Search For Son Leads to Law Change

Cheshire parents' search for son leads to law change
Published: Sunday, August 14, 2011
By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo, Naugatuck Valley Bureau Chief

When William Smolinski Jr. disappeared seven years ago, police told his parents to wait three days and then file a missing persons report.

That’s according to his mother, Janice Smolinski of Cheshire, who believes her son might have been found, and the case solved, if Waterbury police had begun searching for him immediately when Billy’s family first contacted them.

Police now say they believe Billy, a Waterbury resident who disappeared Aug. 24, 2004, at the age of 31, was murdered. They have searched for his body several places over the years, such as in Shelton and Seymour, with no success.

A new law requiring law enforcement agencies to accept “without delay” any report of a missing adult goes into effect in October. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed it into law in July. Also, information collected relating to a missing adult shall be entered into the National Crime Information Center database “with all practicable speed.”

“I’m excited about the new law,” said Janice Smolinski, who helped lead the effort to pass the legislation. “Maybe families will have a better chance of finding their loved ones when they go missing. You turn to law enforcement at the lowest time in your life. You hope they would be there to help guide you. I don’t think this law is a miracle cure, but it is a step in the right direction.”

Full article: http://newhavenregister.com/articles/2011/08/14/news/metro/doc4e4738a468d85508726956.txt?viewmode=fullstory