Posts

When child traffickers rule a nation

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Photo credit: Jo'el "It is easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled." We adults love to highlight how important it is to listen to the children. Do we really listen to them? We say we do. Do we believe them? We say we do. Let's see. The attached video is about a child trafficking scandal exposed in Netherlands few years ago. It is heartbreaking. I am inviting you to watch it because here are missing children speaking to us and giving us the names of their predators and abusers. One of the names raises a huge red flag: Joris Demmink.  Despite he was repeatedly accused of child abuse, former Security and Justice official Joris Demmink was never prosecuted for these crimes because “no evidence in involvement in criminal acts were found”. Some of his countrymen raised the voice against injustice, but the majority of Dutch people are in disbelief and can't accept that these horrible crimes take place in their beautiful

Missing: Andrew Gosden

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A message for Andrew published by his parents on their website  Help us to find Andrew : ''Dear Andrew, We have all missed you so much since the day you left. Not a day goes by that you are not in our minds constantly. You were always so witty, polite, caring and intelligent that we desperately miss your company. The same is true of all your friends and the thousands of people who have prayed for you and helped us search for you. If you should ever read this, forget about any water under the bridge and please have no fear about making contact with us. We do not care where you have been or what lifestyle you choose for yourself. We only want to know that you are safe and well and to help and support you if we can. We remain as proud of you as we have always been and love you deeply. All our love, Dad, Mum, Charlie''

Forget Me Not

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Forget-me-not flower is the symbol of International Missing Children's Day I picked up these at  International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children 25. May has been commemorated as International Missing Children's Day since 2001 and it is dedicated both to the children who have been found and to those who still are missing. The purpose of honoring this day is also to remind the public about the growing problem of missing children all over the world and to encourage the global community get involved as much as possible. May the 25th has been chosen for a reason. Etan Patz, the missing ''milk-carton boy'', moved the mountains without ever knowing it On this day back in 1979 six-year-old  Etan Patz  disappeared on his way to school and the Police started a massive search using bloodhounds. Etan's father, a professional photographer, used Etan's photos for the missing-child-flyers posted all over the New York City. The boy's ph

What to do if a child goes missing

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There is NO waiting period for reporting missing children under 18 Contact the Police immediately to report your child missing and provide them with as many informations as possible: your child's name, age, height, weight, medical condition, identification marks, circumstances of disappearance, most visited places, phone number, list of friends, social media accounts, recent photo... Stay calm and start searching where your child was last seen.  Check for dangerous places nearby, f.ex. water areas. Get your family, friends and neighbours to help you search.  Keep your phone available for incoming calls so your child can get in touch with you anytime; use another phone to stay in touch with other people.  Share information through social networks: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube etc. Look for clues that may tell you what has happened, including phones, emails, social media, diaries, notes etc.  Check phone bills and pay attention to any unfamiliar phone number

"Don't tell mummy..."

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Thousands of children disappear without a trace every single day. Although the majority of them returns home and reunites with their families, there are still many missing boys and girls out there waiting to be found. Recently I came across an information of one child reported missing in Europe every two minutes. According to  International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children , every year approximately 20.000 children are reported missing in Australia, 45.000 in Canada, 96.000 in India, 45.000 in Russia, 460.000 in USA...  This is absolutely the saddest and most terrifying statistic I have ever heard of.  Some children gone missing are runaways, some are kidnapped. Kidnappers are not always strangers, an abductor can be a trusted person within family or friends circle. A child is sometimes suddenly snatched and taken away, but often an abductor creates a friendly relationship with a child, pretending to be a nice protective person and gaining child's trust for

Missing: Zachary Bernhardt

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Missing: Zachary Bernhardt Eight-year-old Zachary Bernhardt vanished literally without a trace some 16 years ago so he is not a little child anymore, but he is still someone's child and he is still missing.  Everything I found out about him, about his childhood and his controversial disappearance touched me deeply and inspired me to start this blog. For these reasons my first post about missing children is dedicated to him.  On September the 11th 2000 at 4:47 a.m. Zachary's mother Leah Hackett (now Hanson) contacted the Police in Clearwater Florida and reported her son missing. The Police started the usual procedure shortly after her call. Despite the massive investigation with dozens of people involved, nobody could ever figure out what happened to Zachary that night or where he is now.  According to his mother, the evening before mysterious disappearance Zachary was watching TV with her until he fell asleep around 11.00 p.m. when she carried him over to her own bed.

Customize ''404 - Page Not Found'' on your blog

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If you run a blog/website of any kind, you can customize your ''HTTP Error 404: Page Not Found'' to spread the word about missing children. Please take a look at this smart tool. It takes only two minutes to implement. You visit Not Found , submit your website and they will provide you with a code you need to customize your 404-page. Each time your 404-page loads, instead of boring ''Page Not Found'' message, basic data and a photo of a missing child will be published. Sometimes data/photo of an older person will appear and these alerts referer to ''cold cases'', respectively children who have been missing for years and whose photos have been edited by aging software to give an impression of how they might look like now. How to customize your ''404 - Page Not Found'' on Blogger: *Thank you Elaine - XOmisse for instructions* Get your code at http://notfound.org/  and copy it, login into Blogger an