I happened upon this article from the Times Union while searching for new information on Jaliek. It’s short but informative in that it provides a list of those who are missing from this area. Some of these people’s stories I hadn’t heard of which is sad. Something needs to be done locally to get the word out about those who are missing. In most cases a poster is created, it’s listed on a website like America’s Most Wanted and then, over time, forgotten.
The Unforgotten
Loved ones keep missing-person cases alive
In the last 10 years much has changed in the way we remember missing persons. They get their own Web sites now, fundraisers are held for reward money, and more media attention is devoted to the cases. But one thing hasn’t changed — they’re still missing.
Highlighted here are a dozen local people, young and old, male and female, who went missing, some as long ago as nearly 30 years, some as recently as two months.
The missing will never be far from the minds of their friends and families — or the minds of investigators who have spent careers trying to figure out what happened the day the person vanished.
“Many of these cases are those types that are still being worked on even though they are not actively in the public light,” State Police Senior Investigator David Madden said.
Investigators keep case files of missing persons on their desks “to remind them,” said Madden, who heads the Major Crimes Unit at Troop G, Loudonville. “They are at arm’s reach in order to pull another file for review or to re-interview, to take a second look to see if they missed something the first time. So, if a new lead should appear, they are ready to go and there is no lag time trying to get caught up.”
Often, weeks or months later, as leads dry up, police begin treating the case as a homicide, although the family holds out hope that one day the door will open and their missing loved one will walk in.
“You can almost categorize them as part of major case investigations and homicide/missing people fit that category,” Madden said.
Families often find ways to keep their missing loved one in the spotlight, as well as help families of other missing people. Doug and Mary Lyall, whose daughter, Suzanne Lyall went missing from the University at Albany campus nearly 10 years ago, started the Ballston-Spa-based Center For Hope, dedicated to the missing and their families.
Missing people never age. In many cases, police ask forensic artists to make sketches of what the person would look like today — say 10, 15 years later. But to their loved ones they will always look the way they did on the day they vanished.
Unsolved Cases
More who vanished in region:
Frank Connell: 47, Rensselaer, last seen April 20, 2007
Shelton “Shawn” Grant: 22, Troy, last seen Nov. 30, 2007
Audrey May Herron: 31, Greene County, last seen Aug. 29, 2002
George LaForest: 45, Stillwater, last seen April 2006
Monique “Pebbles” Santiago: 11, Albany, last seen March 29, 1990
Jeanne Marie Scrima: 44, Knox, last seen March 19, 1980
To view past articles on missing people and other special features, go to: http://timesunion.com/specialreports/missingpersons/
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=662623
