Tiffany Sessions -- Missing 2/9/89
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Tiffany Sessions -- Missing 2/9/89
This is an old article, but after nearly 21 years, Tiffany remains missing, and is worthy of posting:
20 Years Later: The Search For Tiffany Sessions
Tiffany Sessions Disappeared Feb. 9, 1989
Cold Case Investigators Continue To Work The Case
Reporting: Peter D'Oench
Feb 9, 2009 7:17 pm US/Eastern
Tiffany's photo is shown age progressed to 39 years. She was last seen jogging on February 9, 1989 in Gainesville, Florida.
National Center For Missing and Exploited Children
COCONUT GROVE (CBS4) ― Patrick Sessions says he'll never give up hope in his search for his only daughter, Tiffany. The 20-year-old junior at the University of Florida was last seen around 6 p.m. on February 9th, 1989, when she told her roommate in Gainesville she was going for a walk.
She left the Casablanca East Condominiums wearing a jersey that said "Aspen" and carrying her black Sony walkman. She has not been seen since.
Patrick continues to appeal for the public's help in resolving the case. "How can any father stop looking for their daughter," he said from his home here in Coconut Grove. I am going to die before I stop looking."
In Gainesville, the Alachua County Sheriff and Tiffany's step-brother Jason and mother Hillary also appealed for help. "Tiffany lived with me for 20 years until she disappeared," said Hillary. "Today marks the same amount of time that she's been missing that she had been living with me. I want everyone to know she is a lving breathing person."
Patrick Sessions has just launched a new, official, website blog. http://tiffanysessions.com/
Information on it includes 20 years worth of news releases, a photo enhancement showing what Tiffany would look like today at the age of 40 and an on-camera appeal from Sessions.
Sessions said, "Now millions of people can find out Tiffany through the website. We're already on Face Book and YouTube."
He also said Tiffany's photo is on decks of cards being circulated at several Florida prisons. "Who else is going to be around the kind of people that took Tiffany. They don't hang out with you and I. They hang out with each other."
CBS4 reported in 2002 how one tip from a prison informant mentioned that inmate Michael Knickerbocker, who was serving a life term for offenses including rape, had boasted he had killed Tiffany after she was chained to a tree. "He's been a potential suspect," said Sessions. "Of course he has denied he had any involvement."
There have been thousands of tips since Tiffany disappeared. Sessions says he's cautiously optimistic about a new development in an old tip from a caller about a "suspicious person." He said he was not sure what would develop, but he said this new information had "some credibility."
There's a $25,000 reward in this case. When she was last seen, Tiffany had blonde hair, was 5'3" tall and weighed about 125 pounds.
Sessions said "I'm not stopping. I would like to see some closure for our family. And I would like to prevent this from happening to your daughter."
He said, "We don't have anything that says the guy who did this is dead or in jail. In fact the people we're talking about now as suspects are still alive. I wouldn't wish this on anybody."
http://cbs4.com/local/Tiffany.Sessions.Missing.2.930450.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hunkjq6AXWI&feature=player_embedded
20 Years Later: The Search For Tiffany Sessions
Tiffany Sessions Disappeared Feb. 9, 1989
Cold Case Investigators Continue To Work The Case
Reporting: Peter D'Oench
Feb 9, 2009 7:17 pm US/Eastern
Tiffany's photo is shown age progressed to 39 years. She was last seen jogging on February 9, 1989 in Gainesville, Florida.
National Center For Missing and Exploited Children
COCONUT GROVE (CBS4) ― Patrick Sessions says he'll never give up hope in his search for his only daughter, Tiffany. The 20-year-old junior at the University of Florida was last seen around 6 p.m. on February 9th, 1989, when she told her roommate in Gainesville she was going for a walk.
She left the Casablanca East Condominiums wearing a jersey that said "Aspen" and carrying her black Sony walkman. She has not been seen since.
Patrick continues to appeal for the public's help in resolving the case. "How can any father stop looking for their daughter," he said from his home here in Coconut Grove. I am going to die before I stop looking."
In Gainesville, the Alachua County Sheriff and Tiffany's step-brother Jason and mother Hillary also appealed for help. "Tiffany lived with me for 20 years until she disappeared," said Hillary. "Today marks the same amount of time that she's been missing that she had been living with me. I want everyone to know she is a lving breathing person."
Patrick Sessions has just launched a new, official, website blog. http://tiffanysessions.com/
Information on it includes 20 years worth of news releases, a photo enhancement showing what Tiffany would look like today at the age of 40 and an on-camera appeal from Sessions.
Sessions said, "Now millions of people can find out Tiffany through the website. We're already on Face Book and YouTube."
He also said Tiffany's photo is on decks of cards being circulated at several Florida prisons. "Who else is going to be around the kind of people that took Tiffany. They don't hang out with you and I. They hang out with each other."
CBS4 reported in 2002 how one tip from a prison informant mentioned that inmate Michael Knickerbocker, who was serving a life term for offenses including rape, had boasted he had killed Tiffany after she was chained to a tree. "He's been a potential suspect," said Sessions. "Of course he has denied he had any involvement."
There have been thousands of tips since Tiffany disappeared. Sessions says he's cautiously optimistic about a new development in an old tip from a caller about a "suspicious person." He said he was not sure what would develop, but he said this new information had "some credibility."
There's a $25,000 reward in this case. When she was last seen, Tiffany had blonde hair, was 5'3" tall and weighed about 125 pounds.
Sessions said "I'm not stopping. I would like to see some closure for our family. And I would like to prevent this from happening to your daughter."
He said, "We don't have anything that says the guy who did this is dead or in jail. In fact the people we're talking about now as suspects are still alive. I wouldn't wish this on anybody."
http://cbs4.com/local/Tiffany.Sessions.Missing.2.930450.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hunkjq6AXWI&feature=player_embedded
Last edited by Snaz on Thu Feb 25, 2010 12:12 am; edited 1 time in total
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Re: Tiffany Sessions -- Missing 2/9/89
Tips sought on 21st anniversary in Tiffany Sessions case
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20100208/ARTICLES/100209478/1105/NEWS?Title=Tips-sought-on-21st-anniversary-in-Tiffany-Sessions-case
On this date in 1989, a 20-year-old University of Florida student went out for a walk and was never seen again.
The disappearance of Tiffany Sessions was among the cases that Alachua County Sheriff Sadie Darnell cited when she formed the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit in 2007. The unit works with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to re-release information on anniversary dates of unsolved murder and missing persons cases.
Sessions told her roommate she was going for a walk around 6 p.m. on Feb. 9, 1989. When she did not return, an intensive search was launched but Sessions has not been found.
Anyone with information about Sessions or other unsolved missing persons or homicide cases is urged to call Detective Bob Dean at the Sheriff’s Office at 367-4161. Callers who wish to remain anonymous and be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000 should call Crime Stoppers at 372-STOP (7867) or leave an anonymous tip at www.alachuasheriff.org.
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20100208/ARTICLES/100209478/1105/NEWS?Title=Tips-sought-on-21st-anniversary-in-Tiffany-Sessions-case
On this date in 1989, a 20-year-old University of Florida student went out for a walk and was never seen again.
The disappearance of Tiffany Sessions was among the cases that Alachua County Sheriff Sadie Darnell cited when she formed the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit in 2007. The unit works with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to re-release information on anniversary dates of unsolved murder and missing persons cases.
Sessions told her roommate she was going for a walk around 6 p.m. on Feb. 9, 1989. When she did not return, an intensive search was launched but Sessions has not been found.
Anyone with information about Sessions or other unsolved missing persons or homicide cases is urged to call Detective Bob Dean at the Sheriff’s Office at 367-4161. Callers who wish to remain anonymous and be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000 should call Crime Stoppers at 372-STOP (7867) or leave an anonymous tip at www.alachuasheriff.org.
Re: Tiffany Sessions -- Missing 2/9/89
This is an older article, but I thought it worth posting.
Hope, help fade for the missing
Cases grab the spotlight, but resources for finding missing children and adults dry up and fade away as money and interest wane.
Amy L. Edwards Sentinel Staff Writer
July 22, 2009
Long before Caylee Marie Anthony, Jennifer Kesse and Jessica Lunsford became household names in Central Florida, 20-year-old Tiffany Sessions walked out of her apartment near the University of Florida and never returned.
Like the more recent disappearances, Sessions' case made national headlines. Hundreds of people volunteered to help find her.
Eventually, Sessions' relatives became advocates for missing persons. Her mother even directed a nonprofit dedicated to the issue.
But earlier this year — a month after the 20th anniversary of Sessions' disappearance — that organization folded because of a lack of money.
"It's heartbreaking I couldn't keep the charity alive," Hilary Sessions said. "It's disheartening that we are not going to be able to help all of these families who really depended upon us."
Sessions' group — Child Protection Education of America — isn't the only such Florida organization to disband.
The Central Florida-based Missing Children Center also closed recently.
If these long-standing groups can't survive, what's to come of the other missing-persons organizations in Florida, where nearly 47,000 children were reported missing last year?
Police work with some groups
When Tiffany Sessions disappeared, only one Florida group, now defunct, would take on her case because she wasn't a child. Even the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children — co-founded several years earlier by John Walsh, whose 6-year-old son, Adam, was abducted from a South Florida mall — wouldn't help.
Today, a year after Caylee Anthony was reported missing, missing-persons organizations large and small serve in a variety of ways. Some distribute fliers, launch ground searches or lend a listening ear. Others focus on prevention efforts.
Caylee's case brought Texas EquuSearch and Kid Finders Network to Orlando. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement works closely with A Child is Missing, a South Florida-based group whose key function is to deliver phone alerts about missing people.
Orlando-based Child Watch of North America helped organize a search for Kesse, who was 24 when she was abducted from her Orlando condo Jan. 24, 2006.
Orlando police Sgt. Barbara Jones said that was the first time OPD worked with Child Watch. She commended the group for its work on that case.
Law-enforcement officials say the services some missing-persons organizations provide are beneficial because exposure is key.
But investigators cautioned that not all missing-children's organizations are created equal.
Some are legit and provide valuable assistance to families and law-enforcement. Other groups or people, however, may have intentions other than simply finding a missing person.
It's unclear exactly how many organizations exist in Florida that are devoted to missing-person's issues.
The Association of Missing and Exploited Childrens Organizations — made up of nonprofits in the United States and Canada that provide services to families with missing and exploited children — has strict requirements before allowing membership. Among them is being in continuous operation for the previous two years.
Only two Florida nonprofits are AMECO members: A Child is Missing and the Jimmy Ryce Center for Victims of Predatory Abduction.
Fundraising proves difficult
Times are tough for many nonprofits of all missions, said Maria-Elena Augustin, programs coordinator for the Center for Public and Nonprofit Management at UCF.
To thrive during tough times, nonprofits should make sure their services are not only focused, but vital.
"Not just [a mission] that you believe in, but [one] your community believes in," Augustin said.
And that can be difficult for missing-children's organizations.
"The missing-children's issue is not a very jazzy issue," said Sessions, whose group worked on more than 450 cases. "People only come to an organization like this when they have a missing child."
A variety of challenges make it difficult for these groups to thrive. Fundraising is hard because the subject is negative, Sessions said.
"It's a lot easier to fund-raise for a pet that's been abused by an owner ... because you feel sorry for that pet. But you forget these are our children, and we need to take care of them," she said.
Current cases also influence public sentiment. Sessions said Casey Anthony's indictment on a first-degree-murder charge in the death of her toddler daughter doesn't translate well for missing-persons groups.
There are other more basic challenges.
Founding members of some groups, thrust forward by emotion and often well-intended, don't have the business acumen necessary to run a nonprofit, said Sherry Friedlander, executive director of A Child is Missing.
"They'll set up a foundation ..., and the money is generally wasted," she said.
Anthony case made impact
Sherri and Dennis Milstead, founders of Kid Finders Network, learned it first-hand. After the Milsteads volunteered in Caylee's case and featured her photo on their mobile billboard, the couple received harsh criticism.
"We took such a beating from the case in Orlando, it really put a hurting on us," Sherri Milstead said. "We're still being trashed over it."
Today the Milsteads' billboards are parked. Kid Finders, she said, doesn't have any money.
What should they do?
B.J. Jimenez, whose nephew Zachary Bernhardt disappeared from his Clearwater home nearly nine years ago, said organizations like hers — the A-Z Missing Children's Outreach Center — exist because needs are not being met.
Several months after Caylee was reported missing, her family organized a foundation in her name.
Caylee's grandparents, George and Cindy Anthony, said they launched their nonprofit to help families understand their rights and provide them with information on the resources available to them.
"We basically had to figure out on our own what to do," the Anthonys said via an e-mailed statement. "There is so much going on that they do not know what to do or who to trust. We had no idea what community resources were available to us, or what our rights were."
The Anthonys' goal is to help families get emotional, financial and spiritual help.
Jimenez said the other reason people launch missing-children's organizations is for the simple fact no one wants his or her child to be forgotten.
Zachary, she said, would no longer be the 8-year-old depicted in original fliers but a 17-year-old youth. She wonders who has seen his age-progressed photo. She wonders who will look for Zachary now.
"If his picture's not out there, how's anybody going to know? ... It doesn't go away with us. We need this. The families and our children, we need this."
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-looking-for-missing-kids-072209,0,5440905,full.story
Hope, help fade for the missing
Cases grab the spotlight, but resources for finding missing children and adults dry up and fade away as money and interest wane.
Amy L. Edwards Sentinel Staff Writer
July 22, 2009
Long before Caylee Marie Anthony, Jennifer Kesse and Jessica Lunsford became household names in Central Florida, 20-year-old Tiffany Sessions walked out of her apartment near the University of Florida and never returned.
Like the more recent disappearances, Sessions' case made national headlines. Hundreds of people volunteered to help find her.
Eventually, Sessions' relatives became advocates for missing persons. Her mother even directed a nonprofit dedicated to the issue.
But earlier this year — a month after the 20th anniversary of Sessions' disappearance — that organization folded because of a lack of money.
"It's heartbreaking I couldn't keep the charity alive," Hilary Sessions said. "It's disheartening that we are not going to be able to help all of these families who really depended upon us."
Sessions' group — Child Protection Education of America — isn't the only such Florida organization to disband.
The Central Florida-based Missing Children Center also closed recently.
If these long-standing groups can't survive, what's to come of the other missing-persons organizations in Florida, where nearly 47,000 children were reported missing last year?
Police work with some groups
When Tiffany Sessions disappeared, only one Florida group, now defunct, would take on her case because she wasn't a child. Even the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children — co-founded several years earlier by John Walsh, whose 6-year-old son, Adam, was abducted from a South Florida mall — wouldn't help.
Today, a year after Caylee Anthony was reported missing, missing-persons organizations large and small serve in a variety of ways. Some distribute fliers, launch ground searches or lend a listening ear. Others focus on prevention efforts.
Caylee's case brought Texas EquuSearch and Kid Finders Network to Orlando. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement works closely with A Child is Missing, a South Florida-based group whose key function is to deliver phone alerts about missing people.
Orlando-based Child Watch of North America helped organize a search for Kesse, who was 24 when she was abducted from her Orlando condo Jan. 24, 2006.
Orlando police Sgt. Barbara Jones said that was the first time OPD worked with Child Watch. She commended the group for its work on that case.
Law-enforcement officials say the services some missing-persons organizations provide are beneficial because exposure is key.
But investigators cautioned that not all missing-children's organizations are created equal.
Some are legit and provide valuable assistance to families and law-enforcement. Other groups or people, however, may have intentions other than simply finding a missing person.
It's unclear exactly how many organizations exist in Florida that are devoted to missing-person's issues.
The Association of Missing and Exploited Childrens Organizations — made up of nonprofits in the United States and Canada that provide services to families with missing and exploited children — has strict requirements before allowing membership. Among them is being in continuous operation for the previous two years.
Only two Florida nonprofits are AMECO members: A Child is Missing and the Jimmy Ryce Center for Victims of Predatory Abduction.
Fundraising proves difficult
Times are tough for many nonprofits of all missions, said Maria-Elena Augustin, programs coordinator for the Center for Public and Nonprofit Management at UCF.
To thrive during tough times, nonprofits should make sure their services are not only focused, but vital.
"Not just [a mission] that you believe in, but [one] your community believes in," Augustin said.
And that can be difficult for missing-children's organizations.
"The missing-children's issue is not a very jazzy issue," said Sessions, whose group worked on more than 450 cases. "People only come to an organization like this when they have a missing child."
A variety of challenges make it difficult for these groups to thrive. Fundraising is hard because the subject is negative, Sessions said.
"It's a lot easier to fund-raise for a pet that's been abused by an owner ... because you feel sorry for that pet. But you forget these are our children, and we need to take care of them," she said.
Current cases also influence public sentiment. Sessions said Casey Anthony's indictment on a first-degree-murder charge in the death of her toddler daughter doesn't translate well for missing-persons groups.
There are other more basic challenges.
Founding members of some groups, thrust forward by emotion and often well-intended, don't have the business acumen necessary to run a nonprofit, said Sherry Friedlander, executive director of A Child is Missing.
"They'll set up a foundation ..., and the money is generally wasted," she said.
Anthony case made impact
Sherri and Dennis Milstead, founders of Kid Finders Network, learned it first-hand. After the Milsteads volunteered in Caylee's case and featured her photo on their mobile billboard, the couple received harsh criticism.
"We took such a beating from the case in Orlando, it really put a hurting on us," Sherri Milstead said. "We're still being trashed over it."
Today the Milsteads' billboards are parked. Kid Finders, she said, doesn't have any money.
What should they do?
B.J. Jimenez, whose nephew Zachary Bernhardt disappeared from his Clearwater home nearly nine years ago, said organizations like hers — the A-Z Missing Children's Outreach Center — exist because needs are not being met.
Several months after Caylee was reported missing, her family organized a foundation in her name.
Caylee's grandparents, George and Cindy Anthony, said they launched their nonprofit to help families understand their rights and provide them with information on the resources available to them.
"We basically had to figure out on our own what to do," the Anthonys said via an e-mailed statement. "There is so much going on that they do not know what to do or who to trust. We had no idea what community resources were available to us, or what our rights were."
The Anthonys' goal is to help families get emotional, financial and spiritual help.
Jimenez said the other reason people launch missing-children's organizations is for the simple fact no one wants his or her child to be forgotten.
Zachary, she said, would no longer be the 8-year-old depicted in original fliers but a 17-year-old youth. She wonders who has seen his age-progressed photo. She wonders who will look for Zachary now.
"If his picture's not out there, how's anybody going to know? ... It doesn't go away with us. We need this. The families and our children, we need this."
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-looking-for-missing-kids-072209,0,5440905,full.story
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Thank you!
This is a good site to keep the candles lit. Thank you. Just joined.
Pat Sessions is a good man and does not deserve this pain.
Tiffany's situation broke the hearts of all UF and was the precursor to that evil Danny Rolling; who shattered our innocence as much as Ted Bundy did FSU's.
Both those jackals are gone. But I can't help that feeling about Rolling as he was a predator there even then.
As middle age creeps on, you try to lessen the pain (and anger) of ones personal inability to stop these monsters and save their mostly female victims.
Never has this been so patent in reading what that psychopathic Wayne Treacy did to that innocent young girl. Josie Ratley will be remembered; even, as we pray, in full recovery.
The Treacy’s will be remembered for nurturing this sick, violent misogyny that created and condoned a monstrous jackal who destroyed not just someone’s inner beauty, but ruined a sweet, innocent human life.
That remorseless puke-faced punk, and his recalcitrant family in Deerfield, both seem to act with the same maniacal denial. Possibly indicating such deranged, pre-serial killer behavior is as much heredity as environment.
At least in the Treacy family.
Pat Sessions is a good man and does not deserve this pain.
Tiffany's situation broke the hearts of all UF and was the precursor to that evil Danny Rolling; who shattered our innocence as much as Ted Bundy did FSU's.
Both those jackals are gone. But I can't help that feeling about Rolling as he was a predator there even then.
As middle age creeps on, you try to lessen the pain (and anger) of ones personal inability to stop these monsters and save their mostly female victims.
Never has this been so patent in reading what that psychopathic Wayne Treacy did to that innocent young girl. Josie Ratley will be remembered; even, as we pray, in full recovery.
The Treacy’s will be remembered for nurturing this sick, violent misogyny that created and condoned a monstrous jackal who destroyed not just someone’s inner beauty, but ruined a sweet, innocent human life.
That remorseless puke-faced punk, and his recalcitrant family in Deerfield, both seem to act with the same maniacal denial. Possibly indicating such deranged, pre-serial killer behavior is as much heredity as environment.
At least in the Treacy family.
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Join date : 2010-03-25
Re: Tiffany Sessions -- Missing 2/9/89
Snaz wrote:Anthony case made impact
Sherri and Dennis Milstead, founders of Kid Finders Network, learned it first-hand. After the Milsteads volunteered in Caylee's case and featured her photo on their mobile billboard, the couple received harsh criticism.
"We took such a beating from the case in Orlando, it really put a hurting on us," Sherri Milstead said. "We're still being trashed over it."
Why would people criticize and trash this couple? That doesn't make any sense - there was a missing child and they were spreading the awareness.
And in Tiffany's case as well as all other missing adult cases, it is sad that people are willing to overlook real abductions because too many think that all of them have chosen to run away. Yes, there will always be run-aways, but each and every person who is reported as missing should be checked out immediately. Waiting several hours to start looking just gives the abductor a head start. And authorities don't need to worry about it being a waste of their time because there are always plenty of volunteers who would start searching as soon as the word was out. But then again, that would look bad on the local police departments and we certainly wouldn't want that
Re: Tiffany Sessions -- Missing 2/9/89
I think the actions of KidFinders is what made them be attacked. They have never found a missing child, or recovered the remains of one. They spent most of their time with the Ants, not looking for Caylee, sitting around in their kitchen.
What about the boat, was it given to KidFinders, or was it given to GA? Yes, it had a sonar system for underwater searching, which Kid Finders could have used, but GA was always in the boat named Caylee Marie, and they weren't looking for a 'live' Caylee in the bottom of the river.
I think the Milsteads caused their own problems with the public.
What about the boat, was it given to KidFinders, or was it given to GA? Yes, it had a sonar system for underwater searching, which Kid Finders could have used, but GA was always in the boat named Caylee Marie, and they weren't looking for a 'live' Caylee in the bottom of the river.
I think the Milsteads caused their own problems with the public.
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Re: Tiffany Sessions -- Missing 2/9/89
pi-girl said:
Why would people criticize and trash this couple? That doesn't make any sense - there was a missing child and they were spreading the awareness.
pi-girl.... don't you know about the Milsteads and Kidfinders??
Sitemama is right... they caused all their own problems.
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Re: Tiffany Sessions -- Missing 2/9/89
Well. I do now. (Thanks, Sitemama & Snaz!)
It seems I need to better inform myself before commenting on news that I follow only half-way.
While doing some research and Googling 'Milsteads & Kidfinders', I ran across this site regarding Amy Edwards' article posted above on Mar 3, '10: http://itsamysterytome.wordpress.com/2009/07/22/kid-finders-out-of-money-as-missing-childrens-non-profits-struggle-to-survive-in-florida/
Kid Finders out of money as missing children’s non-profits struggle to survive in Florida
July 22, 2009
by itsamysterytome
There was an article in the Orlando Sentinel today titled “Hope, help, fade for the missing.” written by Amy L Edwards, staff writer. The purpose of the article was to bring attention to the many many non-profit organizations working to find the missing. (nearly 47,000 children reported missing in Florida just last year. Can you believe that? Wow.) This was a really good and informative piece–until it turned into an ad for Kid Finders and The Caylee Marie Anthony Foundation. (No, I’m not kidding.)
The writer started the article with the news of the recent disbanding of, Child Protection Education of America, a non-profit started 20 years ago by the mother of Tiffany Sessions, a 2o year old that disappeared from the University of Florida. It closed down due to lack of funds. It joined another long-standing nonprofit, Missing Children Center, who also recently closed their doors.
“It’s heartbreaking I couldn’t keep the charity alive,” Hilary Sessions said. “It’s disheartening that we are not going to be able to help all of these families who really depended upon us.”
The article goes on to say that there are legit and some not-so legit organizations claiming to help search for missing children. The Association of Missing and Exploited Children’s Organizations–made up of nonprofits in the US and Canada who provide help to these children’s families with various services has strict requirements before an organization can become a member. It was a shocker to me that there are only TWO Florida nonprofits among their members: A Child is Missing and the Jimmy Ryce Center for Victims of Predatory Abduction. TWO out of an unknown (I suspect, large) number of groups claiming to exist only to serve the needs of families of missing and exploited children. (How many of these organizations are there in Florida–anybody know or want to venture a guess?)
Apparently, one of the basic problems with the non-profits is that any Tom Dick or Harry can start one. There are no job requirements, and because of that many–even the well-intentioned ones–don’t have the business knowledge necessary to run a successful nonprofit.
“They’ll set up a foundation …, and the money is generally wasted,” said Sherry Friedlander, executive director of the successful, A Child Is Missing.
AND THEN THE AD BEGAN: (I had an uneasy feeling as to where this whole thing was going when Kid Finders and Texas EquuSearch were mentioned in the same sentence early on in the article)
Sherri and Dennis Milstead, founders of Kid Finders Network, learned it first-hand. After the Milsteads volunteered in Caylee’s case and featured her photo on their mobile billboard, the couple received harsh criticism.
“We took such a beating from the case in Orlando, it really put a hurting on us,” Sherri Milstead said. “We’re still being trashed over it.”
Today the Milsteads’ billboards are parked. Kid Finders, she said, doesn’t have any money.
Several months after Caylee was reported missing, her family organized a foundation in her name.
Caylee’s grandparents, George and Cindy Anthony, said they launched their nonprofit to help families understand their rights and provide them with information on the resources available to them.
“We basically had to figure out on our own what to do,” the Anthonys said via an e-mailed statement. “There is so much going on that they do not know what to do or who to trust. We had no idea what community resources were available to us, or what our rights were.”
The Anthonys’ goal is to help families get emotional, financial and spiritual help.
Ugh. I think I’m going to go throw up now.
It seems I need to better inform myself before commenting on news that I follow only half-way.
While doing some research and Googling 'Milsteads & Kidfinders', I ran across this site regarding Amy Edwards' article posted above on Mar 3, '10: http://itsamysterytome.wordpress.com/2009/07/22/kid-finders-out-of-money-as-missing-childrens-non-profits-struggle-to-survive-in-florida/
Kid Finders out of money as missing children’s non-profits struggle to survive in Florida
July 22, 2009
by itsamysterytome
There was an article in the Orlando Sentinel today titled “Hope, help, fade for the missing.” written by Amy L Edwards, staff writer. The purpose of the article was to bring attention to the many many non-profit organizations working to find the missing. (nearly 47,000 children reported missing in Florida just last year. Can you believe that? Wow.) This was a really good and informative piece–until it turned into an ad for Kid Finders and The Caylee Marie Anthony Foundation. (No, I’m not kidding.)
The writer started the article with the news of the recent disbanding of, Child Protection Education of America, a non-profit started 20 years ago by the mother of Tiffany Sessions, a 2o year old that disappeared from the University of Florida. It closed down due to lack of funds. It joined another long-standing nonprofit, Missing Children Center, who also recently closed their doors.
“It’s heartbreaking I couldn’t keep the charity alive,” Hilary Sessions said. “It’s disheartening that we are not going to be able to help all of these families who really depended upon us.”
The article goes on to say that there are legit and some not-so legit organizations claiming to help search for missing children. The Association of Missing and Exploited Children’s Organizations–made up of nonprofits in the US and Canada who provide help to these children’s families with various services has strict requirements before an organization can become a member. It was a shocker to me that there are only TWO Florida nonprofits among their members: A Child is Missing and the Jimmy Ryce Center for Victims of Predatory Abduction. TWO out of an unknown (I suspect, large) number of groups claiming to exist only to serve the needs of families of missing and exploited children. (How many of these organizations are there in Florida–anybody know or want to venture a guess?)
Apparently, one of the basic problems with the non-profits is that any Tom Dick or Harry can start one. There are no job requirements, and because of that many–even the well-intentioned ones–don’t have the business knowledge necessary to run a successful nonprofit.
“They’ll set up a foundation …, and the money is generally wasted,” said Sherry Friedlander, executive director of the successful, A Child Is Missing.
AND THEN THE AD BEGAN: (I had an uneasy feeling as to where this whole thing was going when Kid Finders and Texas EquuSearch were mentioned in the same sentence early on in the article)
Sherri and Dennis Milstead, founders of Kid Finders Network, learned it first-hand. After the Milsteads volunteered in Caylee’s case and featured her photo on their mobile billboard, the couple received harsh criticism.
“We took such a beating from the case in Orlando, it really put a hurting on us,” Sherri Milstead said. “We’re still being trashed over it.”
Today the Milsteads’ billboards are parked. Kid Finders, she said, doesn’t have any money.
Several months after Caylee was reported missing, her family organized a foundation in her name.
Caylee’s grandparents, George and Cindy Anthony, said they launched their nonprofit to help families understand their rights and provide them with information on the resources available to them.
“We basically had to figure out on our own what to do,” the Anthonys said via an e-mailed statement. “There is so much going on that they do not know what to do or who to trust. We had no idea what community resources were available to us, or what our rights were.”
The Anthonys’ goal is to help families get emotional, financial and spiritual help.
Ugh. I think I’m going to go throw up now.
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