Missing Adults Found Alive: What's the Appropriate Reaction?

The reasons adults go missing are as vast as the ocean; foul play, homicide, abduction, and in some cases an adult walks away, abandoning their family, children and friends. But, what happens when a missing adult is found alive and what questions are they, or their family, obligated to answer, and to whom?

There is no law that says an adult can’t walk away from their family, their job, or everything they once held dear, and create another life somewhere else. Is it the right thing to do? It depends on who you ask. While a family is devastated when someone walks out with no warning, no goodbye note, no clues as to what happened, an adult still has a legal right to do so. Morally and ethically, it may not be the best choice, but, there again, no laws have been broken.

Several cases have made national headlines; we all remember the “runaway bride,” Michelle McMullen and others, and recently a case of a 19 year old college student, Aisha Kahn, whose family reached out for help and received media attention, the aid of missing persons advocates and organizations, and the hard work of local law enforcement. Found alive and well, she’s got a lot to answer for, but to whom? Me? You? The media? The public?

The “ugly” rears its head all over the social network sites clamoring for justice, screaming for answers, and the “professional pundits” fuel these debates, the “yeas” and the high fives surrounding some of their opinions and comments, at the least, tasteless, and at the worst, shades of lynch mob mentality. Looking for appropriate answers is one thing, but wanting to dole out punishment is another, that's up to the law enforcement agency in charge.

So what exactly is our society’s fascination with passing judgment? Many are demanding answers, repeating that the attention and resources given to finding these adults takes away from the “truly” missing. What a stupid statement. What if it was YOUR missing adult, would you expect less, or would you expect every resource known on earth to be expended for your loved one? And, if that husband, wife, sister or brother suddenly reappears, for whatever reason, would you feel your “taxpayer” dollars were spent unwisely?

Prayers are never wasted. At a time when a loved one goes missing, sometimes that’s the only thing families can rely on. To see those of all faiths come together to pray for a safe return is a display of unity of mankind that doesn’t happen very often. The boundaries are erased and people embrace for a common cause, regardless of race, religion or ethnicity.

It’s after a missing adult suddenly reappears that all the unity is forgotten in an instant, and if the media gets hold of the story, the pundits start shouting about the wrongs that have been done, and what they think should happen to this person. If the adult hasn’t broken any laws, there’s nothing to shout about, and if they have, then it's up to the local legal community to investigate and bring charges, not America's media commentators. If there is information that needs to be made public, they should have all the facts to back up what's put out there before the cameras start rolling, or fingers start twittering!

The return of a missing adult becomes an accountability issue to their left behind family, law enforcement, and those whose resources were used to find them, not me, and not you, they owe us nothing.

How we can be critical when the prayer to find a missing person alive and well is answered? Do they realize the alternative?

The circumstances surrounding an adult who goes missing may not be what we would like or expect, but, until there are laws in place prohibiting adults from walking away from their families, it's none of our business.

Celebrate a life spared and pray that whatever happened to precipitate any adult who feels they need to walk away from their life is rectified fairly through their family or through the legal system, not through public comments.

And, yes, this is my opinion and I welcome yours!

Karen Johnson Swift: Mother of Four Missing From Tennessee (FOUND)

Doing all the right things, friends and family of Karen Johnson Swift, are looking desperately for clues.  Last seen by her husband around 1:30am on October 30, 2011, near Dyersburg, TN, her car was found approximately a mile away with a flat tire around 5:30am the same morning.

According to news reports, her family says she is athletic, runs several miles per day, and could have been walking away from the car back to her home.  Karen Swift owns a landscaping business and had plans made for future jobs, so it's unlikely that she was willing to walk away from her life, as well as her four children.

A Facebook page has been set up to assist in getting information out to the nation, as well as media outlets, to help investigators gather leads and tips.  There is also a printable flyer there:

"Authorities need anybody whom might have seen a 2004 White Nissan Murano between the hours of 1:30am - 5:50am early Sunday morning Oct. 30 in the Millsfield Hwy area or ANYWHERE in Dyersburg, Dyer County, surrounding counties, the Bootheel of Missouri and Caruthersville areas. In a 3 hour time span, of Karen's last unknown whereabouts NOTHING will be too small. If you can place her car on Millsfield Hwy earlier than 5:50am that helps narrow down the timeline. PLEASE share this and hopefully somebody saw SOMETHING associated with her vehicle somewhere here. Please call the Dyer County Sheriff's Department 731-285-2802 with that information no matter how small you think it is because it is still critical!" 

The Dyer County Sheriff's Office has been conducting aerial searches, and sent out search dogs on the ground sniffing for clues in the disappearance of the mother of four. Swift's SUV has already been sent to the TBI crime lab in Nashville for forensic processing.

In an interview with her parents, Karen Swift's father, Gary Johnson says, "She is a great mom and works hard," Johnson said. "She's a sweet person, real nice, gets along with everybody."  Swift's two sons are in college and her daughters are 7 and 9 years old. Johnson said his youngest granddaughter "just cries" and "won't hardly eat."

Authorities report that Karen Johnson Swift and her husband are in the process of a divorce, he has been questioned in her disappearance, but at this time is not considered a suspect.  According to Sheriff Jeff Box, "We don't have any evidence that would actually state that there is foul play but we don't have any evidence to state there's not either,' said Sheriff Box.

One news report states that Karen Swift arrived at the home late Saturday night and "dropped off" her children.  It also states that her husband spoke to her in the stairwell, then went on to bed.  There are still many gaps in the story and questions to be asked, but, at this point in the investigation, authorities are concentrating their efforts on searches for Karen Swift and gathering leads.

Vital Information about Karen Swift Johnson:

Age: 44

Race: White

Hair: Blonde

Eyes: Green

Height: 5' 5"

Weight 138 lbs.

Anyone who has had contact with Swift, recalls seeing anyone near her vehicle since her disappearance, or has information regarding her whereabouts to contact the Dyer County Sheriff's Office at 731-285-2802.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/mother-missing-tennessee/story?id=14867155#.TrJufEOXu_G

http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/dpp/news/tennessee/karen-swift-reported-missing-in-dyer-county-rpt-20111101

http://www.kfvs12.com/story/15940482/search-continues-for-missing-dyer-county-mom

http://www.stategazette.com/story/1779590.html

UPDATE

Karen Swift Body Identified by TBI

Dyer County, TN - The remains of a body found in rural Dyer County on Saturday have been identified as those of 44 year old Karen Swift. Swift has been missing for more than a month.

Authorities had cordoned off an area of Harness Road near Highway 78 for most of Saturday afternoon and evening, where the decomposed body was found.

The body was then sent to the Regional Forensic Center in Memphis for an autopsy and identification according to The Associated Press.

"Frost and winter conditions killed the vegetation, making the body visible within a few feet," according to Dyer County Sheriff Jeff Box

"We plan to rely on dental records to help identify the body," Box told My Fox Memphis.

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Special Agent John Mehr confirmed late this morning that the remains have been identified as Karen Swift.

Mehr told the Associated Press that authorities are treating the case as a homicide.

Swift was last seen after picking up her daughter at a Halloween party in late October. The mother of four was last seen on October 30th and authorities later found her 2004 Nissan Murano on Millsfield Highway with a flat tire.

Sherie Wilson: Missing From Rochester, NY: Found Dead

Sherie Wilson is a 31 year old mother of four children. Reports say she left a friend's home on the evening of January 29 and has not been seen nor heard from since. That's it!


Yes, that's it folks. That's the only thing I can find about this missing mother. The news reports didn't start coming out until February 5, a week after she was last seen before vanishing.


I don't know when the missing person's report was filed with the Rochester police, however, for a week to go by with no word in the media about her is puzzling. I can only speculate that either the family waited for her to reappear or they were told to wait before filing the report. Either way, precious time has been lost while the children are left wondering what happened to their mother!


I've only seen one, quite short, plea for help from police being reported. Has no one spoken to her family to report a little more on their thoughts of what may have happened?  Most families would be pleading for information, yet maybe this family doesn't know where to start or what to do.


It's a good thing there are organizations like Peace4 the Missing, LostNMissing, Websleuths and bloggers who care, that circulate the internet with news of this mother.  Someone knows what happened and someone needs to come forward with explanations.  We all pray for a happy ending.


The one small report that has been found on a few media outlets:

Police are asking for the public's help in locating a missing mother.

31-year-old Sherie Wilson was last seen on January 29th. Wilson has four children.

Police said she was at a friend's house on Kelly Street in Rochester and has not contacted any family members since she left the house.

Anyone with information is asked to call 911.

The phone number for the Rochester Police is (585)428-9810 


It's my fervent hope that there will be good news soon on the whereabouts of Sherie Wilson, that there won't be foul play involved, and that she is soon reunited with her four children.


UPDATE:

Missing Rochester mother found dead, boyfriend charged

Posted at: 02/12/2010 9:25 AM

A Rochester man is charged with the murder of his girlfriend, 31-year-old Sherie Wilson of Rochester.

On February 1, Wilson was reported missing to Rochester Police by her boyfriend, 45-year-old Carl Nelson. She was last seen in the early morning hours of January 29 on Kelly Street in the city.

After an exhaustive investigation by police, Nelson was charged with second-degree murder.

Wilson’s body was found near 490 west, just past the Chili Center exit. She was the mother of four young children.

For more Rochester, N.Y. news go to our website www.whec.com.

Renee Pernice: A Year Missing

A whole year has passed since Renee Pernice last spoke with her family members on January 1, 2009.  So much has happened in a year, and, yet, so little to bring resolution to a family frantic for answers.

Renee's family has been awarded temporary custody of her two boys, now 8 and 10, who don't understand why mommy hasn't come home yet.  There isn't much you can explain to children that they are able to process and understand.  It's hard enough for children to lose a parent to death, but to deny the normal grieving process makes it that much harder.  It's all put on hold for this family until Renee is found.

As the family is marking this one year anniversary, they have resigned themselves to the fact that she has been murdered, and the only person of interest is her husband, Shon Pernice, the last person to see her alive.  They are offering a $25,000 reward, not for justice, but for only her remains.  They, like most families of the missing, only want their loved one back, they only want to know where she is so they can bring her to a place of peace and surround her with love.

Shon Pernice has had a year marked with trials of his own.  Arrests for stealing a gun and threatening a neighbor, spending time in jail on those charges, and he still has made no other statement about Renee other than she "walked out of the house."   He claims he knows nothing, also claims he made about the disappearance of Star Boomer years ago when he was one of the last people in her presence before she vanished.  She has never been seen again, nor have her remains been recovered.

How can a person be linked so closely to not one, but two women's vanishings?  It beats the odds, doesn't it?

Someone knows something, they always do, and until they are forthcoming with information to solve the cases of both Renee Pernice and Star Boomer, there will be families living on hold, children constantly wondering, and those who care deeply searching for answers.

Anyone with information on Renee Pernice's disappearance is asked to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS.

Laci Remembered

Seven years ago there were a lot of preparations surrounding December 24.  Preparing for Christmas, the baking, shopping, wrapping, and decorating as well as preparing for birth.  Christmas, the birth of Jesus, a celebration, and the birth of another, a first son was just around the corner.  It was a busy time of last minute scheduling, gifts to be picked up and delivered, as well as tending to personal needs of the season.

Being 8 months pregnant is exhausting and topped with all of the other things to do, Laci Peterson still managed to attend a Christmas party, dressed in red silk and a dimpled smile, she went alone, her husband away on a business trip.  She didn't know that would be one of the last pictures taken of that smile, and yet, it's that smile that captured the hearts of millions. 

Laci was last seen on December 23 while attending to the last minute appointments and errands surrounding the coming festivities planned with her family and friends.  The world stopped for her that day and we were all breathless, waiting on news that she had been found.  Her husband made calls to her family searching for an answer to where she could be.  It was December 24, Christmas Eve, dinners planned and Laci had prepared a recipe for French Toast for their breakfast.

Massive searches of the area disrupted the carefully planned holiday for several families in the Modesto, California area.  Horses, dogs and people combed the park where her husband said she had gone to walk the dog.  The dog returned home, Laci did not.

Days, weeks and months went by, and no sign of Laci.  Her family looked distraught on television interviews, her mother, Sharon, frantic with worry, and yet, Laci's face held that famous smile with a twinkle in her eye looking like she would return at any time and start chattering about where she had been.  A massive awareness campaign was being carried out, flyers posted, media coverage and we waited for any word of what happened to Laci and her unborn son, Connor.

All the while her husband was being looked at in a different light.  He seemed to be avoiding contact with the press, avoided being seen with tears, avoided begging for help in finding his wife.  It seemed like unusual behavior, but, there are no set patterns on how to act when your wife is missing.  At the candlelight vigil it's reported he was in almost a jovial mood, making calls on his cellphone and caught by the camera with a smirk on his face.  His behavior in light of his wife and unborn son being missing was disarming.  Many started to wonder.


As the months wore on to the Easter season, Laci and Connor washed  ashore near the Berkeley Marina, a place it was proven that her husband had been that very Christmas Eve, fishing.  The media coverage was extensive when her husband was finally arrested and brought to trial, convicted and sentenced to death.

As we are in the same week of preparation for the Christmas holiday, the celebration of the birth of Jesus, there is another high profile case of a missing mother with a big bright smile in the news.  Susan Powell, the mother of 2 toddlers, disappeared sometime in the night of December 7.  Her husband, Josh, unexpectedly bundled up the two children and took them camping on a freezing cold night after midnight.  When he returned the next day, Susan was gone, leaving behind her cell phone and purse.

A husband's strange behavior is being revisited each day on the media reports. Josh Powell, at this time, is the only "person of interest" until such time as he can be eliminated.  Time will tell. 

As you gather with your family this Christmas, hold your children tighter and remember those little ones who are spending Christmas without their mothers, and the big ones, too.


Remember the brown eyed girl, Laci Peterson, whose dimpled, smiling face we will never forget.