As of Wednesday, Abigail Hernandez topped the FBI’s list of “kidnappings and missing persons,” which contains about 70 names.
Hernandez, a Kennett High freshman, was reported missing at 7:17 p.m. on Oct. 9. She was last seen around 2:30 p.m. leaving school, but when her family arrived home that evening she wasn’t there. She is described by police as a white girl of Hispanic descent with brown hair, brown eyes and light olive complexion, 5-foot 4-inches tall, 118-pounds.
FBI special agent and spokesman Greg Comcowich, who works out of the FBI’s Boston office, said in his experience names are put on that list in the order they are received. The list does appear to be in rough chronological order. The case directly below Hernandez involves a young girl named Aliayah Lunsford who disappeared in late 2011. Another person near the top of the list, Alexis Tiara Murphy, was last seen in Virginia in August.
“Normally, the most recent (case) goes right on top.” said Comcowich.
http://liarcatchers.com/missing_persons_investigations.html
Employees at the FBI had to work around furloughs caused by the federal shutdown in order to put Hernandez on the online list. The FBI’s list labels Hernandez as a “missing person.”
“Regardless of the furlough, we made a special effort to make sure we got it done,” said Comcowich.
The FBI’s website says this about the shutdown’s impact on the website: “Due to the lapse in government funding, information on this website not directly related to the protection of life and property will not be routinely updated. Inquiries not related to investigations and threat information may not receive a response until funding has been restored, states FBI.gov.”Updates related to active cases, such as publicity related to fugitives and missing persons, will be posted. We will continue to receive and evaluate tips.”
Comcowich added the FBI is working very hard to find Hernandez, and Comcowich is pleased by the level of cooperation that he’s seen among the various law enforcement agencies covering this case. The FBI has jurisdiction over kidnapping cases but the FBI can also be called in by local law enforcement when need be. On its website, the FBI describes its role in cases where a child is missing and possibly kidnapped, but no interstate transportation is known, this way:
“The FBI will initiate a kidnapping investigation involving a missing child ‘of tender years,’ even though there is no known interstate aspect. ‘Tender years’ is generally defined as a child 12 years or younger. The FBI will monitor other kidnapping situations when there is no evidence of interstate travel, and it offers assistance from various entities including the FBI Laboratory.”
In this case, officials at press conferences have indicated that agencies like the FBI were asked to help. Comcowich also said the media plays an important role in getting information out and helping to get cases solved.
The Secret Service has also been called in to help. Secretservice.gov says the agency does respond to missing children cases.
“As part of the 1994 Crime Bill, Congress mandated the U.S. Secret Service to provide forensic/technical assistance in matters involving missing and exploited children,” states Secretservice.gov. “The Secret Service offers this assistance to federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.”
Pat Maney, a case manager from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, who works in Florida, explained his center’s role in the search. The center is a non-profit agency which gets some funding from the Department of Juvenile Justice. There are various things the center can provide investigators such as analytical resources, search and rescue resources, support for families and more.
“The national center is the national clearing house for missing children,” said Maney. “In this particular case we were contacted the day after Abigail went missing.”
Conway Police Department was the agency that asked the center for help. The police provided the center with information on Oct. 10. The information was used to create posters.
“In Abigail’s case we had over 5,600 posters out within a couple hours after the case came into me,” said Maney, adding the posters went on the center’s website and a 100-mile radius around Conway. In addition, another batch of posters was sent to law enforcement. Those posters went to law enforcement agencies in New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont and Massachusetts. Those posters are similar to the ones that the public sees on the center’s website, missingkids.com.
The center also provided a “Team Adam consultant.” The consultants are retired law enforcement officers who have specialized training in response to missing and abducted children. The consultant was on site in Conway from the evening of Oct. 10 to around noon this past Monday.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s website lists Hernandez as among 12 children missing from New Hampshire; some of the children on their list have been missing since the 1980s. All of the cases are much older than Hernandez’s case.
Maney said cases can come to the center’s attention in many different ways. Those include though parents and law enforcement calling or having the name added to the National Crime Information Center data base for missing children. The NCMEC also offers assistance to law enforcement after an Amber Alert goes out.
“There’s all sorts of way cases can actually come into the national center,” said Maney. “Abigail was called to us and our assistance was requested.”
Maney said a large majority of children who go missing voluntarily return “very quickly.”
“Every case is different,” said Maney. “As I’m sure you’re well aware, there’s been cases where children have gone missing for 18 years and they were located alive.”
When asked if there’s anything the public can do to help, Maney said the public should remain vigilant.
“Don’t think that the piece of information you might have regarding Abigail is not important,” said Maney adding any information from the center’s hotline goes to law enforcement.
Some people have expressed interest in why FBI agents would be involved. Plymouth State University associate professor of criminal justice Kristine M. Levan said it’s part of the FBI’s job to help find missing children. Levan said people, and particularly the media, should not speculate on what happened to Hernandez.
“If there’s too much speculation it may lead people in the wrong direction,” said Levan.
When asked for a general impression of the case, Levan said, “this one is really tough, because like I said, there is not a lot of information.”
A Conway-based embroidery business, called Kellie’s Colorful Stitches, is selling T-shirts and window decals as a fund raiser for the Hernandez family. The donations will be sent to Mountain View Community nursing home where Abigail’s mother works.
If you have any information concerning this case, contact the FBI’s toll-free tipline at 1-800-CALL-FBI, the Conway Police Department at (603) 356-5717, your local FBI office, or the nearest American Embassy or Consulate.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s 24 hour hotline is 1-800-THE-LOST.
