From: lindae@netcom.com
Newsgroups: alt.missing-kids
Subject: Runaways
Date: 31 Aug 92 14:16:42 GMT
Expires: Wed, 30 Sep 92 07:00:00 GMT
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest)


From: Marv.Cotton@fquest.FidoNet.Org (Marv Cotton)
Date: 27 Aug 92  20:08:00
Message-Id: <Fredgate.715093122@fquest>
Newsgroups: alt.missing-kids
Subject: Runaways
To: lindae@netcom.com
Status: OR

NGR>From: rivk@ellis.uchicago.edu (nora gayle rivkis)
NGR>Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations


NGR>All right; intentionally provocative question -- this newsgroup
NGR>focuses in a fairly even fashion on the twin problems of child
NGR>abuse and missing children. But it seems to be taken as axiomatic
NGR>that these problems are never in conflict with each other. So what
NGR>do you do about children who are missing of their own volition,

  Nora, you bring up good points.  We at the Heidi Search Center
  have dealt with over 500 cases of missing children and have found
  that many times when abused children runaway the parents do not
  attempt to locate them.  If they do the children run away again.
  Eventually people will stop looking for them as habituals. When we
  find children and they have been abused, this determination of course
  is at times difficult to substatiate as you are obviously aware, we
  try to work with the authorities to ensure their safety, we did this a
  year ago with two girls who had been sexually abused, they are now
  away from the abusers.

     There are many reasons for children running away, one is that they
    do not feel wanted, this may be true in the case where parents work
    and the child feels neglected, or the parents may fight, or the
    child and a parent may fight (read argue) continuously.  We have
    found these reasons also.  We helped find a 9 year old boy who ran
    away because he felt no one cared, when he saw that they cared
    enough to post flyers he came home.

      Our position is that if a child is missing he/she is in danger and
    we will assist the family.  If in the course of locating the child
    we find that something else is involved we contact the authorities
    and work with them to protect the child.  We try to be extremely
    careful, but by law if there is any sign of abuse they are turned
    over to Hunan Resources.

        Our biggest concern is finding missing children and we never
      turn anyone away.  We have found that putting together flyers
      and having them posted brings remarkable results.  We have had
      children found who were hiding in gang safe houses, vans, empty
      houses or just walking around.  Convinience store clerks have
      proven very helpful in locating lost children as the children
      gravitate to that type of store.  We had a case recently were to
      girls, one 12 and the other 13, ran away from home and were found
      when they went into a Stop & Go.  The clerk had one of our flyers
      and recognized them.  He gave them two choices, call home or he
      would call the authorities.  They called home.
        I hope this answers your question.
           Marv Cotton, Heidi Search Center.

 * OLX 2.2 * Children Deserve To Be Free and Feel Safe


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