Keeping The Spotlight Focused...

Carole Moore
Missing Persons Contributor
Officer.com

...On Missing Loved Ones Imagine how difficult it is for someone you love to go missing. Now imagine living with that disappearance every single moment of your life – not simply because their absence changes everything, but because you work hard to keep your loved one’s name and face out there. The media has a great deal of power when it comes to reminding us that someone, somewhere is looking for their child, sibling, other relative or friend. Recently that power was exhibited when the Cue Center for Missing Persons (http://www.ncmissingpersons.org/ ) focused on four missing persons cases in the Chicago area as part of a nationwide “tour†designed to bring the plights of these people to the forefront. How? By attracting publicity. The four missing persons from the Chicago-area involve the Stacy Peterson case (young wife of a retired police officer), the case of a young teen, Rachel Mellon, who vanished when she stayed home from school more than a decade ago, and the 2001 disappearance of two young sisters, Diamond and Tionda Bradley. The press has been soundly criticized for its selective coverage of certain cases, like the recent disappearance of Florida toddler Caylee Anthony. Critics say the media uses these cases as a quick, easy ratings boost. Maybe they do. It’s hard to fathom why some cases get so much coverage and others hardly rate a mention. But in others, like the disappearances of the three children mentioned above, it’s the families who keep that flame of hope alive. I say it takes a lot of strength to keep plugging away years after someone you love vanishes. And with more tools to keep the fire burning than ever before – particularly the Internet – it is relatively simple to keep the missing real, vibrant and not forgotten by the rest of the world. Speaking of forgotten people, here is an unidentified found adult male from the state of Washington. Take a look and see if you might know him: http://www.theyaremissed.org/ncma/gallery/ncmaprofile_all.php?U200500037S