Trinity Mount Ministries

Showing posts with label Child Abduction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Child Abduction. Show all posts

Thursday, November 29, 2018

Police: Woman posed as Child Protective Services worker in attempt to kidnap 3-week-old baby


LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Las Vegas police are investigating the attempted kidnapping of a 3-week-old baby by a woman who posed as a Child Protective Services worker.

On Monday around 12:30 p.m., a woman named Joanna Boyd, 39, called police, claiming to be a CPS worker and requesting officers assist with the emergency pickup of a baby. Officers responded to the location in the 4300 block of North Las Vegas Boulevard, near Craig Road.
She provided them paperwork, including a court order, but officers said it did not appear legitimate. They later determined the paperwork was fraudulent and the woman was not an employee of Child Protective Services. She also did not have proper identification and was driving a stolen vehicle.
The parents had never met the woman but they had talked with her on social media about buying newborn clothes. The woman got accurate information about the baby through the parents' social media accounts and interacting with the parents.
As a result of the investigation, Boyd was arrested and transported to the Clark County Detention Center where she faces one count of forgery, attempt kidnapping, possession of a stolen vehicle, impersonating a public officer and possession of a stun gun/device by a felon.
Clark County released a statement regarding the incident and advised that CPS employees are instructed to show identification with families they are working with.
"The safety of our children and youth in foster care is paramount. We urge all parents to ask questions if they have any doubt as to whether or not they are speaking to a family services employee.
Parents should always ask for proper identification before ever trusting a stranger with their children.
Our employees are issued an identification card when they are hired and they are instructed to keep their card on them during work hours.
When out in the field, CPS employees are instructed to present their ID cards to families they are working with. Employees are not allowed to refuse to show their ID card when asked."
All family services ID cards contain the following information:
•A picture of the employee
•The name of the employee
•The title of the employee
If a resident is visited by someone claiming to work for family services, they can always request to see their ID card.
Additionally, they can also contact the department at (702) 399-0081 to ensure their credentials are authentic.

Thursday, November 16, 2017

Study: Most abductions happen when a child is going to or leaving school

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Do your children know what to do if they are approached by someone without a parent around? News Channel 8 looked into where children are the most at risk, and what you should conversations parents and children should be having.

According to a study done by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, attempted abductions happen most often when a child is going to and from school, or school related activities.

St. Pete Police Officer Mark Williams says typically the abductor is not a stranger.

“More often than not, we find it is individuals that are abducted, are abducted by someone they know, so we want to make sure they understand there is a need to be aware of anyone and everyone who comes up to you and offers you something,“ he said.

Officer Williams suggests parents and children have a code word, something anyone picking up your child would know, so the child knows it is safe to go with them. If the person doesn’t know it, the child should get away, fast.

“The child should definitely turn and walk away, and we hope that if children are out they are with a partner or with a buddy. that is the main way we can keep our kids safe.”  said Officer Williams.

By Amanda Ciavarri

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Understanding Child Abduction and Response:

By DEB NICKLAY For The
Press-News

Derek VanLuchene delivered chilling facts about child abductions to North Iowa law enforcement and emergency personnel on Wednesday.

While the number of sex offenders who abduct and kill children is low, those offenders "are the worst of the worst" who need to be feared and understood - and communities need to be ready with swift response to search for those kids when they are reported missing.

According to an exhaustive study done in the state of Washington and with the U.S. Department of Justice, 44 percent of children will be dead in the first hour after abduction; 74 percent are killed within three hours.

Only 1 percent survives one day. Forty percent die before anyone reported them missing.

VanLuchene, a former Division of Criminal Investigation agent and a police officer, is today head of Ryan United based in Helena, Mont., a non-profit agency committed to helping communities safeguard their children against predators. VanLuchene provides seminars and trainings for agencies across the country.

He has first-hand knowledge of the devastation that comes to a family of a missing child: His brother Ryan was kidnapped, sexually assaulted and murdered in 1987, at the age of 8 years.

"I am driven" by helping others, to honor his brother, he said.

"You do what you can do to make a difference - that keeps me going," he said.

VanLuchene dispelled inaccurate information about sexual offenders. Public perception is often shaped by sensationalistic stories found in the media, he said. Getting a true understanding about offenders is an ongoing search. For instance, information about the number of juveniles who commit sex crimes against children is growing as more becomes known; sexual offenses overall remains at the top of list of crimes that are underreported.

How a community responds can make the difference between life and death for the child.

Frontline personnel - dispatchers - are among the most important people who have to act quickly, ask the right questions, formulate a description, and contact the proper people who must quickly organize a search.

Those precious first hours are often eaten up because parents will search for their children first before reporting a disappearance, he said. Getting the right information and game plan of response is vital to a successful recovery of a child, he said. Some communities have organized response teams trained and ready to search for children.

Those people know some key facts already: Most children are abducted within one quarter mile of where they were last seen - important to know, especially if businesses are proactive
and have surveillance video in stores; and most killers do not take children far. Most children are taken within 200 feet from their homes. Over 60 percent of killers live and work in the area in which they abduct children.

Those attending on Wednesday came from across the state. The pool included emergency management coordinators and law enforcement, as well as county supervisors, a retired judge, search and rescue personnel and interested parents.

Chance R. Kness, head of emergency management in Clinton County, has
participated in some trainings, but was interested in the "linkages between issues related to abductions and those with ground searches," he said.

"We want to be fully prepared," he said, with ready resources at hand, to conduct all types of searches.

Lois Hall, a member of the Clinton County Sheriff's Reserve, helps oversee the K-9 search and rescue operations. Understanding child abductions helps her group in preparation as well.

Both enjoyed VanLuchene's vast knowledge of the issue.

Hall said the biggest impact on her was knowing "that this can happen anywhere."

Mitchell County Sheriff Greg Beaver echoed the thought.

"I don't want our area to be an Evansdale; we do not want to be a Dayton," referring to child kidnapping and murders that occurred there.

Ray Huftalin, emergency management director for Mitchell and Worth counties, thought the training was thorough and instructive - but not attended by enough people.

"I wanted to see that auditorium full ...because we know that it's not about if it will happen, it's about when it will happen. This (child abduction) can happen anywhere," he said. He added he would have liked to see more educators in attendance. He said Area Education Agency 267 was represented, which was encouraging.

Huftalin said he will be working with law enforcement to discuss and formulate future response plans.

***

Other facts:

* Most sexual offenders, the majority male, commit their first assault by age 21.

* The majority commit assaults for which they were never charged.

* Fifty percent of sexual offenders suffered sexual or physical abuse as a child.

* Vast majority of those abused as a child grow up to be non-abusive adults.

* The majority is not diagnosed as mentally ill.

* The median age of a sexual abuser is 33 years.

* Assaults are planned; sometimes months in advance.

***Source: Ryan United

Source Link

Monday, October 15, 2012

Missing girls will be topic at child trafficking event:

wcfcourier.com
Missing girls will be topic at child trafficking event

DES MOINES, Iowa --- The parents of Elizabeth Collins will speak at a Des Moines event that wraps child abductions with underground pornography networks and drug cartels.
Drew and Heather Collins of Evansdale are scheduled to appear at the 10th Preventing Abuse Conference at the Embassy Suites on Friday, said Tony Nassif, president of Cedars Cultural and Educational Foundation of Toluca Lake, Calif., who is organizing the conference.
Tickets are $59 in advance; lunch is included.
"It's going to be an interview situation where we will just talk about the background and what's been happening now, and get some insights from them on what people can do, if anything, to help protect other kids," Nassif said.
Elizabeth and her cousin Lyric Cook-Morrissey were last seen riding their bikes in Evansdale the afternoon of July 13. Their bikes and a purse were later found behind Meyers Lake.
Other speakers include officials with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an alleged former CIA operative involved in rescues and Noreen Gosch, mother of 1982 West Des Moines kidnapping victim Johnny Gosch. Topics will include the role of the faith-based community.
Fliers for the event highlight experts on human trafficking and drug smuggling cartels, but Nassif said he isn't claiming that the disappearance of Elizabeth and Lyric are related to those activities.
"I caution everybody, don't come to any conclusions, because there is a myriad of things that could be happening, and to focus one would negate the others," Nassif said. "I just say keep your powder dry and be aware and be open to any eventuality."
Nassif, a Cedar Rapids native, had followed the story of Johnny Gosch's abduction in the 1980s. He said became interested in human trafficking in the 1990s while living in California and writing a fictional screenplay about the occult and pedophile networks. He got involved with the Los Angeles Task Force on Human Trafficking.
Photos: The search for two missing girls
"I ended up having an experience with Christ where he revealed to me that there were millions of victims. I didn't know that. About two weeks later, I come to find out the statistics were nearly 30 million trafficking victims worldwide," he said.
He later found Noreen Gosch's book while on a trip back to Iowa. In "Why Johnny Can't Come Home," Noreen Gosch wrote about kidnap-to-order rings and auctions of children.
"When I read it, I said my gosh, she's writing about the things I'm just discovering. She discovered human trafficking 25 years before it had a name, and she was saying things back then that people thought were a little far fetched. But in actuality, she was right on target because I confirmed what she was saying all along, that there's organized pedophile networks, not just lone pedophile abductors," Nassif said.
For the past seven years, Nassif has been organizing Preventing Abuse conferences, which he said are a way for organizations and people to network and to spread awareness.
He said the missing cousins were the catalyst to bring the discussion to Des Moines.
Information about Friday's conference may be obtained at www.preventingabuse.org or (323) 851-3872.

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Friday, September 16, 2011

Amber Alert Issued For Missing Delaware Child And Mother:

(Credit: Del. State Police)
(Credit: Del. State Police)

DELAWARE (CBS)- Delaware State Police have issued an Amber Alert for a missing mother, 19-year-old Lizzet Vasquez and her 4-year-old son, Andy Lee Martinez.
The boy is described having brown hair and brown eyes.
Officials are asking the public the public to be on the lookout for a suspect named William Cuellar, who is driving a white SUV with Georgia plates. The second letter on the plate is a Q.  (See More.)