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Press
Release
NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING & EXPLOITED CHILDREN REUNITES LAST MISSING CHILD SEPARATED BY HURRICANE KATRINA AND RITA
After Six Months, All Missing/Displaced Children Are Back Home With
Their Families
ALEXANDRIA, VA - March 17, 2006 – After working
tirelessly for more than six months to track down the 5,192 children reported
missing/displaced to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the non-profit organization
is thrilled to report it has reunited the final child who was separated
from her family after Hurricane Katrina. On Thursday, March 16, 2006,
four-year-old Cortez Stewart was reunited with her mother and siblings
in Houston, Texas, bringing a close to NCMEC’s unprecedented efforts
to reunite children and families during one of the worst natural disasters
in U.S. history.
Four-year-old Cortez Stewart (center) reunited with her mother and
siblings in Houston, Texas
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“Our team has worked non-stop with searching parents, concerned
family members, law enforcement agencies across the country, social service
agencies, and other non-profit organizations to ensure that the thousands
of children reported to us, like Cortez, found their way back home.”
During the storm, 4-year-old Cortez was with her godmother, Felicia Williams,
and they became separated from Cortez’s mother, Lisa Stewart, and
her five other children. As families were evacuated out of New Orleans,
Cortez and Felicia landed in Atlanta and Lisa and her family found themselves
in Houston. For months both Lisa and Felicia were trying to locate each
other but to no avail. That was until the National Center for Missing
& Exploited Children got involved. NCMEC tracked down information
about Felicia through her previous employer and then used computer databases
at NCMEC to locate Felicia’s family members in Georgia. With the
active assistance of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, NCMEC secured
the proper address and phone number for Felicia in Atlanta and successfully
resolved the case.
“This is a remarkable recovery and we are overjoyed that it had
a happy ending,” added Allen. “We are thrilled the National
Center could play such a vital role in bringing families together in the
aftermath of such a devastating disaster.”
Finding Cortez was just one more example of how NCMEC used investigative
techniques and a staff of well-qualified and dedicated, retired law enforcement
officers and case managers to reunite fractured families across more than
40 states. From cross-checking sophisticated NCMEC databases to knocking
on doors and working with local law enforcement, children were being located
and reunited on a daily basis.
Since September 5, 2005 when NCMEC established the Katrina Missing Persons
Hotline (1-888-544-5475) at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice,
more than 34,112 phone calls have been logged related to separated families
and missing persons. The number of reports to NCMEC of children separated
from their families due to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita resulted in a total
of 5,192 children.
In the months following Katrina, the agency received reports of 4,710
children missing or displaced in Louisiana, 339 in Mississippi and 39
in Alabama. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita resulted in a total of 5,192 children.
After Rita, another 28 children were reported missing or displaced in
Louisiana; 76 were reported in Texas.
Of the cases reported to NCMEC, the most serious were those children
arriving at shelters separated from parents/guardians with no adult supervision.
There were a total of 45 unaccompanied children “found” and
reported to NCMEC. As of October 7, 2005, all 45 cases were resolved.
In addition to reports of missing/displaced children, approximately 12,342
missing adults were reported to NCMEC’s Katrina/Rita Missing Persons
Hotline and referred to the National Center for Missing Adults (NCMA)
for case handling. Fifteen of NCMEC’s Project ALERT volunteers assigned
to NCMA have helped resolved more than four thousand adult cases.
The Katrina Missing Persons Hotline was operational from 8:00am ET to
12:00 midnight, ET, seven days per week, and staffed by 40 former law
enforcement officers from NCMEC’s Team Adam and Project ALERT.
Twenty Team Adam consultants were deployed in Louisiana, Mississippi,
Alabama and Texas, for weeks. They visited shelters to photograph “found”
children and take missing child reports. They worked collaboratively with
local law enforcement, social services, and child protective services
to help reunite children with their families.
Media interest, partnering agencies and concerned people from around
the world drove traffic and viewers to the www.missingkids.com website
in record numbers. At its peak, the site was receiving 10-20 million hits
per day with site visitors from 220 countries. The site normally receives
an average 1 million hits per day.
The relief efforts of NCMEC were strengthened by its partnerships with
organizations across the country. In addition to the U.S. Department of
Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention,
NCMEC worked with the network of state missing child clearinghouses, the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, other state and local law enforcement
agencies, children’s protective services bureaus, Project Angel
Flight, the American Red Cross, media outlets and many other organizations.
Long-time NCMEC corporate partners are to be commended for providing
valuable equipment and services that proved invaluable to recovery efforts.
Digital cameras and scanners were supplied by Canon U.S.A. At the request
of the parent or guardian, Lifetouch National School Studios provided
school photographs of children, as possible, when no photograph was available
of a missing child. Sprint Nextel Corporation equipped Team Adam and Project
ALERT representatives with cellular technology. American Airlines helped
reunite separated family members by donating flights. The National Association
of Broadcasters generously donated portable, battery-operated television/radios
to Team Adam consultants deployed to Louisiana, Alabama, Texas, and Mississippi.
“We are grateful for the support of our private sector partners
and for the dedicated volunteers that answered the Katrina/Rita Missing
Persons Hotline,” added Allen. “This was a coordinated effort
made possible by the dedication of many.”
About the National Center For Missing & Exploited Children
NCMEC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that works in cooperation
with the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention. NCMEC's congressionally mandated CyberTipline, a reporting
mechanism for child sexual exploitation, has handled more than 340,000
leads. Since its establishment in 1984, NCMEC has assisted law enforcement
with more than 116,000 missing child cases, resulting in the recovery
of more than 94,000 children. For more information about NCMEC, call its
toll-free, 24-hour hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST or visit www.missingkids.com.
CONTACT:
Communications Department
NCMEC
703-837-6111
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