The Story of a Missing Person Known as Sage

Posted on August 28, 2016 by Administrator | Leave a comment

When the straight world collides with gender identity issues it becomes the land of unintended consequences, confusion, misunderstandings and focusing on the wrong things like bathrooms. Please! It is fodder for the sensational media, but in the end it only hurts a community that has already suffered much oppression.

Combine the forces of human nature with the epidemic of missing persons and it can create the perfect storm. The Cue Center for Missing Persons, based in Wilmington, North Carolina, rated one of the top 100 non-profits in the nation as an all volunteer operation, has served thousands (more than 9,000) families of missing persons in its 22 year history.

Profile: Synopsis from the Cue Center for Missing Persons:

Dashad, Laquinn “Sage” Smith identifies as male or female depending upon the situation. Dashad is a male transgendered person who has not had surgery. She disappeared on November 20, 2012 at 6:30 p.m. in Charlottesville, VA. She was last seen in the 500 block of West Street to meet someone she met on line by the name of Eric McFadden.

Police have not been able to locate Mr. McFadden and he has not been seen since that time. Lolita Smith, “Ms. Cookie,” is Dashad’s grandmother and has served as her primary advocate and family support.

Dashad was dressed in house clothes- dark grey sweatpants, a jacket and a black scarf and grey boots. She was to meet Eric near the Amtrak station. Law enforcement did a search of a local landfill with no results. Police have communicated extensively over the years with her grandmother, “Miss Cookie,” since the disappearance.

Dashad had just signed a new lease on her very first apartment, and was extremely happy, with no known reason to go missing. Typically, she was in constant contact with her grandmother previously.

November 20, 2015 marked the three year anniversary with a special event in her honor. There is no particular theory as to the whereabouts or circumstances of Dashad’s disappearance.

Vital Information:

Missing Since: 11/20/12
Missing From: Charlottesville Virginia
Classification: Endangered Missing
Age at Disappearance: 19 years
Black Male
Height: 5’11
Weight: 130 pounds
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black (Long)
Clothing: Black jacket, dark grey sweatpants, black scarf, and grey boots.
Full name: Dashad Laquinn Smith
Nickname: Sage

If you have any information, that you feel may be related in any way, please contact the following entities.

Investigative Agency
Charlottesville Police
434-970-3970
or
Crime stoppers
434-977-4000

If you have any information on this case please contact CUE Center For Missing Persons at (910) 343-1131 or the 24 hour tip line (910) 232-1687.

Chasing Rainbows – The Missing Who are Elderly- Part II

Posted on August 18, 2016 by Administrator | Leave a comment

people-in-the-park

If we only knew the resources needed to care for our elderly, particularly those with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, we’d be shocked. It is on the increase – 71% in the past decade! According to the Alzheimer’s Association:

Every 66 seconds, someone in the United States develops this disease;
Family caregivers spend approximately $5,000 per year caring for a family member with Alzheimer’s;
Alzheimer’s is the 6^th leading cause of death , and one without prevention or a cure or a mechanism to slow its growth;
Caregivers have very high-stress levels, and provided about $15.1 billion in uncompensated care from those surveyed in 2015;
Comparison of Statistics my two home states –
Connecticut – Those receiving Medicaid- Title 19 funding, $ 883 million was spent on the cost of care for this disease to date in 2016, with it being the 6^th leading cause of death;
South Carolina – Those receiving Medicaid- Title 19 funding, $ 561 million was spent on the cost of care for this disease to date in 2016. South Carolina is the 8^th highest state in the U.S. re prevalence of Alzheimer’s with an 86% increase since year 2000!

Numbers don’t lie, no matter what the economic state of our nation. “The rich get richer and the poor get children …and Alzheimer’s”, to paraphrase the old saying. Chronic unemployment, poverty, lack of access to nutritious food, lack of availability of medical care, increased crime and stress on communities, all contribute to people’s minds and bodies wasting. What can be done? I do not have the answers.

However, I know that with dedication, perseverance, and innovative investigation, Cue Center for Missing Persons is ready to assist in locating our elders, wherever they may be. A mandatory part of the equation is always the need for a collective consciousness for the community to do the right thing, stepping forward with any information that may contribute to a successful recovery of a missing person.

Here are four additional examples, to my Part I blog. Knowing that many of the people in the registry have been missing for several years, gone missing as a young or middle-aged person, we can only speculate that in 2016, there are considerably higher numbers of the people now classified as elderly had they disappeared in the 1980 and 199os.

Examples of the Missing Elderly from the Cue Center Registry

1)Brevard, North Carolina – Edna Glaze, age 76 went missing in March 1996 after walking or being dropped off at a hardware store followed by a music store. Edna was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

http://www.ncmissingpersons.org/missing-persons/missing-north-carolina/edna-glaze-2/

2) Chippewa County, Michigan -Joseph Clewley, age 73, went missing in July 2008 south of Paradise, Michigan on the North County Pathway. He was an avid hiker with a cabin, with significant medical conditions of a physical nature. http://www.ncmissingpersons.org/missing-persons/missing-other-states/joseph-clewley-2/

CUE Texas Shirley-Hunt-jpg 3) Henderson, Texas –Shirley Hunt, age 72, went missing in June 2007. Shirley was last seen walking from her residence in Henderson about 3 p.m. Shirley was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease; http://www.ncmissingpersons.org/missing-persons/missing-other-states/texasshirley-hunt-148×150/

kansasrichard-clark-150x150

4) Pleasanton, Kansas- Richard Clark, age 67, went missing in October 2005. Richard was a former truck driver and diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. He was last seen in his community at a local grocery store and /or truck stop. http://www.ncmissingpersons.org/missing-persons/missing-other-states/texasshirley-hunt-148×150/

Please assist us by reading and circulating this information. You may never know if it triggers a memory or piece of information to assist in their recovery. The elderly are precious citizens.

Listen to this recent Shattered Lives podcast with Kimberly Kelly of Project Far From Home to get a better understanding about searching for the elderly with dementia and Alzheimers.

References – http://www.alz.org/facts/overview.asp

http://www.ncmissingpersons.org/

Missing Persons – The Unchosen Path of the Elderly Who Disappear

Posted on June 2, 2016 by Administrator | Leave a comment

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“To keep the heart unwrinkled, to be hopeful, kindly, cheerful, reverent –

that is to triumph over old age.” Thomas Bailey Aldrich

Numbers don’t lie…

On average, 90,000 people are missing in the USA at any given time, according to staff at the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System-NamUs, a national database for missing people.

According to updated statistics (February 2015) presented at caregiver.org:

In 2012, 14.8% of the 65+ population were reported to be below the poverty level. Among the population aged 65+, 69% will develop disabilities before they die, and 35% will eventually enter a nursing home.

Most but not all persons in need of long-term care are elderly. Approximately 63% are persons aged 65 and older (6.3 million); the remaining 37% are 64 years of age and younger (3.7 million).

“The prevalence of cognitive impairment among the older population increased over the past decade, while the prevalence of physical impairment remains unchanged.”

Against this backdrop, there remains no hard statistics related to the number of elderly persons who go missing each year in all categories and circumstances. We do have snapshots. In July 2013, Journalist David Lohr wrote about the number of missing persons who have wandered off as a consequence of one of the better-known forms of dementia – Alzheimer’s disease. According to the article in the Huffington Post,

There has been a steady increase in such reported cases from non-profit organizations.

“There’re approximately 125,000 search-and-rescue missions where volunteer teams are deployed for missing Alzheimer’s patients every year,” said Kimberly Kelly, founder and director of Project Far From Home, an Alzheimer’s education program designed for law enforcement and search and rescue” personnel.”

Dealing with a missing person with cognitive impairments requires special skills and knowledge regarding how to search and locate these victims efficiently.

Some elderly persons are “sharp as a tack” at 80; other’s mental faculties can begin to decline at 50; Still others can function with some independence into their 90’s and beyond. It all depends on a combination of genetics, environment, intellect, and lifestyle.

I worked with seniors for many years in clinical settings such as hospitals, nursing homes, group homes and state institutions. No matter the circumstance, I learned from each patient. Whether their personality was “cranky mean” or “sweet as pie,” they all had histories and a lesson to offer me. Professionally, they were a different, preferred challenge, compared to working with kids.

If one peruses the wall of missing persons on the website of the Cue Center for Missing Persons, it doesn’t take much scrolling before several elderly missing persons are located, intermixed with all of the other missing persons of varying ages. My goal is to simply highlight a handful in this category. Too often the general public treats the elderly as “disposable people” rather than persons from whom we can learn a great deal and deserve respect for their contributions and sacrifices in life.

Backstories – to the Following Missing Persons – Included in this list is a healthy, hardy walker who went missing at a campground, a woman who cashed a check at her bank and was never seen again, a man who was dropped off at his condominium and never located, a women who frequented bus trips to New York and often went off on her own as a “free spirit”, not wanting to stay with the group. They range in age from 65 to 85 from several different geographic locations across the country. One has been missing for 12 years, others less time. One day missing is too long! PLEASE, review the profiles and study the circumstances and photos of each person – Bonnie McFadden, Floyd Price, Sandra Love Quay, Deward Killion. I encourage you to share this blog far and wide, as they are very important people who should NEVER be forgotten “just because they may be considered old.”

CUE CENTER FOR MISSING PERSONS PROFILES:

Bonnie McFadden

Missing from Arkansas

Deward Killion

Missing from Oregon

Floyd Price

Missing from Mississippi

Sandra Love Quay

Missing from New York

“I love the elderly… After all, I will be one among them in about 30 years”

(Ladyjustice- 2016)

References-

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/09/23/missing-persons-children-numbers/16110709/

https://www.caregiver.org/selected-long-term-care-statistics

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Without A Trace – The Original Movie

Posted on January 28, 2016 by Administrator | Leave a comment

They Find Horses, Don’t They? What about Children?

National resources for missing children began in the mid 1980’s. The formation of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children was conceived and created following some high profile child abductions.

Approximately 33 years ago, 6 year old Etan Patz was abducted from New York City from a Manhattan street on his way to the school bus. Thirty years later in 2012, his abductor, a former stock clerk living in his neighborhood was finally identified and arrested for the kidnapping–murder. These missing children preceded the founding of the Community United Effort (CUE) Center for Missing Persons ~ 21 years ago.

In 1981, the abduction and murder of 6 year-old Adam Walsh from a shopping mall in Hollywood, Florida was the next in a series of abductions to really bring this issue to the forefront of the American public with his parents starting a wave of national publicity and advocacy for the rights of children.

Can you imagine that prior to these horrific incidents, police had the ability to record and track information about stolen cars, stolen guns, and even stolen horses with the FBI’s technology at the time… but nothing for child abductions!

In 1984, the U.S. Congress passed the Missing Children’s Assistance Act, establishing a National Resource Center and Clearinghouse on Missing & Exploited Children. On June 13, 1984, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children was formed by President Ronald Reagan in order to maintain those resources. A national 24-hour toll-free hotline was also initiated at that time -1-800-THE-LOST.

The reason I raise this issue, is my great fondness for a former movie, filmed in Canada in 1983 which likely was written to closely illustrate the abduction of Ethan. This film, (unrelated to the former TV show) was called “Without a Trace.” It starred Judd Hirsch as the caring and persevering detective and Kate Nelligan as Alex Selky’s mother, separated from her husband.

I have not seen this movie in years, but it always stuck with me for the quality of the acting, and the pull on my heartstrings. When I compare it with the advanced resources and technology of today, well, there simply is no comparison.

Using the telephone as a resource and “waiting sufficient time to act” in those days just increased the anguish of all parents. This story took place in New York City and the abductor was finally located in Bridgeport, CT. It has a heart tugging and amazing ending with regard to rescue efforts, resolution and the incredible reason for the abduction in the first place! Beyond that, I will not reveal details, in this blog.

However, it is a mystery, why this movie is such a “hot property.” On Amazon.com, you can find very few DVD copies for about $75.00 each! (What?) (All 5 starreviews , irrespective of unavailability.) I did just locate one for $19.95 from Movie Night DVD.com

Do grab hold of this movie if you get the opportunity! It is well worth a spot in your most prized collection.

Product Details

Actors: Kate Nelligan, Judd Hirsch, David Dukes, Stockard Channing, Jacqueline Brookes
Directors: Stanley R. Jaffe
Writers: Beth Gutcheon
Producers: Stanley R. Jaffe, Alice Shure
Format: Color, Widescreen, NTSC
Language: English
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only.)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number of discs: 1
Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
DVD Release Date: March 22, 2005
Run Time: 120 minutes