Ed Solving Missing-Person Cases / Anti-Abduction Tips

[AmyStrange]

Well I'm Irish. We're having an election ourselves in a few weeks.

Well, having just gone through our own disaster myself, I hope yours turns out better.


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[AmyStrange]

Apologies if this has been mentioned. Here is another missing persons website.

The Charley Project

This is a new one on me, but thank you for the info, and no apologies are necessary. Any mention of any missing person organization is welcome here, even if it's more than once.

From the website itself:

The Charley Project profiles over 16,000 “cold case” missing people mainly from the United States. It does not actively investigate cases; it is merely a publicity vehicle for missing people who are often neglected by the press and forgotten all too soon. A person must have been missing for at least one year to be listed; see the FAQ for additional information on the site, its goals, and its founder/administrator.

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[PitPat]

WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO BE SAFE AND NOT BE A VICTIM OF AN ABDUCTION?


I don't know how true the poster below is, and maybe those in other countries can correct or verify what it says, but the point I'm trying to get across (or ask) is how do you protect your kids (or yourself) from being abducted and eventually becoming a missing person?

Of course (as the poster below infers), one way is to not to talk to strangers, and another way is to always be aware of your surroundings, but I wonder if that's enough.

If an adult comes up to your children and ask them to help them find their dog, of course, some kids will want to help, especially if the adult looks or seems like he's really concerned about their pet, and this might be enough to convince them to go into the woods with them.

It's not just kids either that fall for this. Look at the way Ted Bundy was able to convince women to follow him to a secluded enough spot so that he could knock them out with a tire iron, and then abduct them. He sometimes wore a fake cast and pretended that he needed help to load and unload his boat. It's exactly how he was able to abduct two women from Lake Sammamish State Park in Washington State on July 14, 1974.

As a matter of fact, the main theme in my six novels is about a team of FBI consultants that help to find missing persons, but after two of the main characters (who are married) have a daughter, one of them wonders if maybe scaring the hell out of them is the best way to prevent the above situations from developing into an abduction scenario. He wants to do this by showing her pictures of dead children, or have her watch horror movies based on evil villains that abduct their victims, and then torture them, or show them articles of other children who have disappeared and/or been found dead.

He eventually decides this is not a good idea, but the question still remains. What is the best way to teach your children to be safe and not be a victim of an abduction?

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It's a good question, and kind of a delicate balance. Stranger danger is something to teach, but not to the extent that all adults they don't know are out to get them if they talk to them. A common and chilling technique I've noticed in true crime is hanging around schools and trying to persuade a child that they know you're mom/dad and they asked me to pick you up. Good place to start to tell your kids not to fall for that. Unfortunately sometimes it's successful for the perpetrators. Especially true if they identified the one they want and did their homework.

I don't have kids, so I'm probably coming in at a disadvantage for advice.

 

[AmyStrange]

It's a good question, and kind of a delicate balance. Stranger danger is something to teach, but not to the extent that all adults they don't know are out to get them if they talk to them. A common and chilling technique I've noticed in true crime is hanging around schools and trying to persuade a child that they know you're mom/dad and they asked me to pick you up. Good place to start to tell your kids not to fall for that. Unfortunately sometimes it's successful for the perpetrators. Especially true if they identified the one they want and did their homework.

I don't have kids, so I'm probably coming in at a disadvantage for advice.

All that is definitely worth considering and thank you for your input.


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[catsmate]

Well, having just gone through our own disaster myself, I hope yours turns out better.


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We have our rightist crazies, but the religious element is mostly conservative catholic. Awful time of year for campaigning but the Sinners were having troubles so.....

 

[AmyStrange]

There are a myriad number of ways to locate someone who's missing, but sad to say, there are too many times that they don't work. In my novels, I created a fictional Cat that could find them by sniffing them out, but here's a story about dog who's done it in real life:


Bo the police K-9, who located child taken at knifepoint, wins Hero Dog Awards 2024
Story by Anthony Robledo and Saman Shafiq, USA TODAY 92024-11-08)

Some of America's most heroic dogs have been honored for their extraordinary service to humankind but one has arisen as a winner.

North Carolina police dog Bo of the Gastonia Police Department has won the prestigious American Humane Hero Dog Awards. Alongside his handler Sgt. David Rowland, the 18-month-old very good boy has rescued lives since starting his career in October 2023, including locating both a missing elderly dementia patient and an 11-year-old child with autism...

One Missing Person is One Person Too Many


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[AmyStrange]

Here's an update video on the search for missing persons from the catastrophic floods in Spain (please, pray for them and everyone affected by this horrific disaster):


Spain dreads more flood deaths as search for victims continues

Thousands of rescuers pumped water from submerged buildings, churned through muddy streets and cleared debris on Monday as Spain braced for more deaths from its worst floods in decades. The toll stands at 217 dead and could spike in the coming days as an unknown number of people remain missing. Around 17,000 soldiers, police officers, civil guards and firefighters spent a sixth day distributing aid, repairing infrastructure and searching for bodies using heavy machinery, drones and sniffer dogs

One Missing Person is One Person Too Many


ETA: If anyone has any updates on the missing person searches for Helene and Milton, could you please post them here (or PM them to me) and thank you.


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[AmyStrange]

It's just so sad that this case wasn't solved long before last week, and long before the two suspects had died. They literally got away with murder.

This sometimes happens because of the lack of communication between LE agencies (and probably a lot more times than we'll ever know), especially since this happened back in 1959, but you would still think that someone would've picked up on this right away rather than 65 years later.

Missing child case solved with DNA 65 years later, decades after charges were dropped
Story by Doha Madani

A cold case from 1959 involving a missing 7-year-old came to a conclusion last week through DNA identification, decades after charges were dropped against the boy's adoptive parents for lack of physical evidence.

A human skeleton was discovered on the side of the road in Mequon, Wisconsin, on Oct. 4, 1959, which investigators determined to be the skull of a child between the ages of 6 and 8 years old.

At the same time Mequon police officers were following leads about the skull, deputies in nearby Houghton County, Michigan, were looking into the disappearance of an adopted child, Markku Jutila, whose parents fled to Chicago.

Family members of William and Hilja Jutila became suspicious of the child's whereabouts after the Jutilas relocated from the Michigan area to Chicago. The Houghton County Sheriff's Office began working with the Chicago Police Department on the matter.

One Missing Person is One Person Too Many

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[AmyStrange]

How successful have Amber Alerts been?

We've all heard of Amber Alerts. It stands for America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response and is named in honor of nine-year-old Amber Hagerman who was murdered after being abducted while riding her bike in Arlington, Texas on January 13, 1996.

I've always been a big proponent of the alert, and even with the negative spin from a Newsweek article I just finished reading, I still am, but what do you think?

Some folks are skeptical of them because of they're low success rate, but from the same Newsweek article this one comment may change your mind:

The fact that the system involves notifying the public of the missing children has led some researchers to express concern over whether "a perpetrator who sees the Alert could decide to murder the child immediately to avoid capture," as a number of experts wrote for The Social Science Journal.

In the same article, NCMEC was quoted as saying:

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children responded to Newsweek with the following statement: "At the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), we know that AMBER Alerts play a vital role in engaging the public when a child goes missing.

"By increasing awareness and generating immediate action, AMBER Alerts have successfully helped to safely recover over 1,200 children as of December 31, 2023," the statement continued. "These alerts mobilize communities, law enforcement, and media in a united effort, significantly boosting the chances of a child's safe recovery."

But how successful are they? Well, here's a chart (from the same article) showing exactly how well they've done since 2006:

SOURCES:
Chart Shows How Successful AMBER Alerts Are Recovering Missing Children
Amber Hagerman
Amber Alert
NCMEC




One Missing Person is One Person Too Many


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[PitPat]

How successful have Amber Alerts been?

We've all heard of Amber Alerts. It stands for America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response and is named in honor of nine-year-old Amber Hagerman who was murdered after being abducted while riding her bike in Arlington, Texas on January 13, 1996.

I've always been a big proponent of the alert, and even with the negative spin from a Newsweek article I just finished reading, I still am, but what do you think?

Some folks are skeptical of them because of they're low success rate, but from the same Newsweek article this one comment may change your mind:



In the same article, NCMEC was quoted as saying:




But how successful are they? Well, here's a chart (from the same article) showing exactly how well they've done since 2006:

SOURCES:
Amber Hagerman
Chart Shows How Successful AMBER Alerts Are Recovering Missing Children
Amber Alert
NCMEC




One Missing Person is One Person Too Many


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That is rather a stark contrast. I think it's still worth it, even if you have to see them on your phone and cable when they occur. To my knowledge (and maybe this has changed) they at least need a license plate, car description, and possibly name. They're often outside of my traveling range and can happen hundreds of miles away. And there are now silver alerts, which I like as dementia and Alzheimers is becoming more of a very real thing.

 

[AmyStrange]

That is rather a stark contrast. I think it's still worth it, even if you have to see them on your phone and cable when they occur. To my knowledge (and maybe this has changed) they at least need a license plate, car description, and possibly name. They're often outside of my traveling range and can happen hundreds of miles away. And there are now silver alerts, which I like as dementia and Alzheimers is becoming more of a very real thing.

Thank you PitPat for the added info, because Silver Alerts are just as important, if only for the very reasons you posted.

As a matter of fact (as of this writing), there are a total of six different missing person alerts currently in use, and I've included a link to an article below describing them, but here's a Wikipedia article that's specifically about Silver Alerts:

Silver Alert - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Silver Alert is a public notification system in the United States to broadcast information about missing persons – especially senior citizens with Alzheimer's disease, dementia, or other mental disabilities – in order to aid in locating them.

Silver Alerts use a wide array of media outlets – such as commercial radio stations, television stations, and cable television – to broadcast information about missing persons. In some states (specifically Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, North Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin), Silver Alerts also use variable-message signs on roadways to alert motorists to be on the lookout for missing seniors.

In cases in which a missing person is believed to be missing on foot, Silver Alerts have used Reverse 911 or other emergency notification systems to notify nearby residents of the neighborhood surrounding the missing person's last known location. Silver Alerts can also be used for children who are missing without being in danger or abducted.

SEE ALSO:
Do you know all the missing person alerts? Here is your guide to the six different alerts




One Missing Person is One Person Too Many


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[AmyStrange]

I posted a comment on this very subject a couple of weeks ago, and I haven't gotten any comments, suggestions, or tips on it so far, except for one (Thanks PitPat), but here are a couple articles about it just to juice the subject again.

By the way, I've also included a quote from the first article that explains what this "new phrase" is, and a quote from the second article also. They both make sense to me, and I'm sure some parents on this forum are already familiar with both of them, but what does everyone else think?


Why 'stranger danger' is outdated at best and dangerous at worst (and the new phrase your child needs to understand to stay safe)

Explaining their stance on the issue, child psychologists Tania Johnson and Tammy Schamuhn suggest the phrase parents should use instead of stranger danger. A video posted to Instagram by the pair, was captioned "Teach your child to be aware of 'Tricky People' not just 'Stranger Danger.'" Expanding on this, the post continued "The old-school concept of Stranger Danger is inaccurate and not helpful in protecting your child. A stranger can be a policeman, but they can be helpful. A Tricky Person can be a stranger or more often it is someone known to the child."

This clever hack stopped an 11-year-old being abducted - and it's so simple

Parents are being urged to set up 'code words' with their kids that only they know and use them to verify if people are really who they are claiming to be - often friends of mummy and daddy.

Here's my original post on the subject:

Ed Post in thread 'Solving Missing-Person Cases / Anti-Abduction Tips'

Nov 2, 2024

WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO BE SAFE AND NOT BE A VICTIM OF AN ABDUCTION?


I don't know how true the poster below is, and maybe those in other countries can correct or verify what it says, but the point I'm trying to get across (or ask) is how do you protect your kids (or yourself) from being abducted and eventually becoming a missing person?

Of course (as the poster below infers), one way is to not to talk to strangers, and another way is to always be aware of your surroundings, but I wonder if that's enough.

If an adult comes up to your children and ask them to...

• AmyStrange

• 

One Missing Person is One Person Too Many


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[pgwenthold]

This clever hack stopped an 11-year-old being abducted - and it's so simple

This is one thing we have always done with our kids. We have a code word that the kids know, and if anyone they didn't know were to approach them and tell them that we said something, they would need to know the code word.

We've never needed to use it ourselves because we've always gotten help from people we know, but the kids have always known if it were to be someone else, they would know the code word.

The kids are now old enough where it's not as much an issue, but it was an easy thing to do and it is a safe approach.

 

[catsmate]

It's just so sad that this case wasn't solved long before last week, and long before the two suspects had died. They literally got away with murder.

This sometimes happens because of the lack of communication between LE agencies (and probably a lot more times than we'll ever know), especially since this happened back in 1959, but you would still think that someone would've picked up on this right away rather than 65 years later.

Missing child case solved with DNA 65 years later, decades after charges were dropped
Story by Doha Madani









One Missing Person is One Person Too Many

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Here there is a search ongoing of land near Ballyhook House outside Grangercon on the Kildare/Wicklow border forge body of Josephine 'Jo Jo' Dullard who disappeared almost thirty years ago, 09NOV1999.


Indeed there is a second search ongoing, for two other missing presumed murdered, people.

 

[AmyStrange]

Here there is a search ongoing of land near Ballyhook House outside Grangercon on the Kildare/Wicklow border forge body of Josephine 'Jo Jo' Dullard who disappeared almost thirty years ago, 09NOV1999.


Indeed there is a second search ongoing, for two other missing presumed murdered, people.

I wish them luck. Please keep us informed if you can.


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[AmyStrange]

Here there is a search ongoing of land near Ballyhook House outside Grangercon on the Kildare/Wicklow border forge body of Josephine 'Jo Jo' Dullard who disappeared almost thirty years ago, 09NOV1999.


Indeed there is a second search ongoing, for two other missing presumed murdered, people.

Just so folks know who she is, here's her Wikipedia page:

Disappearance of Jo Jo Dullard - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Josephine "Jo Jo" Dullard is an Irish woman who disappeared at the age of 21 (born 25 January 1974) on 9 November 1995. The last confirmed sighting of her was at a public phone box in Moone, County Kildare. In 2020, gardaí upgraded her disappearance to a murder investigation after cold case detectives concluded that she "met her death through violent means". Although a person of interest was arrested and questioned in November 2024, no one has ever been charged or convicted in relation to Jo Jo's disappearance.

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[catsmate]

I wish them luck. Please keep us informed if you can.


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I have a college friend involved but the search is continuing, hampered by the rain.

 

[catsmate]

Just so folks know who she is, here's her Wikipedia page:

Disappearance of Jo Jo Dullard - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

That's a reasonable, if perhaps overly restrained, summary of the case.

On the morning of 11 November 2024, a 55-year-old man was arrested in Co Kildare on suspicion of the murder of Jo Jo Dullard. The suspect, who was described as coming from a "well-known family", had been a longstanding person of interest in the investigation, according to media reports.

The "55-year-old man" is the person who gave her the lift in 1999.

 

[AmyStrange]

That's a reasonable, if perhaps overly restrained, summary of the case.

The "55-year-old man" is the person who gave her the lift in 1999.

Here's one more link:

The three-decade search to find missing 'Jo Jo'
Hayley Halpin BBC News NI -- 2024-11-13


And a link to the most recent news:

Three decades after Jo Jo Dullard vanished, an arrest returns case to headlines
Kilkenny woman (21) was hitching from Dublin to Callan in November 1995 when she vanished, with no trace of her found since
Conor Lally - Mon Nov 11 2024 - 17:16

--Three decades after the disappearance and murder of Josephine “Jo Jo” Dullard, the Garda investigation into who took her life remains rooted in the community where she was last seen alive.

--The man arrested early on Monday morning and being questioned by detectives about the murder of the 21-year-old Co Kilkenny woman in November 1995 is from a well-known family in the Kildare-Wicklow area where the arrest and searches took place.
-- Ms Dullard had made it that far – to the village of Moone in south Kildare – before vanishing without trace on the night of November 9th that year.

Jo Jo Dullard murder: What next after release of suspect without charge?
Former detective says although Dullard murder can still be solved 29 years on, release suggests shortfalls in evidence
Conor Lally - Wed Nov 13 2024 - 12:09

--The fact a man being questioned about the murder of Josephine “Jo Jo” Dullard was released without charge on Tuesday was anticipated. His arrest was mainly designed to test him under pressure, with limited expectation of a charge, but his release still comes as a big blow to the detectives working on the case.

Search and excavation continuing as part of Jo Jo Dullard 1995 murder investigation
Gardaí searching site at Grangecon, Co Wicklow, for human remains or any personal items owned by 21-year-old Kilkenny woman who vanished in 1995
Conor Lally - Wed Nov 13 2024 - 18:20

--Gardaí investigating the disappearance and murder of Josephine ‘Jo Jo’ Dullard in 1995 are on Thursday expected to resume searching as the operation enters its fourth day. Teams of gardaí, operating excavators and other heavy plant machinery, have been searching and digging at a remote area near Grangecon, Co Wicklow, since Monday.

Is this the couple you were talking about in your earlier post?

Search for missing couple William Maughan and Anastasija Varslavane resumes in north Co Dublin
Pair, last seen in April 2015, believed to have been abducted, shot dead and their bodies concealed by a Co Louth-based gang
Sat Nov 16 2024 - 09:52

--Gardaí investigating the disappearance and presumed murder of a couple last seen almost a decade ago have resumed a search of open lands in north Co Dublin.
--William Maughan and Anastasija Varslavane were last seen in April 2015 and their case was upgraded to a murder investigation the following year. Seven people have previously been arrested by gardaí investigating the matter.
--The search operation began on Friday and is set to continue over the coming days.

One Missing Person is One Person Too Many


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[AmyStrange]

That's a reasonable, if perhaps overly restrained, summary of the case.

The "55-year-old man" is the person who gave her the lift in 1999.

I added a couple more links to the Josephine "Jo Jo" Dullard post above.

Thanx for keeping me informed, and also getting me to look for more info. Sometimes things get crazy here, and I forget about the thread here on ISF.


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