Mission For The Missing

This is the time of year when the conferences and gatherings for the missing begin. This year there are two that look to be very important that my group will be attending. The first is a two day workshop presented by Fox Valley Technical College, Criminal Justice Center for Innovation, and the National Center for Missing Adults. They are having several different classes in different states to accommodate those who wish to attend. The event focuses on assistance to better handle missing person cases. The classes are for law enforcement and criminal justice agencies, and those wishing to learn more about this ongoing epidemic.
I learned that Robert Cooke, father is Rachel Cooke who disappeared while jogging in January of 2002 will be one of the people leading a class. Robert Cooke has been very involved with the missing person area since his family began searching for one of their own loved ones.

Unless my schedule changes, our group looks to attend the April classes which is just a few weeks after the second annual Cue Center for the Missing Round Table Conference, in Wilmington, NC.
Last year was the first conference and the turnout was wonderful. We had representatives from DNA Lifeprint, Skeltrac, and criminal profiler, Dr. Maurice Godwin, to name a few. The conference joined many of my dear friends together who are suffering a loss along with education on various areas of the procedures when a person becomes missing. The conference is going to be held March 24 – March 26th. I believe that this go around, my group will fly in rather than drive to cut down on exhaustion. Our traveling has picked up a lot in the last few months and we all need rest so we can focus. The list of people who will be there continues to grow each day. One that we look forward to this time is the Polly Klaas Foundation. I cannot say enough good things about the teachers we had last year. The knowledge I gained has been so very helpful in this last year.

Another very important part of the Cue Center conference, will be held on that Saturday night, March 25th. That will be the National Missing Person’s Vigil. I cannot wait to see the wall that has been created with all the many faces of those who are missing. I do believe they are restricted only to cases in North Carolina.

If you are a family or advocate of the missing, you can find out more information on these two conferences in the event you wish to attend. This year there is a cost for Cue Center’s conference. It’s $120 per person and that’s a SMALL price to pay for something that you’ll cherish forever (I promise).

The classes presented by National Center for Missing Adults are $275 per person and that does not include your travel, food, or lodging expenses.


Investigating Missing Adults
Presented by
The National Center for Missing Adults in partnership with
Fox Valley Technical College, Criminal Justice Center for Innovation

Cue Center For Missing Adults Round Table Conference