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Missing Child Alert: Massachusetts, USA

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For the Children: "'They have no voice. We are their voice and they're telling us they want to come home. And I believe as well that they want those found who have endangered them so that no other child, no other family, will have to endure this immense sadness.'' Magdalene Bish, Molly's mom.

HELPFUL LINKS:

rad KIDS   "Please don't tell me to stay safe-Teach me, or how will I know." USA

Sex Offender Registry Board  Commonwealth of MA

Amber Alert System  Nation Wide Plan

New England's Missing  Molly Bish Foundation...In saving one life, we save the world

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children  National Clearing House

Klaas Kids   A mile a Minute...that's how fast your child can disappear

Polly Klaas Foundation  Partners for Children

Parents for Megan's Law  Providing Megan's Law notifications Nation Wide

Megan's Law Nationwide  Protecting the public from high risk sex offenders

Kid Escape  What is Your Child Prepared to do ?

Child Identification Kits: 

An Essential Safety Tool We Hope You'll Never Use

By Elizabeth Tragash

When my oldest daughter was in pre-school the parent group sponsored a program on child safety awareness. It was 1987, six years after Adam Walsh had been abducted from a shopping mall in Florida.  As the program went on around me, I found myself burrowing my head in the sand. Adam had been abducted and murdered in Florida, I reassured myself, it was far away and long ago.

Then I thought of nine year old Sara Pryor who disappeared in 1985 while taking a bike ride in nearby Wayland; she was still missing two years later. These things don’t happen here in the more rural suburbs, I placated myself. After all, Sara had been riding along a busy, heavily traveled roadway that led to Boston. I nestled my head deeper into the sand and reassured myself that my child was immune from such danger.

Some years later, ten year old Holly Piirainen vanished while visiting some puppies near her grandmother’s home in Sturbridge. All that remained was one sneaker; two months later her body was found in the nearby woods. My older daughter was Holly’s age; Holly had been abducted from a quiet rural suburb. My head emerged from the sand long enough for me to reiterate the lessons about never talking to strangers, staying away from cars. Still, it was far away, a tragedy that belonged to someone else and my head soon returned to its comfortable spot beneath the sand.

It was not until sixteen-year-old Molly Bish disappeared from the sands of a small town pond in Warren, Massachusetts that my head was finally wrenched from the sands of denial. Molly had reported for her eighth day of work as a lifeguard just before ten on a beautiful summer morning. In a window of several minutes, she was gone, leaving behind her shoes, lunch, water bottle and a police radio and first aid kit. Molly also left behind a family that was shattered by her disappearance and a community that was stunned by the realization that a child could be abducted in broad daylight from a small town on the outer edges of suburbia.

My own complacency was fractured on that day and in the weeks that followed. My oldest daughter, also sixteen, was working as a lifeguard at a small beach in a neighboring town. A job helping to keep others safe might actually place my child in jeopardy. I recited a litany of rules about safety- never be alone on the beach, always have access to a phone, report any suspicious people or activity. Still I worried and wondered what else I could do to insure my children’s safety.

Several months later I wrote a story about Molly Bish for Today’s Parent. In the course of writing that story I came to know Molly’s parents, John and Magi Bish, and learned about their work promoting safety programs for all children. Their ongoing walk through a parent’s most terrifying nightmare had led them to adopt a mission to prevent a similar tragedy from befalling other families. In October 2000, just four months after Molly had disappeared, the seeds of the Molly Bish Foundation were sown.

Mark Klaas, whose daughter Polly had been abducted in 1993 sent John and Magi a thousand Child Identification Kits.  These kits are used to keep a child’s current photograph, fingerprints and identifying data together in a readily accessible location. The Molly Bish Foundation was established to promote safety for all children by providing complimentary Child Identification Kits and other safety awareness programs. At the first Foundation sponsored Child Safety Day in October 2000 the first child to receive a Child ID Kit was the Bish’s one-year-old granddaughter, Mikaela Gresty. Since that day, the Foundation has provided kits to approximately 30,000 children and adults throughout the region.

The Photograph

One of the most critical tools in recovering a missing child is a current photograph of the child’s head and shoulders. It is important that the photograph be of clear, professional quality and portray the child’s everyday appearance. This was a lesson that John and Magi Bish learned the hard way. It was terrifying to have their daughter declared missing and the reality hit home at a deeper level when they were asked to furnish Molly’s picture for a Missing Person Poster. When they were asked for current pictures of Molly, they realized that they did not have an appropriate picture readily available. They had special occasion pictures, such as a prom picture in which Molly was wearing her hair in a fancy “up-do” that was not her everyday hairstyle. They also had professional quality photographs that were two years old and showed Molly with a shoulder length hairstyle that she no longer wore. Magi Bish tells of how she needed to crop several group pictures in order to produce photographs that depicted Molly’s most recent short haircut and facial features. This cropped photo was then used to produce Missing Person posters that were distributed throughout the region.

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, many of the photographs that they receive are inadequate. Looking through many of my own photographs of my children I noticed that some were taken under inadequate lighting conditions, while others were full length shots that did not allow for a clear view of their facial features. One shot of my younger daughter was a softball picture in which the wide brim of her team cap covered her hair and a large portion of her face. Other pictures were taken at Halloween or at birthday parties where her face was decorated with face paint and other make-up. My older daughter’s school picture was lovely, however her hair had been straightened for the occasion and she wore more make-up than usual.

The need for a representative picture of each child is one reason to have a child ID kit; easy accessibility is another important factor. In my house, pictures - like everything else- tend to be scattered all over the place. If I found myself in the terrifying position of having to produce a picture of a missing child I would lose time searching for the right picture. A child ID kit allows parents to save valuable time by compiling pictures and other data in one easily accessible location.

John Walsh points out “Time plays a critical role in the successful recovery of a missing child. Each passing minute may mean that a child is being moved farther away from home. Each passing minute may mean increasing danger to the child. Each passing minute may mean that a child is being victimized by the perpetrator. Each passing minute may mean that clues and leads to the child's whereabouts are being lost. Consequently any tool that saves time is critical to the safe recovery of a missing child.

Fingerprints

Few parents would think to have their children fingerprinted until the unthinkable occurs. John and Magi Bish regret that they did not have a set of Molly’s fingerprints to give to police in the hours after Molly disappeared. Instead, police had to come and lift prints from Molly’s room- a time consuming process that is not as effective as a set of professionally made and clearly labeled fingerprints.

Fingerprints can allow police to trace a child’s whereabouts by ascertaining if a child was in a certain location or if he touched certain objects. Fingerprints can also be enlarged and scanned to other police departments to help locate a missing child. Any effort that can lead to a child’s recovery in the critical first hours after a child is reported missing can help prevent tragedy.

In some respects, fingerprints are like the identification that we place upon our vehicles; both can be a deterrent to crime. Just as identification helps in the recovery of a stolen vehicle, fingerprints can aid in the recovery of a missing child and can serve as a deterrent by making it easier for perpetrators to be apprehended.

There are several kits on the market that provide materials to make fingerprints at home, however, it is preferable to have a professional set of prints made by the local police or at a child safety event. John Bish advises parents to have fingerprints updated every year since the child’s fingers become more clearly defined with age and the child may develop new scars or markings that need to be documented.

Additional Tools: Videotapes, Dental Impressions and DNA Samples

Videotapes are also excellent tools in helping to recover a missing child. Videos are multidimensional, affording a number of visual angles and allowing the viewer to see and hear the child’s unique mannerisms and voice inflections. The Massachusetts Grand Lodge of Masons Child Identification Program -CHIP- provides parents with a videotape and dental impression in addition to the child’s photograph and fingerprints. Like photographs and fingerprints, videotapes should be updated yearly.

Dental impressions can be useful in locating and identifying a missing child. In the case of abductions by non-custodial parents or relatives, the dental impression can alert a treating dentist to the identity of the child. In addition, the impression can provide a unique scent that can be used by trained search and rescue dogs to help locate a missing child. The dental impression can also be used to obtain a DNA sample and is used as a postmortem identification tool.

DNA- there are several kits that enable parents to take DNA samples from their children. These range from taking a few strands of hair with the follicle in place to using a cotton swab to take tissue samples from the inside of the mouth. A Band-Aid or gauze can be used to take a blood sample when a child cuts himself. Perhaps the simplest way to keep DNA is to save a child’s tooth after it falls out. All of these samples should be stored in a plastic bag and placed in the freezer- hopefully never to be used.

Child Safety Programs

According to John Bish, attending a yearly child safety program should be seen in the same vein as taking a child for an annual dental checkup; it is primarily an opportunity for prevention of future problems and an opportunity to talk about safety issues. The child ID kit contains a list of 8 essential rules for safety that parents can review with their children.

While the Child ID kit prepares families for the worst case scenario, it is more likely to be used if a child should become lost. In fact, John and Magi Bish advise parents to take their children’s ID kits with them when they go to shopping malls or theme parks and on other outings where children can wander off and get lost. It is also a useful tool to take on school field trips.

It is a tool that parents should not leave at home, yet it is a tool that they hope parents never have to use.  

© Copyright 2002 Elizabeth Tragash

As seen in the January 2002 edition of Today's Parent

Follow these links for more information about the Molly Bish Foundation and upcoming Child Safety Events. 

Donations to the Foundation can be made

 c/o The Spencer Savings Bank, Main Street, Warren, MA 01082

»For a listing of Child Safety Events please click here

Questions or Comments about this Web Site: Web@MollyBish.org 

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