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.

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!

Wrong Poster, Terri Horman

Terri Horman, sometime step parent of missing Kyron Horman, who disappeared at age seven from his school in Portland, Oregon, has made headlines again. Kyron went missing in 2010, and June 4 will mark the four year anniversary of this horrible event, and his former stepmother has finally put up a few posters with Kyron's picture on them. After four years. Yeah. (eye-rolley here)

There are several problems with Terri posters. First of all, she's a little late. Kyron has been missing for four years, and if he is still alive, he could not possibly resemble the seven year old in his pictures anymore. The gesture not only would have been more meaningful, but would have been more helpful, had she done it when Kyron first needed to be recognized and found. And in Roseburg, Oregon, where Terri lives, there was not anywhere near as much attention to Kyron's case as there was in Portland, from where he disappeared. For that reason, posters would actually have been informative and helpful in Roseburg.

The second problem with Terri's posters is that they mention that Kyron was seen with an "unknown man". Four years after the fact, any "unknown" persons are extemporaneous details inasmuch as the general public is concerned. If Terri Horman had any information that law enforcement lacked about any unidentified witnesses, she should have given that information to law enforcement at the moment police were first called. She should also have passed her polygraphs, given factual statements about her whereabouts that day, and communicated truthfully with Kyron's teacher, using a pen and a piece of paper, about any medical appointments Kyron may or may not have had. The purpose of a picture of a missing persons poster is photo recognition. The general public is not charged with the task of solving the crime. If it happens to look as if Terri's story, or Terri's five or six stories, are lacking in sincerity and truthful detail, she should address that with law enforcement.

The third problem with these posters preferred by Terri Horman is that they give out the wrong contact information. The best way to get the correct contact information and picture on a missing person flyer is to use the flyers and posters given out and posted by law enforcement, or use the ones produced by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

A poster with correct contact information.

Telephone Tag With A'Kiera Burrell Sledge

On December 25, missing fourteen year old A'kiera Burrell Sledge, from Kansas City, Missouri, finally called her mother from an untraceable number. This is great news for Iyonna Burrell, who, prior to this phone call, had no real idea what had happened to her daughter. A'kiera has a history of running away from home, and was taken into state custody and placed in Crittenden because of it. Iyonna has not lost parental rights, just custody, but when her daughter disappeared while in the state's custody, she was treated as if no one owed her any answers. This is simply not true. What's really going on is that a facility that accepts monies from state funded insurance failed to protect a child in it's custody, and when the parent demanded answers, pretending she had no right to answers was the most convenient way of blowing her off. Unfortunately, the court in Kansas City, Missouri is vested in covering for Crittenden, and refuses to establish a profile with NCMEC for A'kiera. No one has forced Crittenden to turn over it's security footage from the cameras that provide surveillance around the perimeter twenty-four hours a day. Crittenden, so far, has gotten away with falsely stating that there is no surveillance footage.

At least Iyonna Burrell knows her daughter was alive on Christmas. A'kiera has been missing since the last week of November. She does not wish to live at Crittenden anymore. Missouri will not allow her to live with her mother, and as of late, will not even allow her mother to advocate for her while she is a missing child. Missouri was not making any efforts in improving communication between mother and daughter, and it appears that Crittenden just wanted to make sure that A'kiera was not reported missing too close to the middle of the month, lest they lose the funding for A'kiera's enrollment in their program. Or something like that. Any time stamped video footage of A'kiera leaving the facility might mean Crittenden would owe the insurance company or the state a prorated refund. The only other reasons for discouraging communication between A'kiera and family members and for withholding the surveillance footage are much more sinister.

Right now, A'kiera needs her mother more than she needs anything. The state of Missouri needs to realize it's failure in this case, and either return A'kiera to her mother or find a family member or friend who can keep A'kiera until communication and balance can be established. Telling Iyonna not to parent is one and the same as telling A'kiera she can't have a mother, at this point; and that is morally repugnant. Why can't there be an advocate, or legal counsel, for A'kiera? If there was, how would she know who to contact, and who to trust? If someone can answer those questions for her, she might place another phone call to her mom.

 

To Laura McNish

Thankyou, in advance, for the huge donation you will soon be making indirectly to the National Center For Missing And Exploited Children. Your deliberate failure to follow through with an agreement made with a local attorney plus the obvious abuses of your position, in addition to your ignorance about our nation's Constitution, have placed a compensatory award along with punitive damages within reach of my favorite charity.

You should really learn to avoid involving witnesses who don't like you in all of your stuff. You also wear too much makeup.

 

Kansas Authorities And Media Dropped The Ball On Tyler Wilson

 

Tyler Wilson has been missing from eastern Kansas since early January of this year, and I just heard about his case tonight. In fact, when I tried to find it in Kansas or national media sources, to reference it, I could find nothing. NCMEC has him listed as an endangered runaway, but as he is only fourteen, I think two and a half months are an awfully long time for a "runaway" situation. Please share his picture.

 

The Kansas Media Has Ignored Colton Ross Barrera

Colton Ross Barrera, seventeen, disappeared from Russell, Kansas, on September 26 of 2008. While I had been in Kansas for about a year, I did not hear about Colton. Neither did quite a few other people. Colton had made plans to go to the skate park in Russell, and was supposed to have been dropped off there by a friend. He had told his family that he would call the same friend for a ride home from the skate park. The last place anyone actually remembers seeing Colton is actually at the local high school. He never called his friend for a ride home.

Why didn't I hear about Colton Barrera, and about the fact that he is missing? I would have been very happy to print up flyers and try to help find him. Aside from some unpublicized vigils, what efforts have been made to find this boy? I would like to know. His profile appears in in every missing persons data base that I have checked, including the Charley Project and NCMEC, just nothing in local newspapers or websites. It looks as if the local police and the Kansas Bureau of Investigations wrote Colton off as a runaway and declined to search! Did they even question the last person to see Colton?

Colton's age progressed picture is on the upper left corner of this post, and here is the Facebook page dedicated to finding him. Below is a missing persons poster of Colton, with contact information.