| Missing
Children Success Stories
California Law Enforcement Recover Missing Boy in Mexico
The California mother last saw her son when he was 16-months old. She
thought his father was taking him to the park – that’s where
he said he was going when they left their Avenal home that day in June
2005. But she would not see her child again for seven agonizing years.
After two years of searching, and as concerns grew that father and son
may be in Mexico City, investigators with the Kings County District Attorney’s
Office asked for help from the National Center for Missing & Exploited
Children. (NCMEC) The Alexandria, VA-based nonprofit sprang into action:
The Forensics Unit age-progressed a photo of the boy to show what he
might look like as a three-year-old. Posters with that image were distributed
around the country, public databases donated to NCMEC were searched for
clues and NCMEC’s federal liaisons, including the State Department,
were brought in to help. Four more years would pass.
Then, finally, on Oct. 13, 2011, NCMEC received a phone call from someone
claiming to know the child’s father. Initially very hesitant to
provide any information, the caller was forwarded to the NCMEC case manager,
who was able to gain the caller’s trust. The caller knew where
the father was working in New Jersey, his work schedule and possible
aliases. The case manager immediately called the lead investigator, who
then worked with New Jersey State Police to provide the necessary warrant
information.
The next day, New Jersey state troopers located the child’s father
and charged him with kidnapping. The boy was not with him. His father
refused to waive extradition, claiming he was someone else. Certain they
had arrested the right person, the extradition process proceeded, and
in January 2012 the father arrived in California. Soon after, he agreed
to coordinate the return of his son, who was with relatives in Mexico
City. On March 13, the investigator and officials with the California
Foreign Prosecution Unit accompanied the child’s mother to Mexico
City. She was reunited with her eight-year-old son.
North Carolina Detectives, FBI Stop Abduction of Child to Mexico
The call for help came early on March 12, 2012 to the National Center
for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) in Alexandria, Va. A two-year-old
girl from Haywood County, N.C., was missing, police said, and her mother
may be trying to flee the country with the child.
The child’s aunt had temporary custody, and when the mother did
not return her after a scheduled visitation, the aunt called police.
The aunt had reason to worry: the mother was due in court the next day
on felony drug charges.
NCMEC employees quickly disseminated a poster of the missing child and
mother. Through phone records, the lead detective discovered the mother
had left the state and was in Alabama, possibly on her way to Mexico
to meet up with her boyfriend.
The FBI was notified, and an agent took a copy of the poster to the
local bus depot and interviewed bus attendants. They directed the agent
to another bus company at a nearby Mexican store, from which their buses
make regular runs to Mexico. Records confirmed that the mother had purchased
a ticket the previous day, and the bus she was on was scheduled to stop
at their Houston station for 20 minutes before continuing to Mexico City.
The FBI agent quickly contacted agents in Houston. When agents arrived
at the bus station, they interviewed the station manager and showed him
NCMEC’s poster. The manager at once recognized the mother and child,
who were waiting on the platform for the next bus. The child was safely
recovered, while agents with the Houston Police Department and FBI arrested
the mother.
Walmart Employee Helps Police Find Missing 14-year-old Arkansas Girl
A 14-year-old Arkansas girl had been missing for two days, and, on March
11, 2012, police in her hometown of Bella Vista turned to the National
Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) for help. The teenager
may have fled to California with her 19-year-old boyfriend, police said.
Or the teenagers could even be on their way to Canada.
NCMEC’s case management team sprang into action, working with
the Bella Vista Police Department and the girl’s family to create
a poster with her photograph and physical description. On March 16, NCMEC
distributed the poster to many of its poster partners, including Walmart.
Meanwhile, that same day, a Walmart employee at one of its stores in
Aberdeen, WA., was becoming suspicious of a young girl who had been using
the store’s public restroom to bathe herself over the last two
days. The employee confronted the teenager, who said she was from Arkansas
and was traveling with her older brother.
Skeptical of the girl’s explanation, the employee went to a computer
and checked the NCMEC website. The employee was familiar with NCMEC,
the nation’s leading nonprofit organization working with law enforcement
to find missing children, and with her company’s partnership with
the charity. The employee quickly recognized the girl on one of the missing
posters on NCMEC’s website, www.missingkids.com, and called NCMEC’s
24-hour toll-free hotline and local police.
Officers with the Aberdeen Police Department were dispatched to the
store and took the child into protective custody. After being questioned,
the 14-year-old admitted to being the missing child and was reunited
with her family.
Special thanks to NCMEC’s partner, Walmart, and their employees
for their continued commitment and support in locating America’s
missing children.
Truck Driver, New Orleans Police Help Locate Missing California Child
On November 30, 2011, a California father asked the National Center
for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) to help him find his missing
6-year-old daughter. Two weeks earlier, the girl and her mother had not
shown up for a scheduled visitation. Alarmed, he went to their home,
only to find it empty. He immediately filed a missing person’s
report with police and obtained an emergency custody order from his local
family court.
An investigator with the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office
was assigned to the case, and a NCMEC case management team began helping
with the search. Through NCMEC’s photo partners, a poster was quickly
produced and disseminated with the child's photograph and physical description.
At first, information indicated that the mother could still be in the
California area, possibly following the “Occupy” movement.
Then in January, the investigator received a tip through NCMEC’s
24-hour Call Center that the pair may have hitchhiked to Denver, CO.
and planned to continue east. On Feb. 11, the Call Center received another
tip from a truck driver who said he had given the child and mother a
ride. The driver said the child had initially used an alias but had later
confided in him her real name. After dropping them off at a truck stop
in Saint Tammany Parish, LA., the driver searched NCMEC’s website
and found the missing child’s poster. The lead was immediately
forwarded to the investigator in California. Meanwhile, NCMEC’s
case management team began disseminating the child’s poster in
the New Orleans area, where it was believed the two planned to attend
Mardi Gras.
During the early hours of Feb. 14, officers with the New Orleans Police
Department came across a woman and child at a coffee shop and became
suspicious that the child was out so late. Concerned that she could be
missing, the officers used their smart phone to search NCMEC website
and found her poster there. They immediately contacted NCMEC’s
Call Center and were put in touch with the investigator in California.
Within minutes, the New Orleans officers took the child into protective
custody until her father could get there to take her home.
NCMEC Poster
Helps Agency Find Missing Teen
On January 27, 2012, The National Center for Missing & Exploited
Children (NCMEC) was contacted regarding a missing 16-year-old girl who
had run away from her school two days prior with a 24-year-old boyfriend.
NCMEC’s Case Management Team immediately made contact with the
Trooper searching for the missing teen and her legal guardian. A NCMEC
poster was created and distributed around the New York City area, where
the teen was thought to have gone. On February 1st, the Trooper received
a lead from a woman who believed she had seen the teen. The woman indicated
she had befriended the teen the day before and had spoken to her. Based
on information provided to her, the woman was concerned that the teen
could be missing and searched NCMEC’s website, www.missingkids.com.
Upon finding the teen’s poster, the woman contacted the Massachusetts
State Police. The investigating Trooper coordinated efforts with the
New York City Police Department to have the woman meet the teen at a
pre-set date and time. On February 3rd, officers with the New York City
Police Department took the missing teen safely into protective custody.
The teen was returned to Massachusetts and reunited with her family.
Critically
Missing 12-year-old Child Recovered
On January 4, 2012, the National Center for Missing & Exploited
Children (NCMEC) was contacted by police officers with the Addison Police
Department in Illinois seeking assistance in locating a missing 12-year-old
girl. Detectives were concerned for the child’s safety due to her
young age and her affiliation with local gangs.
The child was last seen on December 28th by her family, but had not
been seen or heard from since. She left a note for her sister indicating
that she planned to travel “far away” and asked for forgiveness
for leaving. The child had never run away before and may have left home
because she had been “grounded” by her family.
Upon receipt of the report, NCMEC’s Case Manager immediately made
contact with detectives and began coordinating NCMEC resources, including
Team
ADAM deployment. Detectives with the Gang Investigation Unit met
with a Team Adam Consultant that evening and briefed him on the status
of the case. Detectives were pursuing local leads and had interviewed
known associates, including former and current gang members from the
local area. The following day, detectives received a lead from one of
the gangs with information of the child’s location at a local residence.
Police officers immediately responded and safely recovered the missing
12-year-old.
Because of the intensity of the search and investigation, the officers
were able to successfully secure the cooperation of gang members who
shared critical information leading to the safe recovery of this child.
Missingkids.com
and Poster Help Recover Child Missing 8 Years
On February 16, 2011, a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department
contacted the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC)
seeking assistance in locating a ten-year-old boy who had been missing
for 7 years.
In 2004, the child’s parents were recently separated and custody
was pending when the child was taken from his mother’s home. The
mother proceeded to obtain sole custody of the boy, then contacted law
enforcement for assistance. A felony arrest warrant was issued for the
father, and an intense search was initiated to locate the boy and his
father.
Unfortunately, leads did not pan out and there was no information about
the location of the boy or his father, which led detectives to believe
that the two could have left the country, possibly to the father’s
native Guatemala.
Upon receiving the case, NCMEC’s Case Management Team began coordinating
NCMEC resources with the child’s mother and detectives with the
Los Angeles Police Department. A missing child poster was created and
disseminated around California and and detectives were provided with
detailed public database searches through NCMEC’s Case Analysis
Division.
On January 27, 2012, NCMEC received a lead from a school official who
believed the missing boy was one of the 5th graders attending a local
elementary school in the Los Angeles area. The child, who recently enrolled
at the school, informed school officials that he recently returned to
the United States from Guatemala and he had very little information about
his mother or other maternal relatives. The school official became suspicious
of the circumstances and searched NCMEC’s website, www.missingkids.com,
where they found the missing child’s poster and immediately contacted
NCMEC’s 24-hour Hotline. A full report was taken including the
child’s home address and phone number.
Upon receiving the lead, the detective with the Los Angeles Police Department
worked closely with the mother to arrange to have her on-site upon the
recovery. The mother, who no longer lived in California and was several
states away, received assistance through NCMEC’s travel program.
On January 31, 2012, the detective arrived at the school and was able
to positively confirm that the child was indeed the missing child. With
the assistance of counselors, the child was then introduced to his mother
who he had not seen in 8 years. Officers were able to locate the father,
who was subsequently arrested.
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