Toni Anderson Missing

Toni Anderson, 20, is missing from Kansas City, Missouri. She left her job as a server at Chrome nightclub, at 4:11 Sunday morning, planning to gas up her vehicle before going home. Before pulling into the gas station, she texted a friend that she had been pulled over by police. There is no record of law enforcement from anywhere pulling her over. That was the last time anyone heard from her. She drives a black, 2014 Ford Focus with Kansas plates 989 GAX. Below are pictures; if you know where she is, please call one of the numbers on the flyer.

Update: Toni Anderson's vehicle was pulled from the Missouri River on Friday, March 10. She was in the vehicle. Condolences to her family, and there will be more on this as the investigation unfolds.

Lorentsen Family Update

The missing family of this post, Rebecka Lorentsen and her two children, have been located. They had merely moved, but had not informed anyone, and were living in a different town.

Noah Terry Thomas: Sad News

Noah Terry Thomas, of this post, was found earlier today, on his family's property. According to friends and neighbors, he was discovered in a sewer drain. This is not the outcome hoped for by so many. There will be a memorial service for Noah on Friday, March 27 at 8:00 PM at the Pearisburg Community Center, on the front lawn. The address is 1410 Wenonah Ave., Pearisburg, Virginia.

Update: Jaylen Jones Is Found Safe

There was some good news on KAKE News this morning, and that is that young Jaylen Jones was found safe in Rice County, Kansas. Something your blogger finds interesting is that Jaylen was missing for several weeks while his case was given no attention, because he had been deemed a "runaway", and therefore not important; but when his story aired in KAKE, he was suddenly located. Can this be dismissed as coincidence? Your blogger thinks not. Runaways need to be found just as much as those who disappear involuntarily need to be found, and most of the victims of human traffickers in America are actually teens who have run away from home.

Nomei Velazquez Found Safe

Nomei Velazquez, for whom an Amber Alert was issued several days ago, has been found sae in Lubbock, Texas. She was, indeed, taken against her will. She did not run away from home, as some people had suspected. Her mother had initially thought, when she did not come home from school, that she was participating in an extracurricular activity, but in reality, she was missing. Isn't that interesting, Tom Schroeder?

The suspect has been charged in this case and is now in custody. Thank the Gods for a happy ending this time.

Amber Alert Cancelled For Hailey Owens

The Amber Alert from Missouri that was initiated last night for Hailey Owens has been cancelled. It took me awhile to figure out how to write about this, since it she never needed to disappear in the first place, but it seems that the driver of the gold Ford Ranger, Craig Wood, was an athletic coach and a para at Hailey's school. Now; where, in the entire vicinity of the televised airings of the amber alert, have we heard about something like this happening? Just one hop across the state and a couple of hours travel, and Frankfort High School can be observed supplying the same type of school employee with a paycheck for similar dereliction of duty. Granted, the child who was abandoned and left to her own devices on a dirt road in an isolated area four miles away from the nearest town was extremely lucky, and lived to tell about it. Hailey was not so lucky. The Ford Ranger belonged to a school employee, and as soon as it was located at the address to which it was registered, a search warrant was obtained for that residence. Then, Hailey was found; unfortunately, deceased. Why?

There have been rumors that Craig Wood had used different names in the past, but I have seen no real evidence of this. Even so, a school can still conduct a decent background check. Women often change their names when they marry, and many marry more than once. Reasonably accurate background checks are carried out in those circumstances every day. I have even done background checks on potential employees whose backgrounds were mostly not national, and I even had to speak to providers of references in other languages on a few occasions concerning applicants who have not always used surnames. There was no problem, in any instance, performing the background checks. And none of the three companies for whom I did this had any reason as important as teaching or childcare for checking applicants' references. 

Checking references of school employees and weeding out the ones whose past histories contraindicate contact with children is a no-brainer and a requirement on paper in most states and counties. Why aren't we doing it? Why does a teacher with politically well connected parents have free reign to endanger children with impunity? Why does a teacher who graduated from the same school where he abuses and neglects remain employed at that school? Why do "friends" feel like they are doing him a favor by protecting him? Only the shadow knows! And how did a para and athletic coach with drug problems that were unearthed in a matter of minutes by journalists fly under the radar of whoever checked references and ran background checks at the Missouri school? 

Several people have commented about this, stating that the school should not be held responsible in any way. I disagree. Hailey was, most likely, encouraged to trust and respect authority. Children are rarely taught to question authority anymore. Parents who teach their children that valuable lesson are stigmatized and marginalized by "good, upstanding" koolaide drinking school administrators. Life is often hell for the parent who loves his children enough to tell them that teachers, principals, coaches, guidance counselors, and para professionals do not always have their best interests at heart. But; while life is often hell, it would be more hellish to have to say goodbye to a beloved son or daughter because the lesson of questioning authority had not been taught.

A'Kiera Burrell Sledge Found Safe

A'Kiera Burrell Sledge, the teen who went missing in Kansas City, Missouri sometime during the last week of November, was finally found over the weekend by her mom. This is the best news I've heard in a long time concerning a missing child. Especially a missing child whose status as such went largely unnoticed and unheralded by the venues we count on to report these matters and update the public concerning any progress made in searches. In fact, the media has not reported that she is safe; that is why I am unable to include a link to reference this information. I checked Facebook and found the news, and heaved a sigh of relief.

This brings me to something that is really quite disturbing. When A'Kiera first disappeared, she was not living at home, and those charged with her care did not bother to inform law  enforcement or her parents. When they finally did inform A'Kiera's mother, in order to avoid an awkward moment during a scheduled meeting with mother and daughter, as daughter was AWOL, they had no information except that they thought she might have "run away" with another teenage girl. To date, the name and picture of the other young lady has yet to surface in the news. It would appear, sadly, that no one is looking for her. In and of itself, that is an injustice beyond comprehension, but I will save that for another post. A'Kiera got a small amount of coverage from local media sources, but law enforcement in Kansas City Missouri did nothing but impede the process of finding her by refusing to take a missing persons report from her mom and never giving A'Kiera's information to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for circulation. Crittenton Childrens Center, in Kansas City, Missouri, from where A'Kiera initially disappeared, was first to drop the ball by not reporting her absence to law enforcement. The court apparently wasn't too concerned, either. When A'Kiera's mother found out and tried to get the police involved, they literally wouldn't cooperate. Much of the information circulating about this whole situation was unofficial.

It is a miracle and a blessing that A'Kiera made it home safely, but suppose she had ended up somewhere across the country, outside of the circle of friends and Facebook friends within her local community? Getting found, in a case like that, could depend upon mass photo circulation. Also, why would a police department in another state even begin to suspect that a missing child is truly missing when no Amber Alert, or other alert, has been issued? Since Crittenton Childrens Center refused to turn over the twenty-four hour surveillance video from last day A'Kiera was seen on the campus, an Amber Alert would have been difficult to issue, since no involved vehicle could be identified without viewing the video footage. But.....Kansas City Police were okay with not having the surveillance video. This is no way to conduct an investigation and find a missing child. It is also unacceptable.

Any business advertising in any of the local media or major media should be aware that many of us care a lot more about children who disappear than we do about the drivel that normally gets covered in the news. I honestly don't care about Governor Brownback's latest hypocritical and fake public prayer performance, or about tractor pulls, or about the latest moron to get arrested for shoplifting or hiding ten garbage bags of homegrown in his garage. All that stuff really isn't important to me. If I happen to read it, I read it, but I am not going to go out of my way to look for it. I am, however; going to go out of my way to find out if a missing child has been located, and to see if there is anywhere that I can circulate the pictures and information, in order to get that child home, safe, as soon as possible. That's what's important to me, and it is a big disappointment that none of the newspapers or their online counterparts prioritize missing children, particularly ethnic missing children, at all. Seriously, advertisers; I hope you are listening.

Sad Update On Brad Cook

Brad Cook, who went missing from Olathe, Kansas, last week, was found yesterday. in Desoto, Kansas. His death was one of two unexplained deaths in Desoto during the week he was found. Investigators are still trying to determine what happened and gather information. Hopefully, they will be successful and find out what happened and why.

 

 

Sad Update On David Welch

 

David Welch, of Manhattan Kansas, was reported missing by his family on September 3. On October 18, he was found in Utah. His vehicle had gone off the road and into a ravine, where he was not visible to passing traffic. By all appearances, the accident happened on September 3.

 

Welch was not killed on impact, but was trapped in his vehicle. When his car battery died, he was unable to continue attempts to signal for help, and he wrote letters, which were found in his vehicle with him, explaining the situation to his family.

 

This Child Is Obviously Not A Gyspy

 

If you have blue eyes and blond hair, yet your so called parents are both Roma, otherwise known as Gypsies, you might not really belong to them. If you have so called brothers and sisters who not only do not resemble you in any way, but also do not resemble each other, they might not actually be related to each other, or related to you. Or; if your birthday falls within a month or two of your brother or sister's birthday, and your "mom" claims to have had five of you during the same calendar month of the same year, your genetic connection to your "family" might be rather shaky. This, apparently, is the sad case for this little girl. She was found in Greece, living in a Roma family, and while the parents claimed that she is theirs, they also claimed numerous other children as theirs, giving multiple and changing stories about how the little girl came to live with them. She has been removed from the Roma community and has been found, by DNA testing, to have no connection to them. Greek authorities have nicknamed her "Maria".

The imposters claiming to be this little girl's parents have been arrested and charged with kidnapping, but in the mean time, no one has gotten the facts and the actual story of little Maria's true identity. Greece has put together posters in several languages and would like everyone to share her picture, in hopes of finding her real family.

 

Sad Update On Lana Leigh Bailey

The remains of eighteen month old Lana Leigh Bailey were found yesterday. A twenty-seven year old man named Kyle Flack has been charged with the murders of Lana's mother, and two friends. Now charges are pending for the murder of Lana, as well. Lana was found in Osage County, Kansas, about thirty to forty miles away from the primary crime scene. No one has ventured a guess about a possible motive for this crime.

 

Colton Barrera Still Needs To Be Found

Colton Barrera, the seventeen year old boy who disappeared in Russell, Kansas four years ago, is still missing and his case needs more attention. The media and law enforcement apparently cannot get the advertisements and endorsements to support telling the general public that this young man is missing, so I will run his picture again. Here is a link to the Facebook page that has been set up for discussion of his case and to spread the word. Four years is a long time for a family to look for a missing child.

 

Sad Update For Elizabeth Collins And Lyric Cook

On July 13, the two young girls of this post, Elizabeth Collins and Lyric Cook, disappeared from Lake Meyer in Blackhawk County, Iowa. Today, it appears that a hunter has found them.
 

Jessica Ridgeway Found

Sadly, Jessica Ridgeway's remains were identified today. Hers are the remains that were discovered in Arvada, Colorado, about seven miles away from where she disappeared.

 

Another Sad Update: Mickey Shunick

Mickey Shunick is believed to have been found today, in a shallow grave, near a cemetery in Evangeline Parish. She disappeared in May 19, while riding her bicycle home from a friend's house. How sad for her family and her friends.

Two Local Missing Children Are Found

I am happy to post that Savanna Kochaniek, of Potowatomie County, Kansas, has been found, as has Jack Kenyon, of Kansas City, Missouri. Both children are safe, and it is always a pleasure to post about happy resolutions to cases such as these.

Francis Kramer Found

This is a sad update to this post. Francis Kramer, of Frankfort, Kansas, was found deceased this morning by a farmer in Brown County. He was in his vehicle, and the cause of death has not been determined.

Aisha Khan And Other Found People

Today has been a good day. Aisha Khan, reported missing from Overland Park, Kansas, was found last night. While many people are frustrated because she apparently was not in immediate danger, the fact that she is safe is good news. Also found was Lauren Weinberg, who had been lost in a snowstorm in Arizona since December 11. She survived by melting snow in a water bottle for drinking water. Her cell phone battery was dead, and she was unfamiliar with the part of Arizona where she got lost.

Some else was also found. Ted Tzal had been missing for thirtyfive years,  and his sister decided to give DNA to help rule him out as a victim of the serial killer John Wayne Gacy, of Florida, who was executed in 1994. One thing led to another, and Tzal was located, alive and well, in Oregon! Instead of closure, his family got another person for their holiday shopping and Christmas card list. He actually had an interest in the Gacy case, and had read books about it, but had never considered that during his thirtyfive year absence, someone may wonder if he had been connected to Gacy, as a possible victim! That's him, in the picture on the left. All too often, a sheriff has to knock on a door to inform a family of a death, but this time, it was quite the opposite. It's probably the best Winter Holiday ever for Tzal's family.

One more for the "found list"......In Philadelphia, Pa., a newborn girl was found yesterday in a cardboard box on a sidewalk. She still had her umbelical cord, and was wrapped in a blanket, a bathrobe, and a sweater. She was also lucky she was found shortly after she was abandoned. Her prognosis is good.

A Winter Solstice Blessing

Rest In Peace, William McQuain

Several days ago, I posted some information about an Amber Alert issued in Maryland for an eleven year old young man named William McQuain. Sadly, he has been found, deceased. His remains were found in some brush, not too far away from the road, near Clarksburg, Maryland. Curtis Lopez, William's stepfather, has already been charged with the murder of William's mother, Jane. He is the main suspect in the death of William, too.

While I find it offensive that my childhood stomping grounds were deemed a good place to murder a child, it is so much more offensive to see, once again, that there are people in this world who think that "no one will miss" a child. Or that the murder of a child, if he has witnessed a crime, or is somehow "in the way", is just "collateral damage". What the hell was Lopez thinking, anyway? He stalked his estranged wife for several weeks, stole her car, (it was found in North Carolina, where he was found) and, according to the above cited article, "Police also found 18 copies of a marriage certificate inside McQuain's car, which was parked in the EconoLodge parking lot." Who the HELL travels around with eighteen copies of his marriage liscence???!! But, be that as it may, couldn't he have just left her child alone? I hope Maryland finally starts using the death penalty again.

My condolences to Marcus Coleman. I didn't know your brother personally, but he is unbelievably adorable in all of his pictures. And to you, William McQuain, rest in peace.

                                                               Jane and William McQuain