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" Patricia's Law"
Topic Started: Jul 29 2007, 06:52 AM (403 Views)
Ell
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Everyone,
Please read below article. The article appeared in several local papers, including Bogota, Ridgefield Park, Teaneck, Little Ferry and Hackensack. As pointed out in the article, we need NJ residents to write letters (sample letter available on Pat's website) to their State Assemblymen and Assemblywoman to request their support for "Patricia's Law" - Assembly Bill A3643, when it comes up for vote at the end of this year. "Patricia's Law" promises to revamp the way Missing Persons cases are handled in NJ. Presently, with the exception of an obsolete Missing Persons Policy under the NJ State Police, there are no laws or statures governing the handling of Missing Persons in NJ. The Missing Persons Policy under the NJ State Police was last updated in the 80's.

If we do not pass A3643 before 12/31/07, the current state legislative session will end and we will have to start over. New Jersey cannot allow this to happen.

For more information on "Patricia's Law" see:
http://www.patriciaviolamissing.homestead....ricias_Law.html

Click here for the latest version of "Patricia's Law" - A3643 (Model Missing Persons Legislation):
http://www.patriciaviolamissing.homestead.com/3643_U2.pdf

Click here to find the NJ district you reside in:
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/districts/municipalities.asp

Click here to find your legislator (remember Assembly only, we already passed the Senate):
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/members/legsearch.asp


BOGOTA BULLETIN
Friday, July 20, 2007

Hope is the best of things
"Patricia's Law" to go before State Assembly
BY ROBIN DECICCO
Staff Writer

Six and a half years since his wife’s disappearance; Bogota resident Jim Viola continues to channel both his hopes and frustrations into “Patricia’s Law," a legislation focused on improving the way New Jersey agencies handle missing persons cases. Already passed in the Senate, the proposal will be on the Assembly’s plate in the fall.
The law is named after Patricia Viola, who vanished from a Bogota neighborhood Feb. 13, 2001. She was a 42-year-old mother and homemaker when she was reported missing without a trace.
According to the New Jersey State Police Missing Persons Unit, since 2000, New Jersey has approximately 1,700 active unsolved missing persons cases; Patricia’s case is one of them. Viola explained that throughout the past several years, he has heard “horror stories” from several families that are also searching for missing people, saying that many police agencies are not helpful in this situation.
Fortunately for Viola, the Bogota Police Department, under the direction of Chief Frank Gurnari and Det. James Sepp, has been very responsive to the case. Viola refers to the relationship he has with the police department as “a good one," and one in which they “work together” to try and solve the case.
"After Pat disappeared, I started to talk to people who are going through the same thing and families have told me that police sometimes don’t even take reports of a missing person, nor do they follow through with the investigation;" Viola said.
The more Viola heard those stories, the more he knew that he needed to address the holes that existed in the legal and federal systems. In 2006, .Viola contacted State Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck) and requested support on what was then called the “Model Missing Persons' Legislation." He emphasized to Weinberg that the law strives to give hope to families of missing persons and keeps them actively engaged in the search and rescue efforts.
After hard work, on June 21, 2007, “Patricia’s Law” was unanimously passed, 37-0, in the New Jersey Senate. The Assembly Appropriations Committee will review the legislation in November.
Viola is urging residents to help him and the thousands other families who are searching for their missing loved ones to pass "Patricia’s Law." He created a Web site, http://www.patriciaviolamissing.homestead.com, that contains extensive background information on his wife, and he tells visitors how they can help pass the law.

Patricia’s Law
Residents can write letters to their district assembly representative and voice their support when. “Patricia’s Law” comes to vote later this year. Under this legislation, law enforcement agencies shall accept without delay any report of a missing person and cannot refuse to accept such reports for any reason.
One of the more important elements to this legislative is that medical examiners and coroners will be required to work with the state police to promptly identify recovered bodies and body parts.
In addition, if a person is missing for more than 30 days, “Patricia’s Law” requires that a DNA reference sample is secured from the family and forwarded to the appropriate agency for analysis and entry into the Combined DNA Index System for Missing Persons. Once the DNA profile is available, the missing persons record in the National Crime Information System will be updated to reflect that DNA is available.
Though the legislation is on the verge of passing, Viola said he is no closer to where he was six and a half years ago to finding his wife.
“So many possibilities exist to explain what might have happened to her, and we have no evidence to prove anything;" Viola said.
According to Viola, Patricia has epilepsy, a seizure disorder, which caused her to take two types of medication daily, including Dilantin and Phenobarbital. VioIa and the Bogota Police Department believe that Patricia had not taken her medication since she disappeared -- her prescription has not been used in any participating pharmacy in the country
One of Viola’s theories explaining Patricia’s disappearance is that she may have had a seizure leaving her disoriented and with amnesia.
"She could be in a hospital or a ward and have no idea who she is. She could be a Jane Doe:" Viola said.
Viola and his children, Christine, 19, and Michael, 16, have sent flyers to numerous hospitals, shelters, and crisis centers. A letter was even written to Patricia and inserted into an envelope with her name, photo and description on it. These were brought to shelters in the area with instructions to deliver it to Patricia or a person matching her description, but no responses were ever received.
When Patricia disappeared, she was on foot and did not have access to a car. She was last seen at the Bixby School library, volunteering at her son Michael’s school.
The last person who saw her was the Palisade Avenue crossing guard. Days after Patricia’s disappearance, drivers and pedestrians were stopped on local streets and asked for any information, but no one had any leads.
Viola has pasted flyers with his wife’s picture and information throughout New Jersey, as well as in states across the country. He is offering a $10,000 reward to anyone who can provide information leading to Patricia’s safe return home.
Pictures of Patricia are glued to the front of Viola’s home and flyers
pressed up against the windows of a his car. Everywhere he goes, he passes out buttons that read, “Where is Patricia Viola?”
"I am trying to do everything that I can, but it is frustrating that we still have no clues, no answers," Viola said.
Similarly, Sepp said that there are so many possibilities of where Patricia might be, but there are no ways of validating any one possibility.
“This case will be opened until it is solved,” Sepp said. “If it still isn’t solved by the time I retire, I will see to it that the person who replaces me puts time and energy into the case."
At the same time that Viola thinks his wife could be in a hospital or shelter, he also acknowledges that the worst could have occurred.
“She could have been grabbed or put into an unknown vehicle,” Viola said.

Puttinq the word out
Today, Viola continues to spread the message that missing persons is a national problem. According to the National Institute of Justice, on any given day there are 100,000 active missing persons cases in the United States. Viola believes the number indicates that a lot of people are getting away with murder, since the majority of missing persons equates to the fact that they were killed.
“This number should alarm all of us. I don’t know why more people aren’t concerned about how many go missing every single day and how many murderers there are walking around;" Viola said.
As far as thinking about seeing his wife again, Viola said that he thinks it is a possibility that she will be found.
"We’re praying for a miracle.
Ell

Only after the last tree has been
cut down;
Only after the last fish has been
caught;
Only after the last river has been
poisoned;
Only then will you realize
that money cannot be eaten.
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