcement because when these cases come along, your resources are going to be overwhelmed. I look at this as NCMEC’s obligation to educate and train law enforcement to approach these things in a tactical manner and not take them lightly,” said Woods.

To learn more about the Team Adam program, visit www.missingkids.org/teamadam

For more information on NCMEC’s analysis of attempted abductions, visit www.missingkids.org/attemptedabductions

Twins Missing 26 Years: Jeannette and Dannette Millbrooks

Fri, 18 Mar 2016 14:24:43 -0400

By Barbara Worth

Dwelling in the private world known only to twins, Jeannette and Dannette Millbrooks spent much of their free time relaxing on their front porch in Augusta, Georgia, talking to one another and watching the world pass by. If anyone spoke to them, they would just smile.

“They didn’t come off the porch,” said their cousin, Yolanda Curry. “I can see their smiles with my eyes closed.”

Then one day – March 18, 1990 to be exact – the fraternal twins left the safety of their beloved porch – and vanished. They’ve been missing for 26 years this month.

What happened to Jeannette and Dannette is a mystery, but their family has never given up hope of finding them. If by any chance the girls, who would be 42-year-old women on April 2, are reading this story, Curry wants them to know this: “I love them and I will never stop looking for them until the day I die.”

Just days before their 16^th birthday, the twins headed out to visit a family friend. Their 12-year-old sister, Shanta (shawn-TAY’) Sturgis, begged to go with them, but the teenagers didn’t want their baby sister tagging along.

Jeannette and Dannette made it to their friend’s house at about 4 p.m., then walked on to what was then a Pump-N-Shop gas station and convenience store near the intersection of 12^th Street and MLK Boulevard. They went inside and bought chips and drinks. The store clerk later told their sister that the twins seemed fine. It was about 4:30 p.m. when the clerk, busy at a cash register, saw the twins leave the store. She caught a vague glimpse of a vehicle outside, but didn’t see enough to give sheriff’s deputies a detailed description, or to say whether the twins got in or what direction they might’ve gone.

It’s been hard – especially on the twins’ mother, Mary Sturgis. Shanta Sturgis, the little sister left behind, wrote on her Facebook page last year, “I have been trying for so long. My mom is 60 years old now. Imagine yourself not seeing your kids that long…I can’t imagine this happening to me. But wait: It did, ‘cause those girls are my blood sisters and a piece of me left when they never returned.”

Says Curry, “I feel they got picked up by somebody…if someone was friendly to them and offered a ride, they would have gotten into the car.” Shanta Sturgis has said she wishes she had been able to go with the twins that day, but says Curry, if she had, Shanta might have been taken as well.

Yolanda Curry today, age 44, hoping to see her twin cousins again.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s Robert Lowery says it’s “extremely rare” for two siblings to be abducted together by a non-family member. It does happen, however. In 1975, sisters Katherine and Sheila Lyon, aged 10 and 12, went missing in Wheaton, Maryland and have never been found. In 1997, sisters Kati and Kristin Lisk, ages 12 and 15, were murdered after being abducted outside their home in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. In 2014, Amish sisters Delila and Fannie Miller, 7 and 12, were abducted in upstate New York. They were released within 24 hours following an AMBER Alert, but not before they were sexually abused. Their kidnappers told police they used a dog to lure the girls to their car, and that they had intended to keep the girls as slaves.

Yolanda Curry fears her quiet, homebody cousins could be enslaved somewhere. Lowery, vice president of NCMEC’s Missing Children Division, says while it’s important not to raise false hopes, “It’s important that we not give up hope, because a number of these long-term missing kids have been found and reunited with their families. Some amazing things have happened.”

For example, Jaycee Dugard was found alive after 18 years in captivity in California. Three girls who were abducted and held – much of the time in chains – in a Cleveland house for a decade are free today because one of them escaped and called law enforcement. And when she was 23, Carlina White of New York discovered she had been abducted as an infant, contacted NCMEC, and was reunited with her biological family. Law enforcement is appealing to the public for any information that might help them find the Millbrooks twins. Major Scott Peebles, commander of the Criminal Investigations Bureau at the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia, says any observations or memories that would help shed light on the case would be greatly appreciated. Curry notes that in the area where the twins were last seen, everybody knows everybody, and she believes there’s no way in the world the two girls could’ve gone missing without someone seeing something. Even now, Curry says people still ask her about her missing cousins.

Jeannette and Dannette Millbrooks are African-American. When they went missing, their black hair was styled in soft, shiny loose curls known as Jheri curls. Both have brown eyes, pierced ears and scars on their navels from operations shortly after birth. Dannette was 5 feet 6 inches tall, 130 pounds and bowlegged. She was last seen wearing a white top with Mickey Mouse on it (both girls loved watching cartoons), white jeans and black shoes. Jeannette was 5 feet 4 inches, 125 pounds. She was last seen wearing a blue pullover shift, a white turtleneck, a beige skirt, white stockings and white sneakers. The twins were in the ninth grade at Lucy Laney High School.

The photo on the left shows Dannette as a teenager. She was 15 when she went missing.
The image on the right is an age progression showing what Dannette may have looked like at age 39.

The photo on the left shows Jeannette as a teenager. She was 15 when she went missing.
The image on the right is an age progression showing what Jeannette may have looked like at age 39.

View their poster: http://ow.ly/tf0q3

If you have any information, please call

NCMEC at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678)

or the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office in Augusta, Georgia (706) 821-1080.

Adam Walsh Reauthorization Act of 2016 Helps to Keep Kids Safer

Wed, 09 Mar 2016 12:43:46 -0500

by Deborah Hennig

The work of tracking sex offenders is never done. It takes a comprehensive network of agencies on the federal, state and local level to ensure compliance and to locate and apprehend noncompliant sex offenders. Helping these various players work together to ensure compliance and to keep kids safer is just one of the key goals of the Adam Walsh Reauthorization Act of 2016.

The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, enacted in 2006, went a long way in addressing these goals and in enabling increased communication between the agencies. The reauthorization of the act, which was introduced in the Senate on March 1, 2016 by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley and Senators Charles Schumer, Orrin Hatch, and Dianne Feinstein enables the continuation of two key programs:

ONE: It reauthorizes the Sex Offender Management Assistance Program, a federal grant program that assists state and local law enforcement agencies in their efforts to improve sex offender registry systems and information sharing capabilities.

TWO: It reauthorizes the Jessica Lunsford Address Verification Grant Program, a federal program that assists state and local law enforcement agencies in their efforts to verify the residence of all or some registered sex offenders.

The bill also reauthorizes the work the U.S. Marshals Service does to aid state and local law enforcement in the location and apprehension of sex offenders who fail to comply with registration requirements.

“Preventing sex crimes, especially by known offenders, requires a team effort by law enforcement at every level,” Said Sen. Grassley. “Congress has passed laws to promote a unified approach to sex offender registration and notification. This bill will help to ensure that our state and local law enforcement officials continue to have the federal resources and assistance they need to successfully track offenders with a history of crimes against children.”

The Adam Walsh Reauthorization Act is scheduled to be considered during the month of March by the Senate Judiciary Committee. After it passes out of committee it will then have to be passed by both the Senate and House before being signed into law by the president.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, through its Sex Offender Tracking Team, provides technical assistance and analysis to federal, state and local law enforcement in their efforts to locate and apprehend noncompliant sex offenders.

NCMEC created SOTT in 2006 to use our analytical resources to support law enforcement efforts to locate noncompliant registered sex offenders and to help link these noncompliant offenders to unresolved cases of missing and sexually exploited children known to NCMEC.

In September 2009, the U.S. Marshals Service established the National Sex Offender Targeting Center to provide assistance to law enforcement agencies enforcing the provisions of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006.

For more information about NCMEC’s Sex Offender Tracking Team visit: http://www.missingkids.org/SOTT

Record-Shattering Number of Child Sexual Exploitation Reports Filed to CyberTipline

Fri, 04 Mar 2016 15:38:10 -0500

By Barbara Worth, Graphics by Carol Summers

If a child goes missing, you know to contact the police and The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

But who do you contact if you see an Internet ad offering a child for sex? Or to report child pornography or other suspected child sexual exploitation? Answer: You contact NCMEC’s CyberTipline.*

The CyberTipline is the national mechanism for the Internet industry – and you – to report suspected child sexual exploitation. In 2015, the CyberTipline received more than 4.4 million reports. That’s up from 2014’s high of just over one million – and more than in all previous 16 years of the CyberTipline’s existence combined.

John Shehan, vice president of NCMEC’s Exploited Children Division, says we can’t know if this means these crimes are increasing, but, he says, the explosion in the number of reports confirms there is a huge problem. NCMEC is in the unique position to analyze the data, spot trends, help identify children at most risk – as well as their locations – and make this information available to law enforcement. NCMEC president and CEO John F. Clark says, “Many children have been rescued by law enforcement,” because of leads provided to the CyberTipline.

One of those children was a missing 14-year-old girl who had become involved with a man online. A family friend called the CyberTipline to say he suspected the man was abusing her. The caller gave NCMEC names and descriptions of the girl and the man, whom the caller believed was a pimp. The caller also supplied names the girl used on the Internet, the name of the social media site where he believed the girl and the man met and the name of the city where both of them lived. He also said the girl was afraid the man would hurt her if she tried to end their relationship.

A NCMEC analyst found additional information about the girl and made the information available to law enforcement. Officers ultimately found the missing girl and the man in a hotel room, discovered a video of the two engaged in sexual activity, and found an online ad offering the child for sex. The girl confirmed that the man had arranged for her to have sex with other men. Her abductor faces trial on sex trafficking charges, and, if convicted, could receive from 10 years to life in prison. All this was triggered by just one call to the CyberTipline by a concerned friend.

Among the world’s greatest friends to children is NCMEC co-founder John Walsh, who has dedicated his life to protecting kids. “The crimes against children exposed via the Internet are disgusting and heartbreaking,” says Walsh, “but I believe the CyberTipline gives caring people a chance to make a difference. It all comes down to having the courage to make that call or file that report.”

The CyberTipline receives reports not only about suspected child sex trafficking and child pornography, but also about the crimes of sextortion (online attempts to entice children into performing sexual acts), child sex tourism (adults traveling to other countries to have sex with children), molestation of children by non-family members, unsolicited obscene material sent to a child and misleading, harmful domain names, words, or digital images aimed at children.

The vast majority of reports to the CyberTipline pertain to child pornography – a benign name for child sex assault images – but reports this past year also indicated a disturbing increase in sextortion. NCMEC identified the trend in 2014; 18 months later, the CyberTipline had received reports of nearly 1,000 cases. In instances of sextortion, offenders use social media to befriend children, then ask them to take explicit photos of themselves. NCMEC’s Shehan says the requests “get very graphic, very specific and escalate very quickly.” Once a child has provided even a single compromising picture, the exploiter threatens to distribute the picture on the Internet unless the child provides more photos. The child is repeatedly blackmailed – too frightened, ashamed, and humiliated to ask for help. This takes “a traumatic and stressful toll” on the child, says Shehan. Some kids become so upset about sextortion that they contemplate suicide.

Shehan notes that in the fight to protect children, Electronic Service Providers, or ESPs – companies that provide Internet and other electronic communication services to the public – are doing a “great job.” ESPs are required by law (18 U.S.C. 2258A) to report apparent child pornography they are made aware of on their systems or services to the CyberTipline.

“ESPs are doing more than ever,” says Shehan. “They don’t want child sexual abuse material in their systems, and are voluntarily taking proactive measures to eliminate it.” On average, ESPs increased the speed by which they took down exploitative material from 4.4 days in 2012 to, in 2015, just 35 hours. “They are removing it faster, and cooperating with each other to get rid of it,” says Shehan.

With continued input from ESPs and the public, NCMEC continues to further its mission of reducing child sexual exploitation and preventing future victimization in 2016. Already, just a few weeks into the new year, the CyberTipline has received more than 763,000 reports. To file a report, go to www.cybertipline.org, or call 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-543-5678). You don’t have to give your name. You don’t have to have all the details about what you’re seeing. You don’t even have to be sure about what you’re seeing. Just say what you know and/or suspect may be happening. NCMEC analysts will make your submitted information available to law enforcement – which could include the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, military criminal investigative services such as NCIS, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force program. They will take it from there, and you will know that you did something that could make a huge difference in, and even save, a child’s life.

*Never look for child sexual abuse images or content on your own. If you have information concerning child sexual abuse images or content, please report it to the CyberTipline.