In Memory Of Hser Ner Moo

A learning centre in Hser’s name brings joy to refugees.

Just over two years ago, 7 year old Hser Ner Moo disappeared on March 31, 2008.  She was part of an immigrant community – a member of a family looking for a new life in America.  However, tragedy struck and reverberated around that community when Hser Moo was abducted, assaulted and murdered.

When she disappeared, an Amber alert was issued.  Why that was done, we will never know because Hser Moo did not meet the criteria for an Amber alert. The involvement of a vehicle was never established nor suggested.  

Hser Moo was later found murdered in a nearby apartment.  According to Utah police, Esar Met, 21, admitted to authorities that he killed her before trying to hide her body. He admitted to attempting to hold the child "by force" and she died, according to a Salt Lake County statement.

Whilst we await a conclusion to this child’s tragedy, a centre created in Hser Ner Moo’s honour now brings joy.

The centre bears the name of Hser Ner Moo and is full of life. Like Hser Ner Moo, all the children are immigrants and, between them, they speak 27 different languages.  They meet daily for help with learning – including how to speak, read and write English – as well as participating in other activities.  They also eat dinner together.

The centre is a success story. It is no more than an apartment donated by the owners of the complex where Hser Ner Moo lost her life. It is not far from where she was found - but it is a centre of hope for a better life and bright future in their new country.

Since the Hser Ner Moo Centre was opened, donations, grants, and the United Way and South Salt Lake have kept it going, and growing. Currently, more than 70 children attend on a daily basis.  Parents also attend English classes during the morning hours.

Anyone who wants to share in that success by volunteering their time or providing school supplies can contact the center at: 801-466-3238

You can find out more about the Hser Ner Moo Centre on:
http://www.ssl.state.ut.us/recreation/hsernermoocenter.html%20

View Hser's thread on the Find Madeleine forum  HERE!

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Hser Ner Moo’s fuller story can be read, courtesy of The Salt Lake Tribune:

A refugee family's journey in America


A MISSING PEACE

The stories of Hser Ner Moo and Esar Met in 4 chapters with photographs - click on links below:

CHAPTER 1: Stolen hope: Daughter’s death comes after years of fear, running for a Burmese family

CHAPTER 2: Parents face delays, confusion in a slow wait for justice

CHAPTER 3: After an uneasy start in Utah, parents devastated by daughter’s death

CHAPTER 4: Fleeing grief A mother worries “We may not be able to regain the strength we had before.”

http://extras.sltrib.com/thailand/index.html

Quangos to be reviewed by the government

URGENT: Lobby your MP on behalf of Missing People

The charity Missing People is asking everyone with an interest in missing persons to use the below email template and ask their MP to attend a Parliamentary debate on Tuesday, October 26, which will challenge the Government’s decision to cut 100% of the charity’s statutory funding.

This is a critical time for missing persons. As it stands, Government funding cuts mean that, in one blow, the entire national investment into missing persons could cease, and critical services lost. This includes the work of Missing People, which searches for and supports tens of thousands of people each and every year.

Missing People is asking that as many people as possible contact their MP today to request that they attend this important Parliamentary debate. Attendance is vital, as the Government must be shown just how much support – and indeed need – there is for missing person services.

If you would like to be part of this important campaign, Missing People has prepared a template email for MPs which contains full details of the debate. This can be found below, and you can either cut and paste this into an email or use it as a model for your own message. The email will be most powerful if you can tell your own story and – if you have been touched by the issue of missing persons – feel free to make special note of any help you have received from the charity or any other agency that has supported you.

Find out who your MP is and how to contact them by clicking here, and please send your message marked as high priority and with your address so that they can see that you are one of their constituents.

Missing People needs as many MPs to attend the debate as possible, so once you have sent your own email, please pass on this weblink to any other friends and family who may also get involved.

With your help, we can ensure that Missing People can long continue to be a lifeline when someone disappears. If you have any questions about this issue, please contact Holly Towell, the charity’s Senior Policy and Campaigns Officer at holly.towell@missingpeople.or.uk or on 020 8392 4566.

TEMPLATE EMAIL:
Dear NAME MP,

As one of your constituents, I urgently ask you to attend the debate on the future of services to missing persons at 1:00 – 1:30pm on Tuesday 26 October in Westminster Hall.

Every year, 250,000 people are reported missing to police forces across the United Kingdom. Many of the vulnerable children and adults that this astonishing figure represents also leave behind families who suffer both emotional and practical impacts whilst they wait for news of their missing loved one. Yet funding cuts to missing persons mean that, in one single blow, the entire national investment into this vital issue could be ended, and critical services lost.

This includes the UK charity Missing People.

As you will know, Missing People provides a lifeline when someone disappears, by providing support to those affected by missing persons around the clock. Just last year, its staff and volunteers took over 114,000 calls for help from runaway children, vulnerable adults and their families. It provided emotional support for more than 900 families, and helped to close almost 340 missing person cases. Sadly, however, more than 1,000 cases remain open.

I realise just how critical the services provided by Missing People are, and so I ask you to represent me by attending Tuesday’s debate to show your support for both Missing People and the continued investment in missing persons. I understand that this is taking place when there is little other Parliamentary business scheduled, and so I hope that your diary will be able to accommodate this.

With your help and support, we can ensure that thousands of families every year still have this lifeline when a loved one disappears.

Thank you for your support, and I look forward to your reply.

Best wishes,

NAME

Happy Birthday Ben Needham - 21 Years Old On 29th October 2010

 An item on the ITV1 ‘Lorraine’ programme this morning caused a sharp intake of breath amongst some of us. Ben Needham will be 21 years old tomorrow! The programme item, entitled The search for Ben Needham reminded us about the little 21 month old child who disappeared on the island of Kos in 1991. His disappearance sparked a huge but ultimately unsuccessful police hunt. His mother faced hostility from the local people and police who accused her of being a negligent parent.
 
Ben had been taken to Iraklise so that he could spend time with his maternal grandparents, Eddie and Christine Needham. When he went missing on 24 July 1991, Kerry was planning to move to Kos permanently and had even secured herself a local, part-time job. On the day of his disappearance, Ben had been left in the care of his grandparents while his mother went to work at a local hotel. He had been playing near the doorway of the family's farmhouse home whilst the adults were having lunch. His grandmother is reported to have taken her eyes off him for just a few minutes when it was discovered he was gone. This was sometime around 2.30pm in the afternoon.

It is the belief of the Needham family that Ben was kidnapped with the intention of either being sold for adoption or taken by child traffickers. However, there is no evidence to support this theory and some observers consider an accident to be a legitimate alternative scenario.

Kerry Needham-Grist, his mother, has never given up hope, nor the search for her son. Ben has a younger sister, Leighanna, whom he has never even met. In October 2007, Kerry was reported to say: “All I want is to see Ben again so that he knows the truth. I want him to know that I am his mother and he wasn't abandoned or anything like that."

Currently, Kerry is writing a letter to David Cameron to beg him to let Ben's case be looked at by British police as she feels Greek police have abandoned the search for her son. Although South Yorkshire police have been helpful, she has been told that she can only have a liaison officer. Kerry feels very strongly that because UK officers flew out to investigate Madeleine McCann's disappearance that Ben has been treated differently.

As this is Ben’s 21^st birthday article, it isn’t appropriate to discuss the speculation and suspicion surrounding his disappearance. It is a time to remember him and hold him in our hearts. This is a child who disappeared – without answers. That is enough for today.

Kerry, his mum, intends to mark Ben's 21st birthday with a gathering of close relatives at the family home in Sheffield.

Happy 21st birthday Ben – from all at the Find Madeleine Forum.

View Ben's thread on the Find Madeleine forum Here!

ITV1, the ‘Lorraine’ programme (presented by Kate Garraway), 28^th October 2010 : http://www.itv.com/lorraine/joinintheconversation/kerryneedham/

'A Day for Daniel' – 29th October 2010

Daniel Morcombe – aged 13 years - missing since 7^th December 2003 

The family of Daniel Morcombe have asked for a day of remembrance and awareness on 29^th October this year. The Daniel Morcombe Foundation was established in 2005 by Daniel's parents, Denise and Bruce Morcombe, and has organised the annual awareness Day for Daniel to promote helping to make the world a safer place for our children.

As well as the annual awareness day, the Foundation continually promotes child safety. In 2008 Denise and Bruce Morcombe travelled to schools and other organisations across Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia. They met with police, politicians and principals to talk about the work of the Foundation they established in their son’s name after his abduction. They also spoke about the child safety message and protective behaviours all children can adopt in an effort to ensure no other family suffers the loss they have. The Foundation is also used to help families and children who have been victims of crime.

Daniel Morcombe was abducted from a bus stop at the Kiel Mountain Road overpass, on the Nambour Connection Road, Palmwoods, Queensland (2km north of the tourist attraction the Big Pineapple) on Sunday 7th December 2003. Daniel was to catch the 1.30pm bus to the Plaza Shopping Centre in Maroochydore but failed to arrive. The bus which should have collected Daniel was running late after a break-down and the driver was instructed not to pick up any further passengers so he ignored Daniel’s ‘hailing’ signals but radioed to the following shuttle bus driver to say that there was a young boy who needed to be picked up. When the shuttle bus arrived at the bus stop just a minute and a half later, Daniel was no longer there.

Two men were seen near to Daniel at the bus stop. They were standing beside an old, blue car parked just metres away and one was closely watching the teenager. This man was unkempt in appearance, is described as aged between 25 and 35 years, with lean to muscular build, about 175cm tall, with a gaunt face and dark brown wavy hair. The police released sketches of the man at the time but did not lead them anywhere.

The Day for Daniel is even more important this year as the Coronial Inquiry into his disappearance opened on Monday 11^th October 2010. Although Daniel’s body has never been found, his parents are hoping that the inquest will provide some answers.

The inquest, which is being held at the Maroochydore Coroner’s Court, was arranged at the request of Daniel's parents, who have fought determinedly to solve the mystery of their son's disappearance. Dozens of people who could hold the key to cracking the case will be questioned during the hearing. This will include ‘persons of interest’. The inquest is to investigate whether Daniel is still alive. If not, authorities are hoping to determine how, when and where he died, and what caused his death. The inquest will also examine the adequacy of the immediate police response to the report that Daniel was missing, and the subsequent investigation. As a result, the inquest may make general recommendations relating to community safety or police processes.

Bruce Morcombe, Daniel’s father, was the first to give evidence at the inquest. He told the hearing when his son had not returned home at 5.45 that evening the family knew something was amiss. He said the boy had caught the bus from the same location numerous times and would phone home when he was running late. Mr Morcombe also told the inquest he and his wife went to the police at 7.30pm that night but at that stage officers were very casual about the boy’s disappearance and did not think it was necessary to report the teenager as a missing person.

Mr Morcombe and his family have conducted their own searches of bushland out of desperation for clues about Daniel's disappearance. They have followed numerous leads. He told the coroner that he was given a bag of clothes that were allegedly worn by Daniel after he had been abducted. When he took the bag of clothes to Maroochydore Police Station, Mr Morcombe says “it was not greeted with enthusiasm”. He says an officer said to him words to the effect: “Do you expect me to examine every piece of clothing you bring in here?”

Detective Senior Sergeant Tracey Barnes outlined strategies used by police during the seven-year investigation. She said almost 18,000 job logs had been created in that time, each representing a piece of evidence or information relating to the case. Detective Snr Sgt Barnes said extensive forensic examinations of the abduction site had been conducted, more than 10,000 people had been interviewed throughout Australia, 35 persons of interest identified, and help had been sought from the FBI, which sent an agent to the Sunshine Coast to review the investigation process. The coroner's court has heard more police resources have been invested in the Morcombe investigation than any other in the state's history, with some strategies never tried before.

So far, the police will follow-up on one new lead that has come to light during the inquest. The police will search a Sunshine Coast bus company's phone records to identify a mystery woman who called about a missing child about an hour before Daniel Morcombe's parents realised their son had disappeared. Mrs Morcombe has confirmed that she did not make that call, so the coroner has asked for further investigation of the phone records.

As well as failing to follow-up on the phone call to the bus company, it would appear that the police also ignored an FBI agent's advice on how best to deal with a prime suspect. In February 2006 Special Agent Beasley had reviewed evidence from a series of interviews conducted with a key suspect known as Person of Interest 1, or P1, and found a number of "conflicting accounts". Agent Beasley then made specific recommendations on what detectives should focus on when the suspect was re-interviewed. P1 was not interviewed again until nearly 2 years later during a Crime and Misconduct Commission hearing in November 2007. The inquest heard that P1 is currently in jail and has given inconsistent evidence in the seven-year case.

At least 35 persons of interest have been identified, plus dozens of other associates of those people. P5 was placed under surveillance almost as soon as the investigation into Daniel’s disappearance started. He was released from jail on November 7, 2003, one month before Daniel disappeared. P5 is now behind bars for an offence against his sister. P20 committed suicide three days after being interviewed by police. Police say that he was not elevated as a suspect. An associate of P20, his daughter’s former partner P21, was also investigated because he was said to have an old blue sedan that has never been able to be located. P23 and P24 had driven to Maroochydore and Alexandra Heads to look at young boys, particularly at surf clubs. Another man accompanied them from New South Wales, and all were members of an internet paedophile chat room whose purpose in coming to the Sunshine Coast was looking for young boys. None of these were elevated as a suspect either.

The good news arising from the long-awaited inquest into the suspected abduction and murder of Daniel is that police have received more than 100 pieces of information since the coronial inquest into his case began. The surge in calls to police comes almost seven years after the investigation started. The website set up for the Daniel Morcombe Foundation crashed twice last week, apparently because of a huge increase in traffic resulting from the inquest.

The inquest has been adjourned for a week and is expected to continue next Monday.

View Daniel's thread on the Find Madeleine forum HERE!  

Please remember Daniel and all other missing children on 29^th October. Consider how you can do something extra that day to promote the plight of missing children and their families.

More information about the Daniel Morcombe Foundation can be found at the following website: www.danielmorcombe.com.au/index.html

Remembering Somer Renee Thompson - 1 Year On

The 19th October 2010 marked the first anniversary of Somer Thompson’s disappearance.  What began as a typical day exactly one year earlier turned into one of Clay County’s most tragic when the 7-year-old child went missing. The news triggered an intense, community-wide search that ended two days later when Somer’s body was discovered in a South Georgia landfill.

Since then, Jarred Harrell (25 years) who has a history of possessing child pornography, has been charged with Somer’s abduction and murder. He has been sitting in a Clay County jail since February when he was charged in the case. Harrell has pleaded not guilty, and is awaiting his next hearing scheduled for January 2011.

The 19th October could have been a day of gloom and doom under the circumstances, but the closely-knit community decided to celebrate Somer’s short life rather than focus on the tragedy of her loss.  About 400 children, teenagers and adults gathered on the Orange Park Junior High School campus on Tuesday night to remember Somer They lit candles and walked a quarter of a mile to a collection of memorabilia displayed outside the Thompson family’s Grove Park home.

The evening’s events included songs performed by Molly Hatchet and a purple balloon release - Somer’s favourite color - that prompted her mother to shout out regularly, "Justice for Somer!"  Between speakers, an onstage butterfly release brought smiles and created soft moments of levity with adults as well as children.

The people of Orange Park unified for a common purpose when Somer was missing. They clung to hope yet feared the worst. Now, Somer’s tragedy continues to pull the community together.  They have committed themselves to protecting children and raising awareness of predators.  That commitment has been fostered by Somer’s mother, Diena, who has made numerous TV and public appearances across the country on behalf of the Somer Thompson Foundation she established with Bobby Ingram who lives in Lake Asbury and is the lead guitarist for Southern rock band Molly Hatchett.  Within days of Somer’s abduction and murder, local mothers created a new group, called MAP (Moms Against Predators).

Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler summed up the message and mood of the vigil when he addressed the gathering:  "It’s time for these predators and monsters to start being afraid of us instead of us being afraid of them."  Everyone at the event (sponsored by the newly formed First Coast Neighborhood Watch ) erupted into shouts and applause.

Whilst the last year has clearly been painful for Diena, Somer’s mother, she has valued the enormous amount of support she has received for herself and her other three children. She took solace from the success of the anniversary event and said: “As long as we keep her name out there, I can make this foundation work. It’s something I have to do."

So those of us in the Find Madeleine forum support Diena, her family and the community of Orange Park by reminding you about Somer Renee Thompson.  A child who loved to hug everyone but was tragically lost far too soon.  May she rest in peace with the angels and may her name save other children and parents from a similar fate.

View Somer's thread on the Find Madeleine forum HERE!  

Further information about the Somer Thompson Foundation can be found at: http://www.somerthompsonfoundation.com/

Further links to MAP can be found at:  http://te-in.facebook.com/group.php?gid=48578133621

Madeleine vs Mirco - so close, and yet so far away

Madeleine McCann disappeared on May 3rd 2007. It´s been more than 3 long years since she disappeared without a trace. It seems like such a long time to me, especially having watched the case since day one, hoping and praying that this little girl would be found and brought back home. Up until that time in May 2007, I had hardly recognized the fact that so many children went missing or were abducted either by strangers or by people they know. I would call it rather naïve of me to have thought it didn´t happen that much, and surely this world couldn´t be all that bad, and that children would be safe. Also, of all the missing children I have read about and seen either being found again or have remained missing, or unfortunately have turned up no longer with us, none of it has happened nearby to where I live.

I have changed my mind since then, and reality has hit me in that not only are children not as safe as I thought they were, but children ARE going missing right here where I live. It´s not all just happening “somewhere else”, but in front of my nose !

So for all of those who have not yet heard of the case I am about to tell you about, here it is :

There are quite a few news articles on the forum, however they are all badly translated, and I shall try to put this case into a better perspective by describing it in my own words, and although I am literally 15 miles from where it happened, and only 4 miles from where the SOCO police have their offices, I am not any better off with information than anybody else reading the news.

This is the story of a little boy ; Mirco Schlitter, aged 10 at the time of his disappearance, who went missing on the evening/night of September 3rd 2010, near Grefrath in Norththeinwestfalia, Germany. It was a Friday afternoon, and Mirco had met with some friends at a skating area in a nearby village. When he failed to returm home at a given time and it began to get dark, his mother called him on his mobile phone and asked him to come home as soon as he could, since it was getting rather late and dark. Once she had completed the call and knew he was on his way back, she popped into the study to let Mirco´s father know he was on the way, and said she was going to bed. The father misunderstood her, and continued with his computer work and then also went to bed.

Meanwhile Mirco had never reached his home again. Something happened to him on his way back after dropping off one of his friends at home first. Mirco´s bicycle was found the following day, thrown in a ditch, next to a path he used on route to his home. It was the next morning before Mirco was found to be missing, since both parents had assumed he was tucked up in bed. ( I do find it strange that a 10 year old child lets himself in at night and goes to bed on his own, but then some children are independent from an early age ).

A search was underway very quickly once the report went in that this child was missing, but the news here only started coming in from Saturday evening / Sunday morning. I had heard helicopters flying and circling around above, but it didn´t seem unusual to me, as this often happens on normal weekends. But the sound of fighter jets overhead in the middle of the night using special cameras was rather unique to me and quite eerie.
There is and was only one photo of Mirco that was sent out to the public, and there were hundreds of callers with information, once it was known where he disappeared from and where his bicycle was found. To me, it all went pretty quickly, and so it should, when a child is missing, The first hours are crucial.

Grefrath is a small town surrounded by many small villages which lead to each other by rural paths and surrounded by a lot of forest and corn fields and little rivers running by, so of course plenty opportunity to commit a crime and have it well hidden. Also the border to the Netherlands is not very far at all. There were hundreds of searchers out in those forests and fields day in and day out, to no avail. The rivers have been searched too. Some witnesses have said they heard a child's screams in a particular direction, which have also been investigated.

One by one Mirco's clothing was found in a garbage bin at a parking bay off one of the main roads, which also led into forest. A third article was found a little later in another area nearby; the police are not revealing what this article is, but foreign DNA has been found on this article as well as other traces around the same place. This has taken weeks to diagnose, while the SOCO police continue trying to fit the puzzle in the background. They say they do not have one lead, but SEVERAL, and have laid many “mouse traps” in which they feel confident the offender will fall into ! The police profilers are saying the offender comes from that region, and is living nearby as a normal inhabitant, and are asking the public for any information, especially those living nearby. The offender will have acted strangely before and after the crime; possibly booked off sick, or disappeared for a length of time. Now that the DNA has been identified, the police are trying to find all the people who may have been in that area at the time or before the crime, and then will go on to do a DNA test on everybody in the region.
I am confident that our police force is doing everything they can to solve this case and find Mirco.

All still ongoing……. And yet, oh so similar to what was investigated in most other cases, partly kept silent so as not to jeopardise the investigation and to safeguard the child in the case that he may still be alive. We hope and pray…… and continue to take our children to school and back, with that feeling of :.... IT CAN HAPPEN TO ANY OF US, EVEN RIGHT NEXT DOOR!!!!!!!

View Mirco's thread on the Find Madeleine forum HERE!

£1.5 Million Reward - Unclaimed!

Madeleine Beth McCann disappeared on the evening of Thursday, 3 May 2007, while on holiday with her parents and twin siblings in the Algarve region of Portugal The British girl went missing from an apartment, in the central area of the resort of Praia da Luz, a few days before her fourth birthday.

In Septemeber 2007, the News Of The World newspaper offered its readers the sum of £1.5 million for anyone giving information that leads to the safe return of Madeleine. That reward has so far gone unclaimed. Despite 'sightings' all across the world, none have been confirmed as being a positive sighting of Madeleine McCann.

Where is Madeleine McCann? Why has nobody come forward with information and claimed the £1.5 million reward offered by the newspaper? Does money really talk? Not in this case it hasn't! In fact, in the words of John "Johnny" Lester Nash, 'THERE ARE MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS'. But why is this case fast becoming one of the biggest unsolved mysteries in modern times? Just how much money does it really take to make people talk?

£1.5 million could be yours!!!

33 Miners Lost For 17 Days Then Found - 70 Days To Be Recovered Alive From Chilean 'Hell Hole'

It's a workingman I am and I've been down underground
And I swear by God if I ever see the sun
Or for any length of time, I can hold it in my mind
I never again will go down underground



The 33 miners trapped deep underground for more than two months in northern Chile have all now been rescued.

Chile let out an almighty roar on Wednesday when the first miner reached the surface after 69 days. The Catholic nation tolled the church bells to signal this momentous occasion. Families and friends have been camping out in 'Camp Hope' for weeks, waiting for news about their loved ones. Finally, the waiting was over. Cheers resounded around the world as the first rescued miner, Florencio Avalos, reached the surface after being winched up a shaft 624m (2,074ft) long. What a fearful and interminable journey that must have been. All hopes were pinned on the fete of engineering and his bravery to lead to way.

The 33 men were trapped by a rock fall at the mine near Copiapo, about 725km (450 miles) north of Santiago, on 5th August 2010. Rescuers had almost given up the search when they located them 17 days later. Contact was made on 22nd August when a rescue team’s drill probe broke through the miner’s sheltered area, about 700m below the surface. The men attached a note saying: “All 33 of us are well inside the shelter.” Chile was euphoric - but then the planning had to start.

Since then, people around the world have been joining forces in thoughts and prayers, to watch and pray as history was in the making. Our forum members were no exception. The plan to rescue the miners was so audacious that it seemed impossibly ambitious. This has truly been one of the biggest rescue efforts in mining history, a brilliant piece of engineering teamwork in order to save lives

On Wednesday, we joined hands across cyberspace - each watching the news unfold in their own country. We celebrated but shared fears in equal proportions across the internet. Our members share concerns about missing children every day of every week, and we do our utmost to help. On this occasion, we recognised the value of fathers, husbands, brothers and sons who had been missing but had been found - found but not yet rescued. Those of us who could pray prayed hard; those who were not comfortable with prayers held the miners, their families and the engineers in their thoughts.

The miners themselves, always had faith that somehow they were going to be out of there - that somehow they were going to be rescued. We had to hold the same faith. It was almost our duty to read the news and watch the live-streams from the major news agencies. If we didn’t watch or read then we felt we might have let them down. We had to keep them close to us in our thoughts.

So, on Wednesday, we found ourselves joining across cyber space: from the UK to Ireland; from Germany to the USA. We also joined in the chant “Chi-chi-chi-le-le-le, los mineros de Chile”” whenever a miner reached the surface. We shed tears as the families embraced. We were moved by the stories associated with each individual:

MARIO GOMEZ, 63 - the oldest miner who has worked in the mines since the age of 12 years was thinking about retiring in November.

JIMMY SANCHEZ, 19 - the youngest miner who has only 5 months mining experience.

VICTOR ZAMORA, 33 - only went into the mine on the day of the accident to repair a vehicle. He has already survived one natural disaster - the earthquake which hit Talcahuano in February and destroyed his original workplace.

ARIEL TACONA, 29 - became a father on the 40th day of being trapped. His wife Elizabeth Segovia gave birth to a girl on 14th September. He asked her to name their daughter Esperanza which is Spanish for hope.

ESTEBAN ROJAS - told his girlfriend of 25 years: “When I get out of here we’ll buy you a wedding dress and get married in church.”

The last time our forum members joined together in real-time over a recovery story which had grabbed our hearts was when Shannon Matthews was found. We did a cyber conga around the forum. One of our forum members was due to do her third day of volunteer ‘search and rescue’ in Yorkshire on the Saturday but, gladly, she was not needed.

So, on Wednesday, we partied all night again! They are different scenarios - but our joy was the same. Whether it is one child who is found safe or 33 men, the joy is euphoric.

And what can be said about those 6 rescue workers who placed their lives on the line to bring out the trapped miners? They are ‘super-human’; ‘earth angels’ or really special human beings. They went down into the hell-hole to give the miners a chance to make the claustrophobic journey back to the surface and to their families. What a selfless act.

Who could have failed to shed a tear when Luis Ursula (shift foreman, 54 years) approached the Chilean President and said, “I hand over my shift to you”? Sebastian Pinera, also with great emotion, accepted the gesture and hugged the man who had led a great team. President Pinera spoke, afterwards, about the value of commitment, teamwork, trust and faith. None of these values is more important than the other.

Our forum takes a new lesson from this formidable experience. We have to keep working on the cases of the missing; we have to do whatever we can - and at all costs, we have to have faith and hope.

Jozlynn Mari Martinez

Jury finds Jeffrey Malmberg guilty of second-degree murder in death of 2-year-old Jozylnn Martinez

Jeffrey Malmberg has been found guilty of second-degree murder today following a Kent County Circuit Court jury deliberating for about three hours.

The verdict was just returned and Malmberg now faces up to life in prison on the conviction for killing 2-year-old Jozlynn Martinez on Feb. 22.

Malmberg admitted putting his knee on the chest of the girl, the daughter of his live-in girlfriend Connie Martinez.

During the five-day trial, he argued that Jozlynn’s death was an accident as he tried to calm her temper tantrum.

Assistant Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker worked to convince the panel that Malmberg should have known the risk of injury or death was likely when a grown man puts his body on a child.


Becker said there was no excuse for the response by Malmberg, who bagged Jozlynn’s body and threw it in a Dumpster near their 915 Nagold St. NW apartment.

Jurors also found him guilty of felony larceny from taking Connie Martinez's tax
return money and tampering with evidence, stemming from disposing of the girls.
body.

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/10/jury_finds_jeffrey_malmberg_gu.html

Jozlynn's body was never found!!

View Jozlynn's thread on the Find Madeleine forum HERE!

Missing Zahra Claire Baker

Time was running out Monday in the search for a shy but upbeat 10-year-old whose battles with bone cancer left her with a prosthetic leg and hearing aids in both ears, the police chief said. It's unclear when she was last seen alive.

The father and stepmother of 10-year-old Zahra Clare Baker told police that they discovered she was missing on Saturday and that one of them had seen her sleeping in her room hours earlier. Yet Hickory Police Chief Tom Adkins cast doubt on their accounts during an afternoon news conference.

He said investigators were having trouble finding anyone else who had seen the home-schooled girl alive in the last few weeks.

"We don't know the last time anyone saw her," he said. "We're having a difficult time establishing a true timeline."

Zahra's father, Adam Baker, said during an earlier TV interview that it was possible his wife could be involved in the disappearance, which was reported hours after a fire in the home's backyard. Elisa Baker was arrested Sunday on about a dozen charges unrelated to the girl's disappearance.

http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/chief-unclear-when-missing-676253.html

View Zahra's thread on the Find Madeleine forum HERE!

Zahra Clare Baker: Dogs smell human remains at missing girl's home.



http://www.examiner.com/crime-in-national/dogs-smell-human-remains-at-home-of-missing-north-carolina-girl-zahra-clare-baker-video

New UK Charity Uses Social Networks to Find Missing Children Worldwide

The 8th August 2010 was a special day for a group of very special people - the team behind HELP FIND MY CHILD. This dedicated team specialise in combining the latest technologies with the power of online communities, such as Facebook and Twitter, to make a big impact in the global search for missing children. The use of modern technology means that they can get the word out about missing children very fast, and they reach a huge on-line audience. Their enormous contribution in this field was, on that day, recognised through the award of charitable status. (HELP FIND MY CHILD: Registered Charity: SC041522)

Like ourselves in the Find Madeleine forum, the volunteers in Help Find My Child were brought together because of one missing child, Madeleine McCann. The founders are all mums who have full-time jobs. The work they do is undertaken in their spare time, although it is clear that this ‘spare time’ is often 8 to 16 hours a day. Their unstinting dedication to the plight of missing children is enormous.

Having linked up because of Madeleine, it soon became clear to the Help Find My Child team that there needed to be more support for the families left behind, and a more pro-active approach to sharing the information world-wide. We have first-hand knowledge of the fear, frustration and despair felt by families from some of our own members who had missing children over the past 3 years. Thankfully, two of our members’ children have since been found and returned home. It is a fact that 1 in 6 missing children are located through the use of posters and Help Find My Child has enlisted the help of the global network to get posters distributed. This small team makes sure that information is available wherever people gather on the internet.

Help Find My Child release video appeals; maximise visibility; reach out through social networks, send real time alerts and updates - and raise awareness every minute of every day across the blogosphere. They believe that the on-line community is a powerful force in the search for missing children. A tweet or sharing their information could potentially reach the person who has the vital clue to bring a child home. We will never know how many children their speedy information has helped.

HELP FIND MY CHILD is a small charity making a big impact with the help and support of the on-line community. They never give up.

All at Find Madeleine salute you and congratulate you on achieving charitable status. This accolade is well deserved. May your work continue for a long time, and may you continue making a difference.

To find out more about the charity visit http://www.helpfindmychild.net or follow them on twitter@helpfindmychild



Children featured in this missing video: Andrew Thompson, Haleigh Cummings, Madeleine McCann, Andrew Gosden, Adji Desir, Amy Fitzpatrick, Kayla Berg, Alexander and Christopher Watkins, Jessie Foster, Danica Childs, Gabriel Johnson, Hassani Campbell


~ Please subscribe to the Help Find My Child channel and share this video ~
~ Missing kids need your support ~

Abducted early 1960's - Do You Know who I am?

Forever Searching has created an awareness video, in an effort to raise awareness to the case of a little girl who was abducted in the early to mid 1960’s, now a middle aged lady, who wants to find her way home. She was possibly abducted from the New England or Mid West areas of the United States. The little girl had brown hair and blue eyes; she had a fair complexion with freckles.

The video is a dedication to all missing children and to the families of missing loved ones, it’s a message not to give up hope, its proof that victims of abductions do survive.

As impossible as it may seem, that in this day and age, through police records and DNA databases, that this case cannot be resolved. Let us bear in mind that this case is over 40 years old, there was not the technology that we have to-day, in the 1960’s, to help the families of missing children.
It was not until the 1980’s that ICMEC was established, prior to that missing children cases were recorded at local police stations.

Please support this case by circulating this video, somewhere out there is a family, living a nightmare not knowing what happened to their daughter, let’s end their nightmare and help bring their daughter home.

http://www.foreversearching.com/December%202009.pdf

Message to families of missing people

Source: http://www.damiennettles.com/Message.html
October 5, 2010  Letter to MP's
Do we really want to go back there?  Please take a moment to read this and if
you can cut and paste this letter and forward this to your MP as a matter
of urgency, please do so.  We will be taking a huge step backwards with the
closure of this organization and put power back to local levels where cases
like my son's will be swept under the carpet until it is too late to follow a
trail.....

If you are not in the UK, maybe write directly
to Theresa May, who oversea’s the NPIA, mayt@parliament.uk,
addressed as Mrs May                                                Contact your local MP's,click here
                                                                      

Dear {your MP}

The National Police Improvement Agency (NPIA) Missing Persons Bureau faces closure or having its services re-structured, according to a leaked Government document listing 129 public bodies, which will be consolidated down to something in the region of 57, by the end of 2012.

The NPIA Missing Persons Bureau is the national and international point of contact in the UK for all missing and unidentified cases and is the centre for information exchange, knowledge and expertise on the missing.  It provides an integrated service for missing adults and children. People who go missing can travel extensively, crossing borders on a regional, national and international level.  There is a real need for a national operational unit to manage both missing children and adults.

Currently, outside of the smaller NGO’s, there is no support for parents of children abducted into the UK and little available to parents of children missing abroad, having the NPIA Missing Person’s Bureau has enabled smaller NGO’s to get additional governmental department services so rightly deserved in these cases.

The Bureau also has strong productive links with related groups and charities, including Forever Searching.  It has provided a platform to bring these smaller NGO’s together to share and exchange information and advice, and more importantly to give the families and friends of missing loved ones a voice through these
organisations.

Let us highlight for you the risk and the impact that closing of the NPIA Bureau would have on the issue of missing people.

·                       patterns of missing indicating crime and harm going unnoticed

·                       long term unresolved cases

·                       unresolved suspicious and murder cases

·                       duplication of effort trying to resolve these cases and safeguard individuals

·                       inconsistent and impeded response to cross-border cases

·                       inability to improve and disseminate good practice

·                       failure to resolve cases using other national services such as the national Missing Persons DNA Database, Missing Persons Dental Records file and the National Fingerprint Database

·                       lack of oversight of joined up multi-agency services

Again, let us highlight for you the risks of splitting the services offered by NPIA into other agencies:

There will be confusion around responsibilities in various cases involving adults and children who go missing together and children who turn 18 whilst missing.

There will be significant difficulties regarding those aged 16-25 years.  This age group is vulnerable as they are in a transition period between childhood and adulthood, i.e. Information and advice drop in service Check-Point provide services for young people up to the age of 22. http://www.torbay.gov.uk/checkpoint  Young people who are cared for in the care system are eligible for support until they are 25.

Separating missing children and adult police co-ordination will have a negative impact on the police response.  We believe that the Missing Persons Bureau is essential to link missing persons cases and link victims of murder who have been reported missing.

Missing people are known to travel large distances; this is especially true in cases of parental abduction. Our charity has much experience in this area from its support to families and friends.  A national service like the NPIA is needed to resolve these cases.

Without a national Bureau working to resolve both missing adult and child cases we have great concerns that the impetus of the recent Taskforce may be lost. Some of the issues identified by the Missing Persons Taskforce include:

·              Lack of public understanding on the issue of missing people.

·              Data collection is poor.

·              Responses from multi-agencies are not co-ordinated.

·              Roles and responsibilities of all agencies are not clear

·              Levels of support to families of the missing is not sufficient

Further details on these recommendations to improve the multi-agency response to missing incidents are set out in The Missing Persons Taskforce report.     http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/Missing-persons-taskforce.html

Supported by smaller NGO’s such as ourselves and Missing Abroad, the group Family and Friends of the
Missing have been calling for additional support to people caught up in this nightmare situation.  This resulted -in EDM1119 which subsequently came to nothing.  We urge you to continue the work of the NPIA Missing Person’s Bureau within the new National Crime Agency.  Strong links to the charitable sector are also needed to provide the necessary support and comfort to the families left behind.

The most important issue for families and friends is to have a unified, structured and supportive Governmental body working to in this field to help find those who are missing.

We would respectfully request that the services provided for missing people are not compromised by the re-structure of police services and the phasing out of the NPIA.

Yours sincerely


...sign here..

Find Madeleine forum update - Closed Cases (Part 2)

HANNA MACK - After entering a guilty plea to avoid the death penalty, Shaun Earl Arender (a Neighbour) was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murder of Hanna Mack (6 years old). Hanna's mother's live in boyfriend Kevin Wayne Anders was not convicted of involvement in Hanna's murder but he was found Guilty of 10 counts of possesion of child pornography and was sentenced to 10 years in jail for each count each to be served consecutively. Kevin Wayne Ander's release date is filed as 12 September 2097. He is eligible for parole 30 July 2021.

JOSHUA BEASLEY - Found in the River Thames after Christmas revelries. Pathologist Dr Peter Jerreat gave the cause of death as 'drowning by immersion in water' with Joshua (17 years old) almost four times the legal drink-drive limit before he died. Detective Inspector Cliff Stanley from the Metropolitan Police said Joshua's body still had money and an MP3 player on his person, making it unlikely he was mugged or attacked.

ANIA DUNCAN - Found in a dumpster having suffered horrific violence. After pleading guilty to murder and kidnapping, Dimetreus Duncan was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the murder of his daughter Ania Duncan (6 months old). He will be eligible for parole in 2030.

ROSEMARY EDWARDS - Found hanged in a New Forest wood. Rosemary (15 years old) suffered from severe depression. Coroner Keith Wiseman recorded a verdict of suicide in this case

DOMINIC MAYNARD - Found drowned off Bournemouth beach following extensive bullying at school and college. Coroner Sheriff Payne recorded a suicide verdict on the 19 year old.

JUSTICE & RAIDEN ROBINSON - Justice (16 months old) and Raiden (7 weeks old) were starved to death. Their two year old brother survived. Their mother, Marie Genevieve Robinson, pleaded guilty to two manslaughter charges and one count of reckless endangerment. She was sentenced to 34 years in prison for the manslaughter of her two sons Justice and Raiden and the reckless endangerment of her third son Phoenix. Robinson is never allowed to have contact with her surviving son, Phoenix, who now lives out of state with a relative.

You can find full details on the cases here: http://find-madeleine.forumotion.net/closed-cases-missing-or-abducted-archived-cases-f28/

Find Madeleine forum update - Closed Cases (Part 1)

Merlynsam and Twiglet have been trawling the news to update many of our closed cases (looking for information about trials and sentencing). They have managed to close, lock and archive a number of threads over the past few days:
BRIANNA DENISON - James Biela sentenced to death by lethal injection, and 4 more life sentences handed down for other rape offences. (Death sentences automatically go to appeal, but justice has been served for Brianna.)

KHYRA ISHAQ - the step-father (Gordon, 35) was jailed for 15 years while the schizophrenic mother (Abuhamza, 31) was given an indefinite sentence for public protection with a minimum term of seven and a half years.

MAX AND CHANDLER HERNADEZ - case closed. No other person involved in the suicide/car accident. Full investigation into the lack of police response to the 911 call now complete.

AJA JOHNSON - step-father, Lester Hobbs murdered Tonya Hobbs (her mother) and then abducted Aja. Lester Hobbs later Murdered Aja and committed suicide. Case closed with the agreement of Aja's father. All convinced that nobody assisted Lester Hobbs whilst on the run from police.

KELSEY BRIGGS - Raye Dawn Smith (mother) is to serve 27 years in prison for enabling child abuse. Kelsey's stepfather, Michael Lee Porter, is serving 30 years in prison. He once was charged with sexually abusing and murdering Kelsey but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of enabling child abuse after reaching a deal with prosecutors.

HOLLY AND DIANE FALLON - Ex-soldier Thomas Smith, 26 (a convicted sex offender who lived next door to the Fallon's) has been jailed for at least 32 years after admitting raping and murdering the 10 year-old-girl and murdering her mother at their home in Ayrshire.

EMMA AGNEW - Liam James Reid has been found guilty of the murder and rape of Emma Agnew. He has also been found guilty of the rape and attempted murder of a student in Dunedin. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a 26 year non-parole period in December 2008. This was reduced on a appeal to a minimum 23 year non-parole period in July 2009. Eligible for possible release November 2030 (at the earliest).

LUCAS WARD - Police have confirmed four-year-old Gisborne boy Lucas Ward died from drowning. the coroner will consider the report to formally record this as an accidental drowning.

TERESA CORMACK - An 'old case' from 2002 which Twiglet has updated - Jules Mikus was found guilty of her abduction, rape, sexual assualt and murder. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, preventive detention for rape, 14 years for sexual assualt and 14 years for abduction. Jules Mikus was sentenced under the laws applicable at the time of the offence - 1987 - meaning that he got a non-parole period of seven years. However he is unlikly to be paroled as the judge also saw fit to impose a sentence of preventive detention. Therefore he will serve at least 9 years 4 months before he can even be considered for possible release. Eligible for parole from February 2012.


You can find full details on the cases here: http://find-madeleine.forumotion.net/closed-cases-missing-or-abducted-archived-cases-f28/