NEWS RELEASE



For further information please contact:

Capt. Christian T. Ricks

(573) 526-6115



Q0504

May 24, 2006

EMPHASIS: Remember Our Missing Children



Thousands of children run away from home each year, while others are abducted (usually by a family member or friend), or abandoned by their parents. Surprisingly, very few missing children result from stranger abductions, despite popular beliefs perpetuated by movies and the media. No matter how the child disappears, their absence always fills family and friends with fear, anxiety, and uncertainty.



The United States Department of Justice through the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s Child Protection Division sponsors a yearly contest for fifth grade students to develop artwork to represent America’s united effort to find our missing children. The winners from each state are then considered for national recognition. This year, Missouri’s first place winner, Miss Catherine Braun, of Eugene, MO, is also the winner of the National Missing Children’s Day art contest.



Miss Braun, her parents, and her teacher will travel to Washington, D.C., where she will be recognized. Captain Ron K. Replogle, Sgt. Keverne L. McCollum, and Ms. Darlene M. Crocker, of the Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control, will accompany them. Missouri’s State Clearinghouse for Missing Children, which is part of the Division of Drug and Crime Control’s Juvenile/Missing Persons Unit, has always participated in National Missing Children’s Day.



The Patrol congratulates Miss Braun, a fifth grader at Our Lady of the Snows school in Mary’s Home. Missouri also recognizes Miss Olivia Deeken, of Westphalia, MO, and Miss Amanda Ward, of Auxvasse, MO, who were selected first and second runner up in Missouri’s state contest earlier this year.



Each year, on May 25, our nation remembers its missing children. The goal of National Missing Children's Day is to bring public attention to the growing problem of missing children. This day has been known as National Missing Children's Day since May 25, 1983. Members of the Patrol will drive with their headlights on that day. The public is invited to do the same, remembering those children who are not home.