August 22, 2001
Goal:
The Fran petition - To create a national clearinghouse for missing adults
My daughter
Frances Ann Young, a young adult, disappeared April 6, 1996
She had gone out for a walk at 9:30 at night and has not been seen since.
In searching for my daughter, I have noticed the absence of an organization in Canada specifically aiding in the search for missing adults. Today with the increasing crime rate and subsequent strain on police department resources, search efforts for missing adults decrease with time.
We, Fran's parents and family were turned down when we appealed to the Missing Children society of Canada (MCSC), because Fran was over the age of 18.
The MCSC does an effective job spreading the word about missing children. MCSC has professional investigators on staff. The organization is designed as a resource for police and searching parents. MCSC participates and manages ground search activities and door to door inquires. The organization is accredited by the RCMP. All services are provided free of charge. Despite the funds at their disposal they can do nothing to help "older" missing loved ones because of their mandate.
We feel that any missing child regardless if he or she is over the age of 18 at the time of their disappearance, is still someone's child and laws must be changed to allocate funds to help our older missing children and adult loved ones.
The objective
of the Fran Petition is that legislators will author and sponsor a bill that
would allocate annual federal funding to support a national clearing house for
missing young people (over the age of 18) and adults.
One of the goals of the Fran Petition is to make comprehensive search and recovery resources available to the families of missing adults who are classified at risk/endangered by law enforcement.
This would acknowledge a very real and serious problem which is the ever increasing number of "at risk" missing young adults and older men and women and the increasing number of abductions of sons and daughters, some venturing out on the own for the first time. For those desperately searching for someone, the MCSC cannot help if the age of the missing person is 18 or over.
This would provide federal funding to establish a national clearinghouse for
missing adults. Similar to the MCSC this center would assist law enforcement
and families in missing persons cases of those over the age of 17. The center
would only take up cases that are determined by law enforcement to be "foul
play" and would not help locate adults who are trying to disappear
Note: Don't know the names of your Representatives in Ottawa or need contact
information?
Your
elected representative
House of Commons,
Parliament Buildings,
Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0A6
Dear _______________________________________
This is a Support Letter for Fran's Petition.
The Petition
would provide for federal funding to establish a national clearinghouse for
missing adults. The funds will be used to search for missing adults age 18 and
over, who are classified by law enforcement as "at-risk/endangered"
young adults, older men and women including the abductions of sons and daughters,
some of these are people venturing out on their own for the first time. The
Center would only take up cases that are determined by law enforcement to be
"foul play" and would not help locate adults who are trying to disappear.
We would like to see the same services and resources to search for at-risk missing
adults that the Missing Children Society of Canada currently provides for missing
children.
No one should have to hear that their missing loved one is too old to receive
help from our publicly-supported National Center for Missing and Exploited children
as the Young family did when their daughter Fran disappeared, three months after
her 36th birthday.
We ask that you fully support Fran's Petition to establish a national clearinghouse
for missing adults over the age of 18.
Signed,
Visit www.canada.gc.ca.
Click on Government contacts on the left side of the page, or write to:
Your elected representative
House of Commons,
Parliament Buildings,
Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0A6
Don't know the names of your Representatives in Victoria or need contact information?
Visit www.gov.bc.ca. Click on Contacts at the top, right side of page.
Please don't forget to sign the letter!
No postage necessary