First Day Of School In Frankfort, Kansas

 

It's that time of year again in Frankfort, Kansas, and this story will appear once again on this site, because the school here in Frankfort has not seen fit to come into compliance with safety standards observed by schools in other parts of Kansas, and has not come into compliance with federal law concerning the presence of weapons on school property, bullying, or student safety. The only change made is that credit shall be granted where it is due: the name of the errant and uncorrected guidance counselor who has been granted carte blanche to endanger children is Tom Schroeder.

Anyone who's listening, I will tell you a story. It's a true story, and it happened in October of 2009. Thankfully, it had a happy ending.

My oldest daughter used to be quite the avid cross country buff when she was thirteen years old. She was good at it, too. But one day, while she was at practice, and I was at home, just assuming that all was well, her coach drove past my house, stopping to talk to my eight year old son. Mr. Coach wanted to know if Mr. Eight Year Old had seen his older sister. Mr. Eight Year Old had not. No one had seen my daughter in over two hours. She was lost. Why was she lost? Because her coach had dropped her off by the side of a highway, four miles south of the town we live in, by herself, and just left her. It was part of cross country practice. No supervision. If she had been stung by a bee, had tripped and hurt herself, or had some other medical emergency, no one would have been there to help her. (at this juncture, you should know that I offered to volunteer to help with cross country, but since I do not attend a Christian church, my offer was rejected. The school staff thought it better to take chances with a child's safety in the way I just described) When my daughter realized that she did not know her way back, she started to wander on a side road, hoping it would bring her to a house, or another person. This area has a lot of commercial farms, and there were no houses or places my daughter could go to for help.
Back to my eight year old son.......Twenty minutes went by. While he did not realize the significance of his conversation with Mr. Cross County Coach, (also Mr. Guidance Counselor) he did realize that no one knew where his sister was, and it was getting later and later, and no one was looking for her. So he told me about it. I looked all over town, called all her friends, searched the school (why was the school left unlocked after everyone had gone home?) and finally started home to call the police, when a couple of senior boys drove up with my crying daughter in their car. It was still within a few minutes of when I found out she was missing, but this cross country coach had known all afternoon, and had not called the police, or spoken to me. Why? I guess whatever he cared about, it WASN'T my daughter. Well.........I actually DO care about my daughter. Nowhere else have I met a teacher that did NOT care, at least a little, about the children he teaches, but I think that is what the problem is with Mr. Cross Country Coach/ Guidance Counselor.

Suppose it was not young men from her school who found her, but a dangerous person? I have been told time and time again by the people who live in this small Kansas town that "those things don't happen here", and "there ARE no dangerous people here", but there was a sex offender whose address was within half a mile of where my daughter was abandoned. The police were quick to point that out, but the principal only argued his harmlessness as a sex offender with them and the school board is not worried about the incident.

My children no longer participate in cross country at their school. It isn't safe.

Trump Administration "Loses" Almost 1500 Children

How does one "lose" a child? The federal government, under Donald Trump, has separated many, many families detained by ICE, but their current tactic is to send the parents home without their children. No kidding. At this point, there are over 1400 children of whom the United States has "lost track", and Jeff Sessions is claiming that the United States is not responsible. That simply isn't so. Whoever has custody of a child is responsible for the child's whereabouts. Just ask the stepmother of Lucas Hernandez, Emily Glass.

Is Donald Trump selling children of immigrants in order to support his family's shopping habits?

Operation Cross Country And Junction City, Kansas

It seems that Friday the thirteenth was very exciting, last week, in Junction City, Kansas. The FBI apprehended some folks who were doing what teachers and administration from USD 380, Vermillion, and what former Congresswoman Sharon Schwartz's husband have emphatically stated never happen in Kansas: sex trafficking of children. The thing that makes Kansas very different from other states is the size of the population. There are only about 3 million people in Kansas, making it one of the most sparsely populated states in America, especially for its size; yet one of its cities, Wichita, is in the top five recruiting cities in the entire country for finding and recruiting victims! It does not matter what congressional representatives in Kansas tell us or what school principals tell us: the problem, according to the FBI, is real.

First Day Of School In Frankfort, Kansas

It's that time of year again in Frankfort, Kansas, and this story will appear once again on this site, because the school here in Frankfort has not seen fit to come into compliance with safety standards observed by schools in other parts of Kansas, and has not come into compliance with federal law concerning the presence of weapons on school property, bullying, or student safety. The only change made is that credit shall be granted where it is due: the name of the errant and uncorrected guidance counselor who has been granted carte blanche to endanger children is Tom Schroeder.

Anyone who's listening, I will tell you a story. It's a true story, and it happened in October of 2009. Thankfully, it had a happy ending.

My oldest daughter used to be quite the avid cross country buff when she was thirteen years old. She was good at it, too. But one day, while she was at practice, and I was at home, just assuming that all was well, her coach drove past my house, stopping to talk to my eight year old son. Mr. Coach wanted to know if Mr. Eight Year Old had seen his older sister. Mr. Eight Year Old had not. No one had seen my daughter in over two hours. She was lost. Why was she lost? Because her coach had dropped her off by the side of a highway, four miles south of the town we live in, by herself, and just left her. It was part of cross country practice. No supervision. If she had been stung by a bee, had tripped and hurt herself, or had some other medical emergency, no one would have been there to help her. (at this juncture, you should know that I offered to volunteer to help with cross country, but since I do not attend a Christian church, my offer was rejected. The school staff thought it better to take chances with a child's safety in the way I just described) When my daughter realized that she did not know her way back, she started to wander on a side road, hoping it would bring her to a house, or another person. This area has a lot of commercial farms, and there were no houses or places my daughter could go to for help.

Back to my eight year old son.......Twenty minutes went by. While he did not realize the signifigance of his conversation with Mr. Cross County Coach, (also Mr. Guidance Counselor) he did realize that no one knew where his sister was, and it was getting later and later, and no one was looking for her. So he told me about it. I looked all over town, called all her friends, searched the school (why was the school left unlocked after everyone had gone home?) and finally started home to call the police, when a couple of senior boys drove up with my crying daughter in their car. It was still within a few minutes of when I found out she was missing, but this cross country coach had known all afternoon, and had not called the police, or spoken to me. Why? I guess whatever he cared about, it WASN'T my daughter. Well.........I actually DO care about my daughter. Nowhere else have I met a teacher that did NOT care, at least a little, about the children he teaches, but I think that is what the problem is with Mr. Cross Country Coach/ Guidance Counselor.

Suppose it was not young men from her school who found her, but a dangerous person? I have been told time and time again by the people who live in this small Kansas town that "those things don't happen here", and "there ARE no dangerous people here", but there was a sex offender whose address was within half a mile of where my daughter was abandoned. The police were quick to point that out, but the principal only argued his harmlessness as a sex offender with them and the school board is not worried about the incident.

My children no longer participate in cross country at their school. It isn't safe

Look Who Came Home!

Elizabeth Thomas, who has been missing for almost six weeks, and Myra Alissia Freeman, who has been missing for fifteen months, have both been found this week. Thomas had been kidnapped in Tennessee by one of her teachers, who was subsequently given his pink slip in absentee, both she and the fired teacher were found in Northern California, near Yreka. We still do not have a lot of details about Freeman's situation, but we know she is alive and well. She disappeared from her Alabama home, and turned up in El Paso, Texas. It's always a pleasure to see missing persons found alive and well. Thomas's teacher, Tad Cummins did not have any cell service in Yreka, but he has "cell" service now! He is being held without bond.

Patricia Ann Welch Says She Knows What Happened To The Lyon Sisters

Patricia Ann Welch wants the police, and the rest of the world, to know that her father, Richard Welch, is not responsible for the disappearance or death of either of the two missing girls, Sheila and Katherine Lyon, who disappeared from Maryland in 1975. She goes on to volunteer the information that other other members of her family are responsible, just not her father. In 2014, her father and her cousin, Lloyd Lee Welch, were named persons of interest and in 2015, Lloyd Lee Welch was indicted in Bedford County, Virginia for the murders of both girls.

That's very interesting. Sheila and Katherine have been missing for forty-one years. If Patricia Ann Welch knew who was responsible, and what happened to them, why hasn't she spoken with law enforcement? Did she just not care about Sheila and Katherine's family?

Missing Kansas Family

Rebecka Lorentsen and her two children, fifteen year old Donald Lorentsen and seven year old Ember Schultz, disappeared from Salina, Kansas on March 31. The three were en route to Salina High School, via City Go bus, and never made it to their destination, or back to their home. Their pictures appear below; if better pictures become available, they will be shared. Anyone with information is asked to call the Salina Police Department at 785-826-7210 and ask for Detective Mangels, Detective Everette, Officer Venables, or Officer Adams.

More Evidence In Missing Lyon Sisters Case

A couple of days ago,the FBI searched a home in Hyattsville, Maryland for the second time, in connection to the Sheila and Katherine Lyon, who disappeared in Maryland in 1975. The home that was searched was a home where Lloyd Lee Welch, a suspect in the case, once lived. Testimony and evidence for the Lyon sisters has pointed investigators to Virginia during the past couple of years. Lloyd Lee Welch is now behind bars in Virginia, awaiting trial for the murders of both Katherine and Sheila. His aunt, Patricia Jean Welch, is on the docket in Bedford County, Virginia for a trial in January, 2016 because she lied to the grand jury about evidence in this case.

Kyron Horman, Missing Children, And Harassment

This is Kyron Horman's mom, Desiree Young, talking about the day her son disappeared from Skyline Elementary, in Portland Oregon, when he was in second grade. That was five years ago. During that time, she has worked hard to keep her child's case in the news, and to make everyone aware of child safety issues. Unfortunately, she has hecklers, ill wishers, and internet trolls, who do not appear to share her desire for the world to be a safer place for children. This trend, of heckling the parents of missing or murdered children is disturbing; Desiree is not the only parent to notice such individuals. It seems that any time tragedy strikes a family, and crime is suspected as the cause, the game of trolling the family seems irresistible for some. Why is that?

In Kyron Horman's case, IP numbers have been traced back to friends and relatives of Terri Horman, Kyron's sometime step-mother. In a spirit of defensiveness, they spam and comment-bomb anyone who merely shares Kyron's picture and contact information. There is a seventeen year old boy, named Colton Barrera, who disappeared in Kansas, in 2008. His case has hecklers, as well. Those are mostly the parents of young people rumored to have information about him. In an ongoing effort to silence any attempt to solve Colton's case, the parents of the persons of interest harass anyone who wants to know why Colton is missing. Law enforcement in Kansas is more worried about popularity than solving crimes, so Colton's case has not even been investigated. The forty year old missing persons case of Sheila and Katherine Lyon is another case that has attracted harassment from specific sources, directed at anyone who maintains and entertains a hope that the case will be solved. There is also a court date, on June 29, for the wife of a "person of interest". She took the whole thing a step further and actually lied to the grand jury about evidence in the case.

Even in a Kansas case that ended happily, with the missing child found, there was cover-up, in order to protect the criminality of a Frankfort teacher, and to cover the school's lack of protocol when a child disappears. Frankfort Kansas must really dislike No Child Left Behind, because Tom Schroeder left a child behind one day! The child's parents are still getting nasty emails from teachers at Frankfort High School and Tom Schroeder and his stupid frankfurter friends, defending his actions and lying for him. The only reason anyone would do this is, unfortunately, the same as the reason for harassing someone whose child is still missing or has been murdered: the perpetrator, along with any accomplices or enablers, wants to derail any chance of apprehension.

Pat Welch Lyin' About The Lyon Sisters

Lets see here; Patricia Jean Welch, of Hyattsville, Maryland, brightened her holiday last year by getting arrested in December, for lying to the grand jury in Virginia about some evidence related to the forty year old cold case of the missing Lyon sisters, from Montgomery County, Maryland. Pat Welch thought it would be more circumspect to lie, when asked pointed questions, rather than realizing that the questions never would have been asked, in the first place, unless the truth, or at least part of the truth, was already known. 

Something else to which Pat Welch did not give much attention is that when people, such as Lloyd Lee Welch, her nephew and a "person of interest" in this case, go to jail on the spur of a moment, they sometimes leave many of their personal possessions behind. Since Lloyd is in jail, and has been for years, he isn't as available to visit his previous addresses and hide evidence. That makes it a little bit easier for the police to find his stuff, what's left of it, and look for anything connected to any crimes he might have committed. 

Pat's husband, Richard Welch, is also a "person of interest" in the missing persons cases of Katherine and Sheila Lyon, and has recently retained legal counsel. This happened right around the time that the house he shares with Pat was searched again by Montgomery County Police, earlier this month. Pat says the police didn't take anything, but the media has pictures and footage of police taking things. Also, Richard's lawyer says that if the police come back, Pat and Richard will cooperate and be honest, because they have nothing to hide, but if that's really true, why is Pat due in court in Bedford County, Virginia, on June 29, for perjury? If she has nothing to hide, wouldn't she have just cooperated, and answered the grand jury's questions truthfully in December?

Sheila and Katherine Lyon, who disappeared while walking home from Wheaton Plaza, in Maryland, on March 25, 1975. 

New NCMEC Campaign

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. has a new awareness campaign to prevent children from disappearing and becoming models for milk cartons. It's called Be Here For Kids. This campaign features updated ideas for discussions about safety with children of all ages, and, of course, new discussions about internet safety. National Missing Children's is May 25, and so far, public awareness has been the best tool to prevent the tragedy of missing children.

Have a happy and safe Memorial Day, everyone!

When Should A School Notify Parents About Unplanned Absence?

A parent's worst nightmare; to have a child simply disappear. In Oregon City, Oregon, a sixteen year old girl ran away from home, instead of showing up for school one morning, and her parents were not notified of this until after 5:00 PM that day. Luckily, she was found, and now there is a local discussion in Oregon about the reporting of missing children when it concerns school. The awareness that stranger abductions culminating in murder usually feature the murder taking place within the first three hours of the abduction is key, here. Waiting until after 5:00 PM to file a report about a child who went missing hours earlier is an invitation to tragedy.

In 2011, Oregon passed a law, largely because seven year old Kyron Horman disappeared from school in 2010, that requires schools to notify parents when a child has an unplanned absence from school. The school board in the above case has, so far dodged questions from the public about whether 5:00 PM was too late to notify parents. A step in the right direction, however; is that the general public has taken notice of the potential danger to children and has begun to address it. Wouldn't it be a godsend if Marshall County, Kansas and USD 380 Vermillion, which employs the absurd and inane Tom Schroeder, who drops off children in random parts of Marshall County and does nothing but go home and eat dinner when they disappear, would show some civic concern about child safety, as well?

When Children Do Not Come Home

Time does not erase the pain of people whose lives have been turned upside down by the disappearance or murders of children. Nor does it reduce or eliminate the need to search for the missing or establish protocols when children do not come home.

Tom Schroeder, guidance counselor of the public school in Frankfort Kansas, knowingly took a very big chance of creating such a heartbreak for a family in his school district when he dumped a fourteen year old girl off by herself for cross country practice, four miles away from the school. When she did not return, he shrugged his shoulders and went home and had dinner. The girl's family was told that is the protocol for Frankfort, Kansas when a child disappears. Luckily, the strangers who picked up Schroeder's victim just took her back to the town from which she had been taken.

Quite a few of the locals in Frankfort, Kansas either do not understand the heartbreak caused when a child disappears, or perhaps they do, and it was planned for this family. Either way, the crass reactions of Frankfort Kansas are unacceptable, from blaming the victim to deriding the mother for not "just letting it go."

The video above details a case that started forty years ago, in suburban Maryland. Two young girls, Sheila and Katherine Lyon, ten and twelve years old, simply disappeared one day, in 1975, on their way home from Wheaton Plaza. The event illustrated, quite painfully, that protocols and immediate responses from law enforcement are necessary when a child goes missing. In stranger abductions, such as the case of the Lyon sisters, the victim is usually dead within three hours, according the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The school board for Frankfort, USD 380, has expressed that it is comfortable with children accepting rides from strangers in order to return to school after having been left in random places by teachers.

Today marks the fortieth anniversary of the day that Sheila and Katherine Lyon disappeared. Hopefully, the newer avenues of investigation into the case will bring answers for their parents, John and Mary Lyon. Certainly, no further explanation should be needed by Frankfort, Kansas concerning why Tom Schroeder's actions toward the student he abandoned were criminal. If it was done deliberately, Frankfort High School should just accept the fact that the young lady finally came home safely, despite their criminal attempts, and leave the family alone.

Washington Children Ruin Kidnapper's Day

Yesterday, in Sprague, Washington, a babysitter allowed three small children to play in a park by themselves. The youngest, twenty-two month old Owen Wright, was grabbed out of his stroller by a stranger! His older brother and sister gave chase, screaming for help as they went. Some teenagers in a car drove by and joined the chase, and the child snatching creep put the baby down.

Owen Wright is safe now, but police were unsuccessful in nabbing the kidnapper. Below are two stills, culled from surveillance footage from a nearby grocery store, which show the man's face. He is said to be about 6' 2", and about thirty to thirty-five years old. If you know him, please ruin his day even more and call the police department in Sprague at 509-477-3300.

Update: A fifteen year old kid has been arrested and identified in a line-up in connection to this crime.

Jailhouse Confession In Lyon Sisters Case

Does anyone remember March 25, 1975, when Sheila and Katherine Lyon, of Maryland, disappeared from Wheaton Plaza? Almost forty years have gone by, with virtually nothing in the way of answers, then a tip was suddenly shared late in 2013. Information and testimony led law enforcement away from Maryland and into Thaxton Virginia, specifically, Taylor's Mountain. Several sites were examined and dug up, and a woman named Patricia Welch was arrested in Virginia for lying to the grand jury about the case.  The newest tidbit of information is that a couple of days ago, a Delaware prisoner by the name of Lloyd Lee Welch admitted that he was a passenger in the car that left Wheaton Plaza with the girls!

After forty years, a backhanded confession. Lloyd Lee Welch still does not admit any contact with them after leaving Wheaton Plaza in the same car with both girls, but by the end of the first day they were missing, it's almost certain that he knew police were searching for them. So why didn't he share his informational gem in 1975? A response from Mr. Welch is not anticipated, as he currently sits in prison because of his inappropriate and unlawful approach to prepubescent girls. He also gave an account to law enforcement in 1975 about the whole thing, omitting, of course, the part about his own presence in the getaway car. A polygraph that was administered at the time indicated that Mr. Welch was deceptive. The only reason he was taken terribly seriously in recent efforts has to do with his intimate knowledge of certain details about this case; the few details that are possessed by law enforcement.

It has also been clarified in recent days that at least one set of remains has been recovered from a dig site on Taylor's Mountain. The process of identifying the remains is still in the works, and hopefully, John and Mary Lyon will get some answers about what happened to their daughters almost forty years ago.

Public Service Announcement

An Arrest Concerning The Missing Lyon Sisters

There is now an arrest in connection to the missing Lyon sisters, who disappeared in Maryland in 1975, after walking to Wheaton Plaza, but it is not the arrest for which so many of us had hoped. Instead of a perpetrator and direct answers, after almost forty years, the wife of a "person of interest" decided to lie to the grand jury in Virginia about a matter that is of material importance to the case. Richard Welch, of Hyattsville, Maryland, has been named a person of interest in this case, along with his jailbird nephew, Lloyd Lee Welch. Some land owned by their family, in Bedford, Virginia, has come onto the radar of authorities in the recent past, and witnesses who know the involvements of these two men have been asked to testify. Now Patricia Welch, Richard Welch's wife, has been arrested for testifying falsely in the case. Some have argued that spousal privilege should apply in Welch's case when answering questions about a matter involving her husband, but there is also at least one other person of interest, and no one has yet been charged. The only person Ms. Welch has a legal right to protect at this point in the investigation is herself, yet if she does that, there is a chance that she will incur closer scrutiny. She really should have consulted an attorney about any conflicting or untrue testimony. If she has guilty knowledge, or had decided, on her own, when, or if, the Lyons could have long overdue information concerning their missing daughters, and was still using her own timetable for sharing it, authorities will hopefully throw the book at her.

People who think they do not have to comply with federal law, especially concerning testimony related to crimes against children, are disgusting. Anyone who can help in this case should call the police in Montgomery County, Maryland at 240-773-5070.

Hoggle Children Still Missing

Jacob and Sarah Hoggle, the two Maryland toddlers who disappeared September 7 and September 8, are still missing. Their mother, Catherine Hoggle, who was the last person to see either of them, will not cooperate and tell anyone where they are.  She is now being held in a mental hospital, pending assessment about her capability to testify or participate in her own defense. Her attorney has filed a motion to dismiss the charges filed against her in connection to Jacob and Sarah's disappearance, based on the fact that she asserted her right to an attorney but was questioned for several more hours without one. Chances are rather strong that the case, itself, will not dismissed, but that information gleaned by law enforcement during that time will simply not be usable as evidence. One thing looks very certain, however; as long as Catherine has something everyone wants, specifically information about her childrens' whereabouts, she has power. When she gives that information up either by testifying or cooperating with law enforcement, she has no more power or control over the situation.

Jacob And Sarah Hoggle From Maryland

Sadly, Jacob and Sarah Hoggle, ages two and three years old, are still missing. Both have been missing over a week, now, and each were last seen with their mother, Catherine Hoggle, at separate times. She was on the lam for a few days, but was arrested on Friday of last week. So far, she has refused to cooperate in any way in locating her children, and has been referred for a psychiatric evaluation. According to her family, she suffers from mental illness.

It appears to this blogger that Darnestown, Maryland is probably where most attention should be given in search efforts. Catherine's current residence is in Clarksburg, Maryland, and her parents live in Darnestown. She was visiting her parents when she was last seen with Jacob, and had borrowed her father's vehicle that day. Favored childhood spots of Catherine's would probably be appropriate places to continue the search. Catherine has another bond hearing on September 30.

Three Topeka Missing Children

Stephanie, Seth, and Michelle Witten were last seen at their home in Topeka, Kansas last night. This morning, WIBW reported that they are all missing and that they police in Topeka have shared this picture of them with the public, asking if anyone has seen them. Stephanie is thirteen years old, Seth is twelve, and Michelle is ten. Police in Topeka can be reached at 785-368-9200 and Crime Stoppers at 785-234-0007. Please call if you know anything about the whereabouts of these three children.