OPRAH, JANE VALEZ MITCHELL AND THE NANCY GRACE SHOW!

By Cyndi Caron

I’m going to be brutally honest here.  Families of missing loved ones have a better chance of winning their state lottery, or in receiving an all expense paid trip around the world, including flights and hotel stays, than they do of getting their missing family member on those shows. 


Why?  Because for one most of what is presented has been on schedule for weeks by the producers and writers as well as the already interruptions when breaking news happens such as the devastating Haiti earthquake.  Unless there is serious foul play involved, in which your local media is constantly portraying, and the surroundings of your missing loved one includes sensationalism, such as the spouse is a suspect who has been found to be committing adultery after your loved one goes missing and more so if children involved, along with your missing “Suzy” having a pristine background, it’s highly unlikely that her status will be aired. 
Unfortunately, it’s television.  The more scandal the better chance of your “story” being aired.


When is the last time you’ve seen a missing overweight runaway teen with acne, or a missing black male teenager portrayed on a nationally syndicated news or show?  Is physical beauty a necessary requirement to capture the attention of viewers?  Or as some African Americans will say “only white missing kids make it to those shows?” 


What about missing adults? Why aren’t they portrayed? Is it due to the wrong mentality that “adults have a right to go missing?”  Yes, nationally syndicated news agencies picked up on Ohio’s “missing mom” Tiffany Tehan, but that was only after it was realized she was spotted on video cameras weeks before with a mystery male. Yes, that story was indeed picked up due to the startling fact that missing mom was seemingly becoming a “runaway mom” leaving behind a church-going husband and her infant daughter. Personally, no adult has the right to go missing unless they are willing to notify their local police agency first. They have a right to leave, but to go missing? No.

So what are the criteria and how do families of missing get their loved ones on these shows?


Let’s start off with Nancy Grace’s show.  While at times her show can be quite interesting, it is nearly always about the same case over and again with “breaking news” that happened days or even weeks ago and already known from online readers.  While Nancy “gets to the matter” and nearly asks all the questions, that you the viewer want to know, her show is really not set up to portray multiple cases in an equal amount of airtime.  Shame because from those I’ve talked with would love to see each nightly episode featuring two new missing cases each eve with no carry over, unless real breaking news exists. This could then be announced in a brief comment prior to commercial interruptions.  Course, I’m neither an executive producer nor Nancy Grace’s producer so I will leave well enough said.  On a positive note, Nancy does have a great blog online that various cases and missing loved ones are portrayed.  There have been a time or two in which I’ve seen some of our LostNMissing loved ones’ banners posted and I welcome her staff to utilize any and as many as they like at any time.  Banners are not copyright and all we ask is that they are kept intact as designed when posted.


Jane’s show, which I find has a more variety of topics, along with entire teams of professionals who voice their opinions and present updated facts to a case, is also extremely difficult to reach as producers schedule either far in advance or very near or immediate to whatever has happened the day before.  It’s unfortunate as I feel her show is probably one of the most ideal to have a variety of missing loved ones portrayed.  I invite Jane’s show to go through our website and feel free to pick and choose as many missing loved one’s banners and flash on the screen before or after the show anytime.


Oh Oprah! I don’t know what to say other than its hard to explain to family members of missing loved ones that it is nearly impossible to reach Oprah or any of her producers.  Believe me, I’ve tried.  I think as a non runner I could win the Boston Marathon before I could achieve having a missing loved one portrayed on Oprah’s show.  It doesn’t matter that I personally beat Oprah, by one place, on the Ms. Twitterworld Contest.  I came in 16th and she in 17th place.  Even though she has over a million followers, to my 4300, you can bet I celebrated…a little anyhow. Did I really beat out Oprah on Twitter? I doubt it. For one, Oprah is so spread out far and wide with her many ventures that I really wonder if it’s Oprah tweeting anyhow.  It’s my guess that one of her hundreds of “assistants” represents her.  Or could it be that she was just “too kind” to tweet her followers to vote for her? Let the “little guy” win. Either way it doesn’t matter as it was merely a silly contest. 


What does matter is what are the true criteria that I can tell crying parents, in emotional turmoil, as to why nationally syndicated shows would rather use valuable airtime listing all the mistresses of Tiger Woods and Jessie James as opposed to listing even a handful of missing loved ones? Yes, even adults who are missing have distraught and grieving parents who beg for any airtime possible for their missing child.  Ask the parents of Jeramy Carl Burt, Brian Sullivan’s mom, or the family of missing Beverly Meadows.  They would give anything to have their loved ones portrayed.  Or the grandmother of 15 year old Peyton Borden, a young black male who bolted from an Illinois courthouse in the fall of 2009 after learning that he would have to go back and live with his father in Georgia, instead of residing with his maternal grandmother since his own mom was killed in a car accident when Peyton was only 8 years old, only to never be seen again!  Perhaps talking with the family of Thomas and Jimmy Zinza would be ideal.  Two brothers, both missing years apart.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Jimmy went missing in 1992 and could be living on the streets anywhere in the US and a nationally syndicated show could literally bring about recognition.  Thomas went missing, under strange circumstances from a hotel room in PA while traveling on business from Hawaii in 2008. Imagine the turmoil their family endures, it’s incomprehensible.


I will close this with a challenge.  Which nationally syndicated show will make contact with LostNMissing to offer to portray one of the many missing loved ones that we represent who has never received their much needed national airtime? Will it be Oprah? Nancy Grace? Or the Jane Valez Mitchell show? Stay tuned as I will update in my next report.  My phone line is open.


Cynthia L. Caron 
President/Founder 
LostNMissing, Inc.
PH: 603.548.6548
www.lostnmissing.com

Where is Haleigh Cummings? Tommy Croslin is Key to Cracking Case!

 By Sheryl McCollum

With all the theories surrounding the disappearance of Haleigh Cummings – not one involves a stranger!  They all involve the same principle players: Misty Crosling, Tommy Croslin, Joe Overstreet and Ronald Cummings.

Listen to the 911 tape.  The father is NOT out looking for his child.  He makes threats, cusses at the operator, and calls Misty a bitch.  There is no doubt in his mind the child has been taken. 

Misty, during this call, can not provide a date of birth, the child's weight nor details of what happened.  She can however describe the “brick” perfectly. 

There is a van that was “moved” and had a “scratch” all the way down the side.  Every one of the players had access to the van.  They have all driven it and it would have evidence in it. 

Tommy Croslin is Misty’s brother.  He provides no information to police about Haleigh’s disappearance.  He is arrested on a matter not related to Haliegh. Suddenly, he remembers going over to the house the night she went missing.  He states he knocks on the door and no one answers.  People: he places himself at the crime scene!

Then Misty and Ronald marry.  They get separate lawyers.  Misty fails a polygraph.  Ronald is arrested for assault against Tommy.  Misty gets a TPO against Tommy.  Misty and Ronald divorce.  Misty is robbed while buying drugs.  Take time to listen to that 911 call.  She is frantic and scared.  She sounds very different than the 911 call involving Haleigh. 

Then all three, Tommy, Misty and Ronald are arrested selling and trafficking drugs!  They are working together.  Some say that Ronald only did the drug sales to stay close to Misty.  Marrying her was not close enough?  He is working undercover on his own child’s murder by selling drugs with the top suspect? They have been in jail since January on multiple charges stemming from the drug bust.

They are searching water where Tommy is known to dump deer carcass.  They took Misty to the dock where she pointed and showed law enforcement the area.  Tommy was in the police car waiting for her.  Tommy is the common factor in every situation. 

Tommy talked first. Tommy will talk again.  Time is on the side of justice.  He is the key to the truth.

Sheryl McCollum, MS
Director
Cold Case Investigative Research Institute 
 

Who Really Cares About Missing Persons?

Everyone reads the headlines when a body is recovered or remains are found.  Like rubber necks at an accident scene, we want to know what happened and why in all the grisly details.  The media covers the scene, hovering around like bees to honey trying to get the inside scoop and be the first to report along with pictures and video.   A body is brought forth, identified and justice is served.  As if reality was that simple!

When it comes to missing persons, in most cases, headlines aren't screaming, the public gives a cursory look and then goes on to then next page.  The news is covered with the young, blond white girls from good families and the talk shows are brimming with family members eager to be a part of something that may give their loved one the exposure needed to remind us not to forget.  It looks like these missing persons are getting much deserved coverage, but what is reported is only the tip of the iceberg.

The general public has no clue of the scope of this global epidemic.  According to figures from the FBI, there are almost a million missing persons reported each year.  That number is growing year by year.  How does this happen?  How can that many people be unaccounted for?  Yes, many are teen runaways, many are just looking to start a new life, but many more are never found until it's too late.  Human trafficking and sex slavery is now coming into the forefront of the news as more and more young people and children are vanishing without a trace.

What's Going On In Chicago?

Recently the case of 12 year old Chicago girl, Jahmeshia Connor, who was found dead in an alley after being missing almost two weeks, has sparked a flame under Chicago media.  After facts of the case were brought to light by online writers, it seems the media is reporting one missing person after another from the Chicago area.  Is it a coincidence?  If it had not been for the watchful eyes of Susan Murphy Milano, and organizations like Peas in Their Pods, LostNMissing, Inc., Peace4 the Missing, Please Help Missing Children and others, Jahmeshia Connor and those that have followed may have been relegated to nothing but a report filed by the family.

Who has been searching for these girls?  Some of them have been missing quite some time, longer than would be expected, and some families did not file missing persons reports immediately, some probably following the advice of a police officer that told them to wait and see.  THERE IS NO WAIT AND SEE WHEN A PERSON IS MISSING!  The public's misconception is there is a mandatory waiting period, that is false.  All police departments are to take a missing persons report on the spot, with the facts stated by those who know the person and the circumstances of their disappearance best.  Time is always of the essence.

Myths and Legends

There is also a definite misconception in the way most parents view the nation wide Amber Alert.  Most think that if their child is missing all they do is dial 911 and it's issued.  That's another myth.  There are strict guidelines that must be followed and criteria that must be met before an Amber Alert is issued.  Many children do not qualify.  Many missing children fall through the cracks of the system and families are disappointed, rightly so.  This gap in the system has forced organizations like Peas In Their Pods to generate the "Rilya Alert" when a child is missing.  Regardless of age, sex, ethnicity, or circumstances, as long as a police report has been filed, a Rilya Alert will go out, indicating to a growing network to get the word out and find this child!

Cases of missing adults present an even more complicated set of predicaments.  The circumstances of an adult going missing varies more than child abductions or teen runaways.  An adult has the right to leave a family and start a new life, as unfair as this sounds, there is nothing a spouse or children can do about it according to the laws of the day.  This makes filing a report and expecting an investigation by authorities redundant.  In most cases a family member has to take on the task of investigating and tracking down their missing adult.

Yes, They Care


So who really cares about missing persons?  Fortunately for family members there are organizations like CUE Center for Missing Persons, Project Jason, 411 Gina, Track Missing, Texas Equusearch and others who devote time and resources to step in and search.  Searching for a missing person is only one facet of the tasks these organizations perform.  They work closely with the law enforcement agents in charge, they organize posters and awareness campaigns, they comfort and support the families, often at their own expense.  They train search and recovery teams, both human and animals, to perform the job of bringing a loved one back to the family that cares for them.

Even if we don't have a missing loved one, how long does it take to stop, take a harder look at a poster hanging in a store or on a telephone pole?  Everyone can do a small part in aiding these families by paying attention, look at a situation that isn't right, and do something to correct it.

Laws are being presented to Congress that will insure that missing persons cases will be handled in a more uniform manner.  By supporting the passage of The Help Find The Missing Act (HR3695 Billy's Law) we are showing our support for the families of missing loved ones.  We are also giving a name to the thousands of unidentified remains that are housed all over the country and reconnecting them with their families.

When a person goes missing there are so many victims.  A whole family, a whole community and a whole country are subjected to the fears, anxieties, and worries about a person who is gone.  Who really cares about a missing person?  Mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends, and many, many strangers who step up daily to help and support.

CUE Center's website says it best:  "Every missing person is somebody's child."