Post by LadyBlue on Aug 28, 2007 18:56:07 GMT -5
Last year, 836,131 people were reported missing in the United States. Ellen Tant's daughter, Brandi Wells, became part of those statistics on Aug. 3, 2006. The 23-year-old disappeared in the early morning hours while leaving Graham Central Station club in Longview.
"Before Brandi's disappearance I would hear news reports on kids that go missing, but I always thought that happened to people in other states, not in East Texas," she said.
In Texas, approximately 71,130 missing persons cases were reported to law enforcement in 2006, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety Missing Person Clearinghouse. Around 93 percent of those cases reported were resolved within the year, but 8,267 remain active.
At the time of her disappearance, Ms. Wells was working at Wal-Mart and living with a friend in an apartment in Brownsboro while waiting to move her belongings into a dorm room at Trinity Valley Community College. Her mother said she had no reason to disappear.
"Some days are better than others. I'm just trying to hang on and make it through," she said.
While Ms. Tant still has a flame of hope her daughter will be returned safely, her flame is dwindling. New leads in the case come and go. Still, there is no sign of Brandi.
A fourth search is being orchestrated for Brandi in Longview on Aug. 4 with the help of EquuSearch. The nonprofit organization was formed in 2000 as a mounted search and rescue team made up of about 350 members who are mostly volunteer horse owners.
"Somewhere in my mind I think we're looking for a body. I don't know if bad people planned it from the start or something went terribly wrong, but that is the only thing that makes sense," Ms. Tant said.
[glow=red,2,300]NOT KNOWING[/glow]
Ms. Tant's greatest fear, like that of other families of missing children, is that she will never know what happened to her daughter.
"You can have a funeral, but you will always wonder if she's out there. I would ask myself, did I bury a memory, or did I bury a child. Those are the things you think about early on."
Ms. Tant said while her daughter is still missing, she is one of the fortunate ones. Her story has garnered the help of the Laura Recovery Center, a nonprofit group based out of Friendsville that initiates searches for missing children.
In rare adult cases, such as that of Brandi Wells, the center will help in the search.
According to the National Crime Information Center, missing persons report, juveniles under the age of 18 accounted for 58,763, or 53 percent, of the missing cases, and 12,657, or 11 percent, of the missing juveniles were between the ages of 18 and 20.
Part of the center's role in missing person's cases is to keep the community aware that a person is still missing. In December, recovery center members placed posters on display at the Wal-Marts in Longview and handed out flyers with Brandi Wells' photograph.
"We aim for awareness. Reaching people who may have witnessed a crime and may not realize it," said Bob Wallcutt, director of the Laura Recovery Center.
With the photographs, flyers and constant push for media attention, the center tries to tap into the public's memory.
"People may have seen (the missing person) walking on a roadway or going a certain direction or getting into a car with someone. We hope that seeing the missing person's face will jar that memory," Wallcutt said.
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the largest number of missing juveniles are runaways, followed by family abductions in domestic disputes of custody battles and those lost or injured. The smallest group of missing juveniles is made up of nonfamily abductions.
For Wallcutt, his work is bittersweet. While the children may be recovered, they are often found dead.
A young woman vanishes from a night club, a little girl is taken from a park while playing, a sister never hears from her middle-aged brother with a drug problem, an elderly woman disappears while going for a walk and none have been heard from since.
They are different ages, races and come from varied socioeconomic backgrounds and, while some gain national attention, others go virtually unnoticed. Females made up a little more than half of the missing persons reported in 2006. About six out of 10 are white or Hispanic, three of 10 are black.
Missing persons fall into a number of categories: endangered, disabled, runaway, family abduction, nonfamily abduction, foul play possible, but the categories mean little to the families searching for loved ones.
[glow=red,2,300]THE DISABLED[/glow]
On a warm June afternoon, Shirley Hunt, 72, was taking a stroll along County Road 454 about a half mile from her home. It was something she did almost daily, and her family thought little of her short excursion.
When Ms. Hunt didn't return, family members became worried and began searching.
The 5-4 woman with white hair and hazel eyes was nowhere to be found.
Since the day of her disappearance, more than 150 Rusk County Sheriff's Deputies and volunteers have searched on foot, four-wheelers, and by helicopter for the elderly woman.
Before her disappearance, Ms. Hunt was diagnosed with the late stages of Alzheimer's disease. For families of Alzheimer's patients, the fear of a loved one getting lost or wandering off is constant and real.
With the disease, patients can sometimes forget where they are going or lose sight of which direction they are traveling. That, compounded with an unfamiliar setting can lead them to never be found again. That thought is unbearable for Kim Vaughn, Hunt's daughter.
"We've checked hospitals and are checking to see if she's in a shelter. We're trying to get her picture out there. We feel certain she's out there somewhere," she said.
Among missing adults, about 4 percent suffer from some type of mental or physical disability.
Pauline Harris, 84, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 1995. On June 19, 1998, she got into her car in southern Van Zandt County for a trip to the grocery store.
Five days passed and Harris's car was found parked on the side of a county road. Its wheels were stuck in the sand. Inside the car at temperatures reaching 102 degrees rested a gallon of milk, Little Debbie snack cakes and a loaf of bread.
Her grandson, Wade Emerson, of Tyler, thought she made a wrong turn, got frustrated and got out of the car to walk.
"She probably got confused," he said.
His grandmother's body was discovered weeks later along a fence line by ranchers. Autopsy results indicated the woman died of heatstroke.
Alzheimer's patients are some of the most common cases of disappearance because, according the Alzheimer's Association, 60 to 70 percent of the patients have a tendency to wander.
[glow=red,2,300]CHOOSING TO DISAPPEAR[/glow]
Family members of missing persons don't want to believe their loved one left willingly, which in many cases is the harsh reality.
At 18, a person is legally an adult. There are no laws against someone getting fed up with their family or job, taking off to Vegas and starting a new life.
Adults, if they want, can simply disappear, which is a problem faced by families of missing persons, especially when the person missing is an adult.
Unless they are in danger of hurting themselves or others, law enforcement is limited.
In early January, Mark Davis, a senior at Texas A&M University majoring in Spanish, got on his bicycle early one morning and left his parent's Tyler home. He has not been seen since. Davis is now listed in the Texas Department of Public Safety Missing Person's Clearinghouse and the National Missing Person's Clearinghouse as endangered.
While early reports indicated Davis rode away of his own free will, that hasn't stopped his family from searching.
[glow=red,2,300]TROUBLED PAST[/glow]
Only a small fraction of those reported missing are the stereotypical abductions by a stranger. Others vanish under strange, sometimes confusing circumstances, making it difficult for police to give a label.
Cole Duane Jackson, 33, of Timpson, left his home on July 13, 2006, and told his wife he was going to Whataburger for a bite to eat.
According to Nacogdoches County Sheriff's Department reports, the last person to see Jackson was an elderly property owner along Farm-to-Market Road 1645. Jackson drove his truck through the man's pasture and ran into a fence post. He apologized to the property owner and offered to pay for the damage but said he needed to run away from the "bad people" chasing him.
Several days later police found his truck less than two miles from that pasture. The driver's side door was open and there was no sign of a struggle.
Since Jackson vanished, his family has spent their weekends riding four-wheelers and walking through the place where he was last seen. Family members found Jackson's white tennis shoes near the truck; his wedding ring was placed inside.
"We've dragged all the ponds, talked to neighbors, hung up all the posters and we've never heard from him," his sister Cheyenne Jackson said.
For the family, the searches are hard. "Every step you take, you're scared to step on the body of someone you love," she said.
While Jackson's family is unabashed about their love and desire to find him, they have not ignored his past problems with drugs, which has complicated their search.
His aunt, Lenette Tidwell, of Tyler, said her family isn't so naive as to think drugs could never be a possible cause of his disappearance.
"He has a minor record. And possibly it had something to do with his drug usage, I just don't know."
His sister said she petitioned 10 different missing person's agencies to help obtain reward money.
"Most wouldn't contribute if there is any evidence the missing person was involved in drugs or gang-related activity, even if it's someone who is still loved and still missed by family," she said.
In 1989, a similar story played out in Jacksonville. Jimmy Scott, 51, had a history of alcohol abuse. He was working to pull himself together, his sister said in earlier newspaper interviews. But 18 years ago when he failed to show up for his first day of work, she knew something was not right.
Police conducted numerous searches, but Scott was never found.
"Before Brandi's disappearance I would hear news reports on kids that go missing, but I always thought that happened to people in other states, not in East Texas," she said.
In Texas, approximately 71,130 missing persons cases were reported to law enforcement in 2006, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety Missing Person Clearinghouse. Around 93 percent of those cases reported were resolved within the year, but 8,267 remain active.
At the time of her disappearance, Ms. Wells was working at Wal-Mart and living with a friend in an apartment in Brownsboro while waiting to move her belongings into a dorm room at Trinity Valley Community College. Her mother said she had no reason to disappear.
"Some days are better than others. I'm just trying to hang on and make it through," she said.
While Ms. Tant still has a flame of hope her daughter will be returned safely, her flame is dwindling. New leads in the case come and go. Still, there is no sign of Brandi.
A fourth search is being orchestrated for Brandi in Longview on Aug. 4 with the help of EquuSearch. The nonprofit organization was formed in 2000 as a mounted search and rescue team made up of about 350 members who are mostly volunteer horse owners.
"Somewhere in my mind I think we're looking for a body. I don't know if bad people planned it from the start or something went terribly wrong, but that is the only thing that makes sense," Ms. Tant said.
[glow=red,2,300]NOT KNOWING[/glow]
Ms. Tant's greatest fear, like that of other families of missing children, is that she will never know what happened to her daughter.
"You can have a funeral, but you will always wonder if she's out there. I would ask myself, did I bury a memory, or did I bury a child. Those are the things you think about early on."
Ms. Tant said while her daughter is still missing, she is one of the fortunate ones. Her story has garnered the help of the Laura Recovery Center, a nonprofit group based out of Friendsville that initiates searches for missing children.
In rare adult cases, such as that of Brandi Wells, the center will help in the search.
According to the National Crime Information Center, missing persons report, juveniles under the age of 18 accounted for 58,763, or 53 percent, of the missing cases, and 12,657, or 11 percent, of the missing juveniles were between the ages of 18 and 20.
Part of the center's role in missing person's cases is to keep the community aware that a person is still missing. In December, recovery center members placed posters on display at the Wal-Marts in Longview and handed out flyers with Brandi Wells' photograph.
"We aim for awareness. Reaching people who may have witnessed a crime and may not realize it," said Bob Wallcutt, director of the Laura Recovery Center.
With the photographs, flyers and constant push for media attention, the center tries to tap into the public's memory.
"People may have seen (the missing person) walking on a roadway or going a certain direction or getting into a car with someone. We hope that seeing the missing person's face will jar that memory," Wallcutt said.
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the largest number of missing juveniles are runaways, followed by family abductions in domestic disputes of custody battles and those lost or injured. The smallest group of missing juveniles is made up of nonfamily abductions.
For Wallcutt, his work is bittersweet. While the children may be recovered, they are often found dead.
A young woman vanishes from a night club, a little girl is taken from a park while playing, a sister never hears from her middle-aged brother with a drug problem, an elderly woman disappears while going for a walk and none have been heard from since.
They are different ages, races and come from varied socioeconomic backgrounds and, while some gain national attention, others go virtually unnoticed. Females made up a little more than half of the missing persons reported in 2006. About six out of 10 are white or Hispanic, three of 10 are black.
Missing persons fall into a number of categories: endangered, disabled, runaway, family abduction, nonfamily abduction, foul play possible, but the categories mean little to the families searching for loved ones.
[glow=red,2,300]THE DISABLED[/glow]
On a warm June afternoon, Shirley Hunt, 72, was taking a stroll along County Road 454 about a half mile from her home. It was something she did almost daily, and her family thought little of her short excursion.
When Ms. Hunt didn't return, family members became worried and began searching.
The 5-4 woman with white hair and hazel eyes was nowhere to be found.
Since the day of her disappearance, more than 150 Rusk County Sheriff's Deputies and volunteers have searched on foot, four-wheelers, and by helicopter for the elderly woman.
Before her disappearance, Ms. Hunt was diagnosed with the late stages of Alzheimer's disease. For families of Alzheimer's patients, the fear of a loved one getting lost or wandering off is constant and real.
With the disease, patients can sometimes forget where they are going or lose sight of which direction they are traveling. That, compounded with an unfamiliar setting can lead them to never be found again. That thought is unbearable for Kim Vaughn, Hunt's daughter.
"We've checked hospitals and are checking to see if she's in a shelter. We're trying to get her picture out there. We feel certain she's out there somewhere," she said.
Among missing adults, about 4 percent suffer from some type of mental or physical disability.
Pauline Harris, 84, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 1995. On June 19, 1998, she got into her car in southern Van Zandt County for a trip to the grocery store.
Five days passed and Harris's car was found parked on the side of a county road. Its wheels were stuck in the sand. Inside the car at temperatures reaching 102 degrees rested a gallon of milk, Little Debbie snack cakes and a loaf of bread.
Her grandson, Wade Emerson, of Tyler, thought she made a wrong turn, got frustrated and got out of the car to walk.
"She probably got confused," he said.
His grandmother's body was discovered weeks later along a fence line by ranchers. Autopsy results indicated the woman died of heatstroke.
Alzheimer's patients are some of the most common cases of disappearance because, according the Alzheimer's Association, 60 to 70 percent of the patients have a tendency to wander.
[glow=red,2,300]CHOOSING TO DISAPPEAR[/glow]
Family members of missing persons don't want to believe their loved one left willingly, which in many cases is the harsh reality.
At 18, a person is legally an adult. There are no laws against someone getting fed up with their family or job, taking off to Vegas and starting a new life.
Adults, if they want, can simply disappear, which is a problem faced by families of missing persons, especially when the person missing is an adult.
Unless they are in danger of hurting themselves or others, law enforcement is limited.
In early January, Mark Davis, a senior at Texas A&M University majoring in Spanish, got on his bicycle early one morning and left his parent's Tyler home. He has not been seen since. Davis is now listed in the Texas Department of Public Safety Missing Person's Clearinghouse and the National Missing Person's Clearinghouse as endangered.
While early reports indicated Davis rode away of his own free will, that hasn't stopped his family from searching.
[glow=red,2,300]TROUBLED PAST[/glow]
Only a small fraction of those reported missing are the stereotypical abductions by a stranger. Others vanish under strange, sometimes confusing circumstances, making it difficult for police to give a label.
Cole Duane Jackson, 33, of Timpson, left his home on July 13, 2006, and told his wife he was going to Whataburger for a bite to eat.
According to Nacogdoches County Sheriff's Department reports, the last person to see Jackson was an elderly property owner along Farm-to-Market Road 1645. Jackson drove his truck through the man's pasture and ran into a fence post. He apologized to the property owner and offered to pay for the damage but said he needed to run away from the "bad people" chasing him.
Several days later police found his truck less than two miles from that pasture. The driver's side door was open and there was no sign of a struggle.
Since Jackson vanished, his family has spent their weekends riding four-wheelers and walking through the place where he was last seen. Family members found Jackson's white tennis shoes near the truck; his wedding ring was placed inside.
"We've dragged all the ponds, talked to neighbors, hung up all the posters and we've never heard from him," his sister Cheyenne Jackson said.
For the family, the searches are hard. "Every step you take, you're scared to step on the body of someone you love," she said.
While Jackson's family is unabashed about their love and desire to find him, they have not ignored his past problems with drugs, which has complicated their search.
His aunt, Lenette Tidwell, of Tyler, said her family isn't so naive as to think drugs could never be a possible cause of his disappearance.
"He has a minor record. And possibly it had something to do with his drug usage, I just don't know."
His sister said she petitioned 10 different missing person's agencies to help obtain reward money.
"Most wouldn't contribute if there is any evidence the missing person was involved in drugs or gang-related activity, even if it's someone who is still loved and still missed by family," she said.
In 1989, a similar story played out in Jacksonville. Jimmy Scott, 51, had a history of alcohol abuse. He was working to pull himself together, his sister said in earlier newspaper interviews. But 18 years ago when he failed to show up for his first day of work, she knew something was not right.
Police conducted numerous searches, but Scott was never found.