Unresolved Questions

In the wake of the Casey Anthony trial, and the ongoing search for Kyron Horman, I am not surprised to hear about Kyron's Law, concerning the reporting of children who are absent from school without written excuses, and Caylee's Law, about reporting missing children. Then I read and hear what Jaycee Dugard has to tell all of us about her situation. There were sixty logged visits from probations officers to the Garrido residence, where Jaycee was hidden in the backyard and various buildings on the property, and no one could see three young ladies who did not belong there. And........there were clearly laws against Mr. Garrido having any children in his home. What is it going to take for all of us to start opening our eyes and using common sense?

Among the mistakes by state parole agents who supervised Garrido from 1999 until his latest arrest in August was a failure to investigate why there was a 12-year-old girl inside the home of a registered sex offender, why "clearly visible utility lines" were running from Garrido's home to a concealed compound where he allegedly kept Dugard and why agents took no action when they received information "clearly showing Garrido had violated his parole terms."

That was a quote from the above linked article, and it seems like a no-brainer. Especially the part about utility lines running from the home to a concealed compound. We didn't need psychics with crystal balls; we needed eyes, ears, and common sense!

Kyron's Law is excellent wisdom. I sincerely hope it helps in the future; but, if I had been teaching his class that day, and noticed his backpack and other personal effects in the classroom when I started to teach, I would have insisted that he be in the classroom with them! I would have notified the office and had someone call his parents. Of course, in the event that this was planned by his stepmother, she would probably not have helped, but at least some notice would have been taken before six or seven hours had elasped. Along with Kyron, I fervently pray that common sense is found very soon.

And I cannot forget about Adam Herrman, although his adoptive parents probably would have, had they not been convicted of theft of monies intended for him and forced to pay a small fraction of it back to the state of Kansas. Caylee Anthony was not reported missing for thirtyone days; Adam Herrman was missing for ten years before anyone reported him missing. His case has not generated all of the outcry that Caylee's has. No one has even charged Doug and Valerie Herrman of a crime in connection to Adam's disappearance. It's almost as if it were legal to lose a child in Kansas. As a parent, I would normally not think that there would need to be a law about reporting missing children in a timely manner, but ten years is a long time. I had no idea that people like Doug and Valerie Herrman even existed outside of horror movies or very isolated true stories until I heard about Adam Herrman. Yet..........here in Kansas.......they abound and thrive, taking advantage of every taxpayor funded resource they can get their hands on, with social service's blessing. Yes; I guess we need some federal laws to protect children.

Here are Doug and Valerie Herrman, the two people who thought Adam Herrman, their ADOPTED son did not matter to anyone. After never looking for their son, not even once, after he went missing, they go to work every day, unharrased, and no one incessently demands that they disclose Adam's whereabouts. They even reportedly got nasty on the phone with Adam's biological sister, telling her not to ever call back or ask about Adam again! That's how firm they are about their God-given right to "lose", or dispose of, a child, here in Kansas. Below is Adam, how he looked before he disappeared, and how he might look now if he is still alive. There is more than enough testimony from eyewitnesses and former victims of their abuses to children in the past for our judicial system to look a little harder at this. I do not agree with the citizens here in Kansas who are simply letting Doug and Valerie slide in this one. I do not agree with Kansas that Adam is not important. He is to me, just because he was a little boy who deserved love, and certainly deserved  better than Doug and Valerie Herrman. I really want Kansas to try harder to find him, and try harder to bring Doug and Valerie to justice. This probably won't happen as long as everyone feels that the situation is just "ok". It's not "ok" with me.

Here is one more unresolved question, for the road: where is Kyron Horman? Here's his picture, one more time.