Tribe Esquecido: The Forgotten Tribe

Tribe Esquecido: The Forgotten Tribe

I’m sure you are expecting me to write on about some Amazon tribe and what is happening to them, how loggers are destroying the forest, how hunters are killing their tribe. But this tribe isn’t so far away, and is much weaker then those in the Amazon. This tribe doesn’t have any weapons and this tribe has no defense against those who would seek to harm them.

I am part of this tribe, a member from A-Z as are so many. I am also a member of a tribe that was created as a result of the weakness this tribe has. Together these two forgotten tribes make up our future and the future doesn’t look bright. For many years, tribe members have been taken off guard and gone missing. The elders seem to notice little, so many tribe members, so many things going on, it’s hard to notice. It is tradition that tribe members not go look for their friends until the moon has passed 3 times. After that, hunters are sent out to look for them for 6 moons. You may wonder; if this tribe you belong to is so weak, then why would someone take them? What good would a weak warrior be to them? The tribe that takes them, the Fierce People, cares nothing of brave warriors. They want the weak, those they can bend to their will and desire. Over so many moons near 100,000 of thousands of my fellow tribesmen have gone missing, yet the elders seem to continue life, without notice. Until a tribe boy of a head elder went missing and the mother went to the elders screaming for help. A panic engulfed the tribe; everyone went looking for the boy. In a panic, all the mothers kept their tribe members save and inside, asking the gods “why has the world gotten so bad”

WAKE UP CALL!!!!!!!!!

The story above sounds like your typical tribal story from the Amazon, but this story takes place here in the United States of America. And who are these tribe members, and what tribe am I talking about? I am talking about our children through out the US who have been abducted and gone missing. The second tribe of which I am apart of, is the tribe of survivors, children who have survived abuse and are left in the wind, forgotten. People today feel that the world has become a living HELL for children and that we must all live inside and never let our children outside, even implant tracking systems in them. Now talk about a living HELL. TIME TO WAKE UP. What people fail to realize, is while general numbers show a slight increase in child abductions, they are not out of control compared to previous years. In fact the number of missing children each year, some 100,000, has not changed in 30 years. So why have people never noticed such a large number up until now? Advances in technology have made the public more aware of an ever growing issue but an issue that has been around for decades. Over 100,000 children are estimated to go missing each year, and 200-300 of them are said to be stranger abductions. The public is now finally seeing an apdemic that has plagued us since the beginning of time. But what about those who were abused? While you don’t have to be abducted to be abused and forgotten, nor does abuses simply entail the traditional thoughts of sexual abuse. In 2000, a nearly 50% increase of all teenagers harassed in violent ways online occured. I am part of the follow statistic drawn up in a recent study. “Nine out of 10 elementary school kids have been subjected to physical or psychological bullying by their peers”. This type of abuse not only has lasting and devastating effects, it can leave a person open to take any affection they get, including from someone whose intent is to harm you.

Its important for people to understand, child abduction and abuse is not new and its not increasing at alarming rates. Its been at an alarming rate for 30, 40, 50 years. We are just not taking notice. But can a tribe like ours be truly found again after being forgotten for so long? Where is our future when the good die young and good people do nothing?

References:

http://www.healthfinder.gov/news/newsstory.asp?docID=603691 http://www.connectwithkids.com/tipsheet/2006/312_dec20/thisweek/061220_cyber.shtml

National Missing Childrens Day May 25th

As part of the National Missing Children Day we have created a dedication feature for all children.

Pin A Ribbon Campaign

Use this to pin up a ribbon or flowers for a missing child anywhere in the world. Our goal is to get as many ribbons up as possible. Please take the above link and pass it around to as many places as you can, lets all offer our wishes and prayers to those still missing.


I am pleased to send greetings to all those commemorating National Missing Children's Day on May 25. This observance provides an opportunity to honor hard-working and dedicated law enforcement officers, celebrate the recovery of missing children, and draw attention to children who are still missing. As we remember the children we have lost on National Missing Children's Day, we renew our resolve and dedication to reuniting families with their loved ones. I commend local, state, and Federal law enforcement personnel for the important role they play in missing or exploited children investigations and searches. Across America, partnerships between local law enforce-ment officers and community groups are helping to protect our children so that they can be nurtured in love and live rich, full lives. The National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children deserves special recognition for its work to reunite children with their families. Since 1984, the center has received more than 1.5 million hotline calls, provided assistance in the recovery of more than 55,000 children, and distributed millions of publications regarding missing and exploited children. These efforts make a difference in the lives of countless individuals, and I salute you. Laura joins me in sending best wishes on this special
occasion.

GEORGE W. BUSH

Prepared Remarks of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales

at the National Missing Children’s Day Awards

Washington, D.C.

May 18, 2007

Good morning. Welcome to our presentation of this year’s National Missing Children’s Day awards. We have been marking this day for 25 years now.



I wish we lived in a world without awards like these—a world without abductions, or sexual exploitation of children; a world without the heartbreak or tears when a brother or sister, or son or daughter, goes missing.



But we don’t yet live in that world. Everyone here knows far too well that our kids are in danger—that far too many childhoods have been stolen. The awards we hand out today are to thank those who fight against, and try to address, that sad reality. Your work truly is God’s work. Every faith that I know of holds childhood to be precious, and regards attacks on innocence to be evil. Thank you for being there when our kids are hurting.



Today’s recognition of this good work is joined with a special focus on the siblings of missing children. I am delighted to announce the release of a new Guide, entitled “What About Me?” It recognizes the trauma of having a brother or sister suddenly gone.



My wife Rebecca and I have two young sons at home. They’re normal brothers—they tease, they play, they sometimes pretend to have had it with each other. But they love each other and expect to have many, many years to keep on being brothers.



Just the thought of one of those boys being taken from us is almost too much for Rebecca and me. We can instinctively identify with the terror felt by parents of kids who go missing. Just imagining being in the shoes of the parents of Tamara Brooks—a young woman who was rescued, and is playing a big role in today’s event—or, worse, in the shoes of Mark Lunsford, whose precious daughter did not make it home to him—it’s enough, quite frankly, to overwhelm me with grief.



But if, God forbid, something happened to one of my boys, the one still with us would suffer at least as much, to have his brother ripped away, as my wife and I would.



Without forgetting that the most important thing is to get the missing child back, this Guide helps us remember the young child experiencing the awful loss of a sibling. It’s easy to overlook that kid. In the panic of the moment, all eyes seem to be searching for the missing child. And they should be—but parents and friends must also be strong enough to comfort the frightened children who remain at home, confused, and whose fear is as great as anyone else’s.



The Guide reminds us that a sibling’s sense of loss when a brother or sister is not quickly recovered is just as great—and that their whole world is turned upside down.



Think of the trauma of learning, perhaps for the first time, that the world isn’t the safe place children so naturally assume it to be. Except for being the abducted child, what is a more awful way to be introduced to these harsh realities than to have a sibling—a playmate, a friend, a confidante—suddenly taken?



How do the siblings feel about what has happened? Who is explaining the situation to them? Who knows how to comfort such a child? How is she supposed to react to having the media surrounding her home immediately after a disappearance?



The Guide we are releasing today answers those questions. We know that it will hit the mark—because it was written by kids who have already suffered this way. They are here with us today. I want to acknowledge their courage—their compassion for other kids. They know what it feels like. They know the emotions that well up. They know what questions need to be answered.



And they’ve poured these experiences out to help other children. In a sense, they are extending a hand, so that other kids who walk that long, hard road, will at least know that they are not alone—that others have felt the way they feel.



I am proud that the Department of Justice could help produce and distribute this fine work.



But I know that everyone here agrees with me that there’s no better way to care for siblings than to stop them from being separated in the first place.



This is, in effect, the goal of Project Safe Childhood. That initiative, marshaling the efforts of federal, State, and local law enforcement, and working with non-profits like the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, aims to create a country where no child will be victimized—and no brother will experience the agony of not knowing where his sister is, where no sister will have to worry about who has taken her brother.



Project Safe Childhood turned 1-year-old yesterday. And yesterday, on that anniversary, the Department took two steps to make it a little harder for evildoers to hurt our kids.



First, we released proposed National Guidelines for Sex Offender Registration and Notification. Congress directed us to provide guidance when it passed the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. These Guidelines spell out national minimum standards. They will assist the States, territories, Indian tribes, the District of Columbia, and the Federal government in working together to ensure that we know where sex offenders are located, so we can stop them from harming any more children.



Too many kids have gone missing at the hands of people who had already offended. Too many parents and brothers and sisters could have been spared their losses if we had kept better track of sex offenders in the first place.



Amanda Brown, for example, was a 7-year-old Florida girl who was abducted in 1998. The man convicted of—and sentenced to death for—her kidnapping and murder was a sex offender, who had previously been convicted of raping five girls.



Amanda’s case isn’t unique. We’ve all seen the sickening pattern—a previously convicted sex offender striking again—so many times. For Amanda, and her family, and the many others who have suffered as they have—we owe them at least this much: We will do all we can to make sure that these sex offenders can’t quietly take any more kids.



The proposed Guidelines are comprehensive. They describe when sex offenders need to register, the kinds of information they must provide, and for how long they need to update their information. Among many other things, we will for the first time require sex offenders to register their e-mail and Internet messaging addresses. No longer will parents be powerless to determine if their children are being haunted online by sex offenders. If sex offenders register, we can protect kids from them; and if sex offenders don’t register, they’re guilty of a crime, for which we will punish them. Kids will be safer.



I hope that all interested parties will carefully review these proposed Guidelines and give us feedback.



The second thing we did yesterday was to announce that $25 million is available to assist States, territories, the District of Columbia, tribal, and local governments to implement the Adam Walsh Act and to comply with the proposed Guidelines. Jurisdictions will be able to use funds to more effectively monitor and hold accountable sex offenders. The Department is not satisfied to simply provide guidance—we are determined to partner with governments across the Nation to enforce these standards. That’s how, together, we protect our children.



Today’s award recipients are remarkable people who have already demonstrated their commitment to being part of this battle. I am proud to have you here at the Department of Justice. And I want you each to know that I am personally grateful for your efforts, humbled by your courage, and committed to fighting at your side.



Thank you, and God bless you, and may God especially bless the children of the United States.



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Keep a pedophile behind bars

Help keep a pedophile behind bars by signing this petition

Todd Bequette's Story:

Todd says he got in the car and claims that the man, Terry Roy Holman, took him to a motel in Omaha, Nebraska. "I walked into the room. He said the minibike was in the closet area," Todd says. "There was no minibike, and then I turned around and there was a gun in my face."

For 18 months, Todd says he was held captive. He says he was raped "way over a hundred" times, and that he was beaten and tortured. "He would say, 'You're mine. I can do whatever I want with you, and you enjoy it, don't you?' And if I wouldn't answer, 'Yes, I enjoy it,' I'd get hit," Todd says.

To prevent him from escaping, Todd says he was tied up and drugged with Valium and sleeping pills. "He'd wake me up abruptly and say, 'Call me dad now. I want you to call me dad now.' When I wouldn't call him dad, he'd hit me. He'd choke me until I passed out," he says. "All I did was try to live, so I let him do what he wanted with me."

Todd says that while he tried to escape, his captor terrified him into submission. "I tried running three times. He put a gun to my face and said, 'If you do, I'm going to shoot you,'" he says. "Then he dropped [the gun] down—boom, boom, boom—and he emptied a .22 between my legs."

According to Todd, one of the most difficult tasks he was asked to perform was luring other children to his captor. Todd says he was sent outside to play with the children while Holman watched. Todd says he would then bring the children in—one as young as 3 years old—and Holman would allegedly put drugs in their Kool-Aid.

"That's how he got them," Todd says. He claims Holman sexually molested the children and then let them go.

Throughout the abduction, Todd says Holman was constantly moving him from state to state. After six months, Todd says Holman forced him to call his family. He says his instructions were to tell them he was in Tennessee with friends and that he would not be returning home.

In reality, Todd says he was in North Platte, Nebraska—but what he didn't know was that his fateful phone call gave authorities their first clue to his whereabouts. According to Todd, Holman had been using an alias. When the "alias" didn't pay his phone bill, Todd says the phone company started tracking him down by calling numbers dialed on his account. That's when they reached Todd's brother and started to unravel the truth.

Todd says authorities believed he was just another teenage runaway—but his parents knew the truth. They hired a private detective to help them find their son.

After another year of searching, Todd says the private detective tracked him down in Clarkston, Washington. "The FBI was there, and the state and sheriff's police were there, and they broke the door down," Todd says. "They found [Holman] with me."

Holman has never been tried or convicted on any charges relating to Todd's alleged abduction. The county attorney in Omaha, Nebraska, dropped the charges because Todd says they did not want to put him through the trauma of testifying. Holman is currently in prison for an unrelated crime, but will be up for parole in 2008.

So now its time to keep this pedophile behind bars http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/keepterryholmanbehindbars

Sign this Petition NOW!!

Devlin Task Force: We need the publics Help

The task force are looking into the 2001 kidnapping of Steven Kraft from Benton Harbor. Michigan.It is known that Devlin travelled in this area around this time. Specifically they are looking into the areas around Benton Harbor and Pentwater, Michigan.

Steven Kraft lived in and dissappeared from Benton Harbor. The Devlin's had a property at Pentwater.They normally vacationed in Summer - Steven dissappeared in February.However, Michael Devlin may have visited the property alone. He was known to take weekends away in February.

See the Steven Kraft Case Page and the task force page for more details of his dissappearance and the Steven Kraft message board.

Task Force are looking for Information on ANY vehicle that was loaned to Devlin for any length of time before 2001.It is known that he drove many different vehicles that were NOT his own.
Anybody who knows about his travels is asked to come forward. It is known he travelled widely in the following areas :St. Charles County, Lincoln County, Washington County amd Phelps County (near Rolla).Anybody owning/working in a motel/Campground/Cabin etc. may remember Devlin over the past 18 years.

Also looking for the whereabouts on any details on a 1983 silver-and-gray Toyota pickup truck with a White Stripe and a Camper Shell that Devlin owned before his current vehicle.
Anyone with ANY information should call :

Task Force Hotline : 636-239-7496 OR 636-239-7614

Both these lines will be staffed 24 hours a day

What everyone MUST remember is that NO information is TOO SMALL.

Photographs have also been released of Michael Devlin from 1988 onwards
Three appear below from DECEMBER 1988 :

Next one from October 1997

Next one from November 2000

Next from the period 1991 - 1993

More details when we have them.....

Taskforce Needs Publics Help

With the recent new article : http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/state/17062036.htm

"Soon after Devlin's arrest, prosecutors and investigators from Washington, Franklin, St. Louis and Lincoln counties, along with the FBI, the Highway Patrol and Kirkwood and St. Charles police, formed a task force to investigate Devlin's possible involvement in other unsolved cases."

AND

"We just have to be real careful, and we're still looking at all these cases," Nothum said. "They're still active and open."

Investigators have previously confirmed they were checking for potential connections between Devlin and at least four cases in Missouri, one in Illinois and one in Minnesota, cases that date to the late 1980s. Until his arrest in January, Devlin had no criminal record.

Cases under investigation include those of:

_Charles "Arlin" Henderson, then 11, who disappeared in 1991 while riding his bike on a rural road in Moscow Mills, about an hour's drive from St. Louis.

_Scott Allen Kleeschulte, who was 9 when he disappeared while riding his bike near his home in St. Charles, during a thunderstorm in June 1988.

_Bianca Noel Piper, a 13-year-old who disappeared after taking an evening walk last March near her home in Foley.

_Angie Marie Housman, abducted at age 9 in November 1993 while walking near her St. Louis County home and found dead nine days later by hunters in St. Charles County.

_Dalton Mesarchik, a 7-year-old kidnapped in March 2003 from his front lawn in Streator, Ill., and found dead the next day on the banks of the Vermilion River.

_Jacob Wetterling, 11, who was abducted by an armed man in St. Joseph, Minn., in October 1989 while riding his bike with several friends.

Arlin's mother, Debra Henderson, said she was guarding against getting her hopes up that the case could be solved. "I've done that too much, and then afterward I get sick," Henderson said.

The similarties between Shawn Hornbecks case and these others is very scary, lets look at Steven Kraft:

On February 15, 2001, a boy named Steven Kraft, 12, went missing from a town on Lake Michigan, not far from where a man with the same name as Devlin's father owns property.

Steven is the same size and fits the general description of Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby, the two boys Devlin is known to have abducted.

Steven went missing on Valentine's weekend 2001.

On the Federal charge against Devlin, he took Shawn to Illinois for Valentine's weekend 2003. Coincedence??

We know from Brian Devlin about the family vacations around Lake Michigan.

A property search showed that a man with the same name as Devlin's father owns a home in southwestern Michigan, right near the lake. It's not a wildly uncommon name.

A lot of people rent cottages instead of own them, and they mostly do so when their kids are younger, so it was iffy, maybe a long shot, but it was something. It was something to note, because the town where the Devlins may have property is close. Only twenty miles away, in fact.

It is close to Benton Harbor, where on February 15, 2001 a boy named Steven Kraft, 12, went out in the early evening to play with his family's two dogs; his dogs came home, but Steven, known as Stevie, was never heard from again. He know that Devlin scouted for victims not far from his home.

Now comparing their looks side by side, they are very similar in apperance, so Devlin is very likely a suspect given his AOA, or Age of Attraction, and the fact that Ben and Shawn were similar in age and look.

We have now set up a page detailing all the SEVEN suspected cases being used in the connections to Devlin.It details all the abductions with pictures and age-progressed ones for those still missing.Also includes annotated maps of the areas covered.And a link to the discussions boards.More will be added later.But now its up to others to look through the info and add to it. The task force seem to want the public's help so this is everyones chance to help.Please sign up to the boards and add your comments.

Any info - no matter how small is important.That one tiny piece of info may help to solve a crime. You never know. I'm sure Mitch Hults didn't expect to solve two crimes in one day with his tip - did he?

Anyway the page is off the main Shawn Case Page

at :http://www.operationcybertip.org/shawnhornbeck.html

or directly at :http://www.operationcybertip.org/task_force.html

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month

“National Child Abuse Prevention Month gives us an opportunity to highlight our longstanding commitment to working with our partners in preventing and treating child abuse.”

Regina B. Schofield
Assistant Attorney General
Office of Justice Programs

This is an important month to remember. Many kids are abused everyday, not just for strangers that abduct them but from family members or friends of the family. We must not turn our cheek, we must protect them.

In 1989, the Blue Ribbon Campaign to Prevent Child Abuse had its early beginnings as a Virginia grandmother's tribute to her grandson who died as a result of abuse. She tied a blue ribbon to the antenna of her car as a way to remember him and to alert her community to the tragedy of child abuse. The Blue Ribbon Campaign has since expanded across the country, and many wear blue ribbons each April in memory of those who have died as a result of child abuse. In other communities, special fundraisers are held to support prevention activities and treatment facilities for victims, and candlelight vigils are held as a remembrance. Most recently, the focus has shifted toward a more positive message of celebrating "blue ribbon" individuals, organizations, and communities who have done much to prevent child abuse and neglect.

This years theme: Promoting Healthy Families in Your Community is the theme of the 2007 National Child Abuse Prevention Month in April.


A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America

All Americans share a responsibility to protect our Nation's children. During National Child Abuse Prevention Month, we renew our commitment to prevent child abuse and neglect and to work to enable our children to realize their full potential. Childhood is a formative time, and abuse can have devastating long-term effects on young lives. In order to provide a safe environment for our young people, parents must work to protect their children from the dangers that threaten them. Family members, educators, public officials, and faith-based and community organizations all play important roles in helping to ensure that children are safe and can grow surrounded by love and stability. My Administration is committed to supporting children and promoting safe and stable families across America. Last year, I signed into law the Child and Family Services Improvement Act of 2006, which will help to prevent and address child abuse and neglect by improving child welfare services and continuing vital mentoring and family programs. Additionally, the Department of Justice's Project Safe Childhood program and the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 help officials at all levels of government protect our children and bring sexual and online predators, Internet pornographers who prey on our children, and other violent criminals to justice with stronger laws and improved coordination among authorities. As we observe National Child Abuse Prevention Month, we underscore our commitment to building an America where all children can thrive, develop character, and learn to be responsible citizens in an environment of security and love. By honoring our obligation to support and protect our young people, all Americans have an opportunity to make a positive difference in the life of a child and build a brighter future for our country.

GEORGE W. BUSH

More can be found about current cases, topic discussion and prevention at http://www.operationcybertip.org

Doing Our Part To Protect Our Future

So, who here is watching the election? What do you think of the war in Iraq? How about all the nasty weather in the midwest?

The election has gotten to its normal nasty bickering on both sides, which is nothing new. Bad weather is typical during the spring with cold and warm fronts hitting together. But what about protecting our future by fighting the war at home?

So you are saying now, What war at home? Well the war at home is the kidnapping and abuse of our children from their own homes, sidewalks and with the aid of the internet. Over 100,000 children go missing each year. About 50% of them are family or family-friend abductions, but what are the other 50%. Well the others are non-family abductions and runaways. The scariest of ones is the non-family abductions. Now, not that runaways or family abductions arn't scary, the abduction of any child is a sad thing and should never happen. But with non-family abductions you normally have no clues, reasons, ideas if your child is save or alive. Online predators have become a cause for alarm lureing our kids online and as you have seen on NBCs To Catch a Predator, they are willing to travel far to have sex with young boys and girls.

But, now these predators are becoming even more brazen then ever before. In 2002, while riding his bike on his own road, just a few hundred feet from his home, Shawn Hornbeck was abducted at gun point and taken by M. Devlin to Kirkwoods, MO where he kept Shawn for 4 1/2 years abusing him and keeping him confined for 2 months after the initial abduction. No clues were ever found and no trace of Shawn was ever found. Police were helpless and gave up after 6 days of searching the woods and nearby locations. Shawns parents started the Shawn Hornbeck Foundation in order to keep the search for Shawn alive and to help other families with missing children. In a miracle, in Jan 2007, Shawn was found in Kirkwoods along with another recently abducted boy Ben Ownby. After being found the horrible news of what each boy had endured came out. Also news that Shawn had been stopped by police many times, had profiles online, and Devlin posted pictures of the boy on his xbox profile. Yet for 4 1/2 years nobody knew that Shawn Devlin, as he was forced to call himself, was really Shawn Hornbeck.

This lack of attention and horrible crime has lead to a new site that offers education for families and a place for people to submit tips with information on cases to help law enforcement do their job and find the missing faster. The site, http://www.operationcybertip.org/, offers live updating case information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children as well as updated discussion boards on open cases and pending court trials. Operation Cyber Tip is full of resources for teaching and preparing children for the dangers not only on the internet but in the real world. There is also an Education page with stats and details about online predators. We recommend you signup as a member and get involved. Even if you submit a tip and you dont want to identify yourself, they offer completely anonymous tips and uploading of files for cases. Its important we keep the world aware of what is going on. Our future depends on my generation and my generation (11-25) is dieing slowly at the hands of predators. It is due to the lack of evidence and tips that many cases, even if solved end with the perp walking free to abuse again. Lets do our part and help. You can also suggest cases to Operation Cyber Tip for posting and research. The site is dedicated to Shawn Hornbeck, Ben Ownby, Johnny Gosch, Jacob Wetterling, Arlin Henderson and the many others who are still missing today. Lets all do our part and help our children and put away those who hurt them for the rest of their lives.