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| Modafferi, Kristen,1997,; San Francisco, CA | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: May 16 2006, 06:26 PM (1,190 Views) | |
| Ell | May 16 2006, 06:26 PM Post #1 |
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Heart of Gold
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http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/modaferri_kristen.html ![]() -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Family tries again to find missing student - Eric Brazil, OF THE EXAMINER STAFF Monday, December 29, 1997 SAN FRANCISCO -- More than five months after she disappeared one June afternoon in San Francisco, Kristen Modafferi is still missing, and her family has come again from North Carolina to renew public interest in her fate and, they hope, to find the clue to what happened to her. "Somebody knows something, even if she was the victim of foul play," said the 18-year-old scholarship student's mother, Debbie. Besides, "we believe in the power of prayer." Kristen Modafferi was last seen heading for a Geary Street bus stop after leaving her job at the Spinelli coffee bar in San Francisco's Crocker Galleria at 3 p.m. on June 23, bound for a trip to Lands End. Bloodhounds picked up her scent on the trail between Louis' restaurant near the Cliff House and the Lands End tunnel, and at the bus stop. But of the brown-haired, brown-eyed girl wearing a Spinelli T-shirt and a green backpack, not a trace. The trip from their Charlotte, N.C., home to San Francisco is the third for Bob and Debbie Modafferi but the first for their three other daughters, Allison, 20, Lauren, 15, and Meghan, 7. Allison Modafferi said that the best-case scenario - amnesia - doesn't look either good or reasonable. Nevertheless, "we have to know we've done everything we can to find her," she said. "We are assuming that she was abducted, and she may be being restrained by someone still," said her father, Bob Modafferi. "We're just trying to come up with scenarios that make sense, and runaway isn't one of them." His daughter, a student at North Carolina State University, had taken swift, decisive steps to plan an enriching summer in San Francisco to fulfill life goals, Modafferi noted: She shared a rental home with other young women in Oakland, worked two jobs, had spent $900 of her own money to enroll in a photography program, begun a dance class - and left a $400 salary check uncashed. Modafferi said that he had followed the recent case of James A. Daveggio and Michelle Lynn Michaud with great interest but doesn't believe that pair - suspects in three crimes of sexual violence, including murder - were involved in his daughter's abduction. "The woman (Michaud) is talking," he said, but investigating officers have not indicated that she has taken responsibility for Kristen's disappearance. The Modafferi family plans to remain in San Francisco seeking information about their missing daughter through Thursday. Private investigator Graham Desvernine, hired to assist in the search, said "there have been a lot of "sightings' - at Glide Memorial church last week, at a jai alai fronton in Connecticut, in Austin, Tex., in El Paso," but none confirmed. The Modafferis have offered a $10,000 reward for the safe return of their daughter. Anyone with information that may help investigators solve the case are asked to call Oakland Police Department's missing persons detail at (510) 238-3641 or Desvernine Associates at 800-969-9800.< Page A - URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file...9/METRO9401.dtl -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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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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| Ell | May 16 2006, 07:15 PM Post #2 |
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Heart of Gold
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Return to regular view -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SAN FRANCISCO E-Mail Alleges Missing Woman Held in Presidio - Monday, February 1, 1999 A San Jose private investigator hired to find a missing 19-year-old woman said yesterday that he received an e-mail claiming that she is being held against her will in the Presidio of San Francisco. Tim Hames said that the e-mail was originally sent to the missing woman's parents in North Carolina on January 25 and that the message was forwarded to him. For more than a year and a half, Hames and others have been searching for Kristen Modaferri, who came to the Bay Area to study photography at the University of California at Berkeley. She disappeared June 23, 1997. Hames, who is working pro bono for the family, said the e-mail has validity because it lists a specific location and address. He declined to comment further. Hames said the e-mail messenger said Kristen was ``under duress'' at the former Army base. Even so, he said, Modafferi's parents in North Carolina, Bob and Debbie, are hopeful about the tip. For the next few weeks, Hames said he plans to continue surveillance in the Presidio. So far, he said, he has not seen anything strange in the area. A $50,000 reward is being offered. Anyone with information about Modaferri's whereabouts is asked to call Hames at (800) 942-2464. Page A - 20 URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file.../01/MNR1BA1.DTL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ©2006 San Francisco Chronicle |
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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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| Ell | May 16 2006, 08:31 PM Post #3 |
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Heart of Gold
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Return to regular view -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cop says tip on missing teen was psychic's - Zachary Coile and Julian Guthrie, OF THE EXAMINER STAFF Monday, February 1, 1999 The Oakland police officer investigating the case of Kristen Modafferi, the North Carolina teenager who disappeared more than a year and a half ago after moving to the Bay Area, said a tip that she is living in the Presidio is not credible. A private investigator working for Modafferi's parents said Sunday he had a "fairly credible" lead the girl was somewhere in the former Army base. But after the story played big in the Bay Area media Monday morning, Oakland police investigator Patrick Mahanay said the tip was merely a hunch generated by a psychic. "It's some lady up in Washington who contacted the parents and said, "I have a vision your daughter is at the Presidio,' " said Mahanay, an officer with the missing persons unit. "Somehow that turned from a psychic tip into a hot tip." Tim Hames, a San Jose private investigator who specializes in missing persons, told The Examiner and other media outlets Sunday night that Modafferi's parents had received a tip via an e-mail Jan. 25. Hames said it appeared to have concrete information about her whereabouts. "This lead is very specific as far as where to go and what to look for," Hames said Sunday. "We have a precise location. We're pursuing it in a stealth way. She was allegedly seen in the area, under some influence to stay, but not under extreme anxiety." But Mahanay said Oakland police and U.S. Park Police have already searched the Presidio several times and found nothing. "It's somebody's feeling," Mahanay said. "It's somebody pulling out a map and having a feeling that this is the area she's in. We can't spend a day or two rushing through that." Modafferi disappeared June 23, 1997, less than a month after she came to the Bay Area to study photography at UC-Berkeley. An Oakland resident who used public transportation, she was last seen by colleagues as she left her job at Spinelli's coffee in the Crocker Galleria in San Francisco's Financial District. Her roommate reported her missing when she didn't come home. Tips poured in after she first disappeared, but have since slowed to a trickle. Modafferi's parents, Bob and Debbie Modafferi of Charlotte, N.C., have recently put her picture on billboards and doubled the reward to $50,000 to draw attention to her case. The parents hired Hames in August 1997, two months after Kristen disappeared. Hames said the last credible tip came a couple of months ago from someone who claimed to have seen Modafferi in a San Francisco restaurant. The Presidio tip is the only one he's received in January, he said. Mahanay said he had talked with the parents and explained that police could not follow up tips from psychics. In the aftermath of Monday's media frenzy over the psychic tip, he said he has asked Hames and the family to alert him if they intend to air any new leads in the media. "It got everyone all bunched up unnecessarily," Mahanay said. "I've spent the first three hours today just been putting out this fire. . . In that sense, it has been detrimental." Last month the parents made their sixth trip to California to keep the case in the public spotlight. They visited a prison by invitation and told inmates their story, hoping that someone in the prison knows something and will come forward, Hames said. Searches for Kristen, who would be 19 now, have focused on Ocean Beach near the Cliff House of San Francisco, based on statements she made to friends and co-workers. Bloodhounds once picked up her scent in the tunnel between Louis' Restaurant near the Cliff House and Lands End, and at a bus stop. But Oakland police, who are the lead investigative agency, have yet to come up with any firm leads.< Page A - URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file...01/NEWS6299.dtl -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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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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| kwatson696 | Jun 19 2006, 07:56 PM Post #4 |
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Muffy
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9-year search for daughter continues Photo courtesy of Bob and Debbie Modafferi Kristen Modafferi Nine years ago this week, on June 23, 1997, Kristen Modafferi disappeared. The then- 18-year-old Charlotte woman had finished her freshman year at N.C. State University and was spending the summer in San Francisco. She had planned to start summer classes at the University of California at Berkeley. Kristen was last seen leaving her job at a coffeehouse in San Francisco's financial district. Staff writer Melissa Manware spoke with Debbie Modafferi about her daughter. Q. Kristen has been gone for so long. Has the loss gotten any easier to deal with? It's never easy. We think about Kristen every minute of every day. There is always a feeling that someone is missing from our family, not just on birthdays and anniversaries but every single day. I guess we've gone on with our lives. Kristen is missing from our lives and it hurts to think about her not being with us. But we have a full life and many blessings, too. Q. Kristen was included among survivors in her grandmother's obituary recently. Do you believe she is still alive? I still sign her name to Christmas cards. Sometimes I just sign Bob, Debbie and the girls. It's hard to leave her out because we don't know. My husband believes she is alive until it is proven otherwise. I have a hard time accepting that it would be that way. I know Kristen, if she was alive she would be with us. But who knows her mental state? Q. Is anything being done now to find her? A couple months ago, Kristen's case was opened up as an FBI criminal kidnapping case. We do not have information about why. Early in May, The Kristen Foundation put up billboards -- one on the Bay Bridge. Q. What is the Kristen Foundation? It was established by a neighbor, Joan Petruski. She raised money to hire a private investigator. After helping us, Joan decided to help other families, too. The foundation sells cookbooks and bracelets and holds events to raise money to help families missing a loved one. Q. What is Kristen's Law? When Kristen disappeared, we had trouble finding help because she was 18 years old and not considered a child. We got 15,000 petition signatures and lobbied in Washington for passage of Kristen's Law, authored by Rep. Sue Myrick (R-N.C., of Charlotte). Kristen's Law, passed in 2000, established the National Center for Missing Adults, which gets federal funding to maintain a national clearinghouse for missing at-risk and endangered adults. Q. Will you do anything to mark the anniversary? Bob and I will go to Mass. Every year, we go to Mass. To Learn More www.modlink.com www.kristenfoundation.org http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/14851284.htm |
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http://americasunknownchild.net/ "If a man does his best, what else is there?" http://www.muffinfilms.com/ Karen SC | |
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| monkalup | Jun 19 2006, 11:05 PM Post #5 |
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The Old Heifer! An oxymoron, of course.
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http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/14851284.htm Posted on Mon, Jun. 19, 2006email thisprint thisreprint or license this CATCHING UP WITH ... DEBBIE MODAFFERI 9-year search for daughter continues Photo courtesy of Bob and Debbie Modafferi Kristen Modafferi Nine years ago this week, on June 23, 1997, Kristen Modafferi disappeared. The then- 18-year-old Charlotte woman had finished her freshman year at N.C. State University and was spending the summer in San Francisco. She had planned to start summer classes at the University of California at Berkeley. Kristen was last seen leaving her job at a coffeehouse in San Francisco's financial district. Staff writer Melissa Manware spoke with Debbie Modafferi about her daughter. Q. Kristen has been gone for so long. Has the loss gotten any easier to deal with? It's never easy. We think about Kristen every minute of every day. There is always a feeling that someone is missing from our family, not just on birthdays and anniversaries but every single day. I guess we've gone on with our lives. Kristen is missing from our lives and it hurts to think about her not being with us. But we have a full life and many blessings, too. Q. Kristen was included among survivors in her grandmother's obituary recently. Do you believe she is still alive? I still sign her name to Christmas cards. Sometimes I just sign Bob, Debbie and the girls. It's hard to leave her out because we don't know. My husband believes she is alive until it is proven otherwise. I have a hard time accepting that it would be that way. I know Kristen, if she was alive she would be with us. But who knows her mental state? Q. Is anything being done now to find her? A couple months ago, Kristen's case was opened up as an FBI criminal kidnapping case. We do not have information about why. Early in May, The Kristen Foundation put up billboards -- one on the Bay Bridge. Q. What is the Kristen Foundation? It was established by a neighbor, Joan Petruski. She raised money to hire a private investigator. After helping us, Joan decided to help other families, too. The foundation sells cookbooks and bracelets and holds events to raise money to help families missing a loved one. Q. What is Kristen's Law? When Kristen disappeared, we had trouble finding help because she was 18 years old and not considered a child. We got 15,000 petition signatures and lobbied in Washington for passage of Kristen's Law, authored by Rep. Sue Myrick (R-N.C., of Charlotte). Kristen's Law, passed in 2000, established the National Center for Missing Adults, which gets federal funding to maintain a national clearinghouse for missing at-risk and endangered adults. Q. Will you do anything to mark the anniversary? Bob and I will go to Mass. Every year, we go to Mass. To Learn More www.modlink.com www.kristenfoundation.org |
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Lauran "If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only. | |
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| oldies4mari2004 | Jun 23 2006, 07:44 PM Post #6 |
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FBI Now Heading Missing Girl Case POSTED: 10:56 pm EDT June 22, 2006 CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Eyewitness News learned Thursday night the FBI has taken over the investigation into the disappearance of Kristen Modafferi. Friday marked nine years since Modafferi went missing from the San Francisco/Oakland area in California. Her disappearance has been reclassified as a criminal kidnapping instead of a missing persons case. The FBI's involvement meant a more proactive investigation. The Oakland Police Department was the lead agency investigating. Joan Petruski, the director of the Kristen Foundation, said she has new hope Kristen will be found. "With the FBI coming in now, it's so important," said Petruski. "Maybe they can dig deeper into those people she was around at the time." http://www.wsoctv.com/news/9414498/detail.html |
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| oldies4mari2004 | Jan 17 2007, 03:23 PM Post #7 |
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Kristen Deborah Modaferri Top Two Rows and Bottom Left and Center: Modaferri, circa 1997; Bottom Right: Age-progression to age 25 (circa 2004) Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance Missing Since: June 23, 1997 from San Francisco, California Classification: Endangered Missing Date Of Birth: June 1, 1979 Age: 18 years old Height and Weight: 5'8, 140 pounds Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Dark brown hair, brown eyes. Modaferri has facial dimples. Clothing/Jewelry Description: A black Spinelli's t-shirt, a long-sleeved dark blue plaid flannel shirt, tan pants, and possibly Fly London tennis shoes with laces in the front and behind the heel. They also have an imprint of a fly on each of the soles. Photographs of similar shoes are posted below this case summary. Details of Disappearance Modaferri was a design student at North Carolina State University in 1997. She arrived in San Francisco, California on June 1, 1997 to attend a summer photography course at the University Of California at Berkeley. She was employed part-time at the former Spinelli's coffee shop (now called Tully's Coffee) at the Crocker Galleria in San Francisco's financial district during the work week. Modaferri worked at Cafe Musee in the San Francisco Museum Of Modern Art during the weekends. She lived with a roommate on Jayne Avenue in Oakland, California at the time, and was also taking a dance class. Modaferri asked a co-worker at Spinelli's for directions to Baker Beach, which is located next to Land's End Beach, on June 23, 1997. Her shift ended at 3:00 p.m. that day, but Modaferri was seen approximately 45 minutes later on the Crocker Galleria's second floor with an unidentified blonde woman. Modaferri was carrying a green Jansport backpack with a black mesh pocket and two library books inside of the bag at the time. A photograph of the backpack is posted below this case summary. The unidentified blonde woman with Modaferri has never been located. Witnesses said that she was holding a similar backpack at the time she was with Modaferri in the Crocker Galleria. Modaferri's family believes that it may be possible the female and Modaferri had plans to meet at the Galleria and may have departed together. The manager of Spinelli's, however, told authorities that Modaferri left the building by herself on June 23. Regardless, Modaferri has never been seen again. She never picked up her last paycheck, which was for $400. Authorities utilized bloodhounds in the ensuing search for Modaferri. The dogs tracked her scent to the Geary Street Number 38 bus from the stop outside the Crocker Galleria. That bus travels across San Francisco to the Sutro Park Beach area near Land's End Beach. Modaferri's scent was also traced at Sutro Park Beach, but the dogs lost the trail at the shoreline. No other evidence was located at either scene. Modaferri's personal belongings were searched and a newspaper personal advertisement from the San Francisco area was among her possessions. The advertisement contained the following message: FRIENDS: Female seeking friends to share activities, who who enjoy music, photography, working out, walks, coffee, or simply the beach, exploring the Bay area! Interested, call me. It is unknown if Modaferri placed the advertisement herself or if she answered the ad. All records from June 1997 have since been destroyed at the newspaper's office. It is also unclear if the advertisement is related to her disappearance. An anonymous caller contacted KGO-TV, the ABC affiliate in San Francisco, on July 10, approximately two weeks after Modaferri was last seen. The caller said that he knew the identities of two women who abducted, murdered and placed Modaferri's remains under a bridge in the Point Reyes area of Marin County, California. The women in question told authorities that they believed the phone caller was Jon Onuma. Photos of Onuma are posted below this case summary. The females had apparently been harrassed by Onuma due to work-related problems they encountered with his girlfriend at the time, Jill Lampo. The women were preparing to fire Lampo from her position when Onuma allegedly began harrassing them. Law enforcement officials questioned Onuma about the incident and he admitted to making the phone call to KGO-TV to cause problems for the women. Another female witness came forward and stated that Onuma allegedly abused her and threatened to kill her after Modaferri disappeared. The witness said that Onuma told her, "Now you know what happened to Kristen Modaferri" during the encounter. Three other women stated that they had incidents involving Onuma and Lampo as well. Lampo allegedly lured the victims to Onuma and were subsequently abused by him. Authorities searched Onuma's residence and discovered Lampo's journal, which was missing pages from the time Modaferri vanished in June 1997. It is not known if either Onuma or Lampo is connected to Modaferri's case and no one has been charged with involvement in her disappearance due to a lack of evidence. Onuma has since moved to Hawaii. Modaferri's case remains open and unsolved. Her family helped introduce Kristen’s Law into legislation and was making some progress with the proposal in 2001. The law would authorize the attorney general to make grants to public agencies and non-profit organizations that help find missing adults. Left: Jansport backpack similar to Modaferri's bag; Center and Right: Fly London shoes similiar to the pair Modaferri may have worn when she disappeared in June 1997 Above: Onuma, circa 1997 Investigating Agency If you have any information concerning this case, please contact: Oakland Police Department 510-238-3641 Source Information Help Find Kristen Modaferri The National Center for Missing Adults Unsolved Mysteries America's Most Wanted Child Protection Education Of America MSNBC Vanished Children's Alliance The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children The San Francisco Chronicle Updated 1 time since October 12, 2004. Last updated May 24, 2006; details of disappearance updated. Charley Project Home |
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| oldies4mari2004 | Jan 17 2007, 03:25 PM Post #8 |
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| oldies4mari2004 | Feb 9 2007, 05:46 PM Post #9 |
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Possible lead in missing woman case 2/9/2007 10:13 AM By: News 14 Carolina Kristen Modafferi, a Charlotte native and North Carolina State student, went missing nearly 10 years ago while studying in in San Francisco. CHARLOTTE -- The family of a missing woman was taken aback this week by broadcast reports about a potential breakthrough in the case. Kristen Modafferi, a Charlotte native and North Carolina State student, went missing nearly 10 years ago while studying in in San Francisco. When the Santa Clara Police Department discovered unidentified human remains, nobody from the department contacted the family, but a number of Charlotte-area news outlets ran the story about the possibility of a link between the bones and Modafferi. “When I had to see it on the TV myself and then finding out that Bob and Debbie heard it from Charlotte news as well, that was very disappointing,” said Joan Petrouski, founder of the Kristen Modafferi Foundation. “I felt that they should have at least called the family to tell them that this was going to be aired in California and picked up all over the country." The remains are being tested for DNA evidence. Authorities say four high-profile missing person cases are still unsolved in the San Francisco area. If you would like to help the foundation or learn more about it, log onto www.kristenfoundation.org http://www.news14charlotte.com/content/loc...=134234&SecID=2 |
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| oldies4mari2004 | Feb 25 2007, 10:47 AM Post #10 |
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http://z13.invisionfree.com/PorchlightUSA/...opic=9348&st=0& |
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| monkalup | Jan 20 2010, 09:47 PM Post #11 |
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The Old Heifer! An oxymoron, of course.
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In missing adult cases, less public attention often means fewer clues. Article from:Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service Article date:January 22, 2003Author:Simerman, John More results for:missing woman Byline: John Simerman WALNUT CREEK, Calif. _ Kristen Modafferi's room back home in North Carolina remains just as she left it. Her awards and artwork hang from the walls. Last month, her mother put up a Christmas stocking, as she does every year for the daughter she cannot find. Modafferi vanished one summer day in 1997, an 18-year-old scholarship student visiting the Bay Area for a summer of adventure, work and photo classes at the University of California, Berkeley. The mysterious case, like the Christmas Eve disappearance of pregnant 27-year-old Laci Peterson of Modesto, drew a flurry of media and thousands of tips from across the country. Five years later, Debbie Modafferi sits at home, tapping out e-mails every few weeks to an Oakland police investigator. Just to keep in touch, to keep up hope, keep pressing. This is what happens when the trail goes dark. "It's pretty miserable. You follow all the leads, you stay on top of the police, you urge them on. You encourage them. You plead with them. You beg them," she said. "But really what it comes down to is prayer." For the relatives and friends of thousands of missing adults, the search for their loved ones _ or just for a shred of knowledge _ quietly plods on. As of Nov. 30, more than 19,000 missing adults across the country were deemed endangered, federal statistics show. Last year in California, more than 4,300 adults were reported missing under suspicious or unknown circumstances, more than 150 of them in the East Bay, according to state figures. Most return quickly. Some turn up dead. But others remain mysteries. And unlike cases of missing children, adult cases usually fail to generate the kind of public interest that can prove crucial to generating a key clue, say advocates. "People are really quick to make an assumption with a missing adult. Like maybe they were having problems, maybe she just needed a break," said Kym Pasqualini, CEO of Nation's Missing Children Organization and Center for Missing Adults, which operates a federally funded clearinghouse for missing adults. "When we think of the word `missing' _ we're all guilty of it _ we think of a child." Modesto police say they will keep up their intensive search for as long as it takes, though quietly the department has begun to scale back on the dozens of officers devoted full time to the search. Without fresh leads, the national TV trucks will roll away and the spotlight will dim, warn relatives of the missing and their advocates. The challenge then will be to keep alive the investigative effort and the hunt for new leads. That task is doubly hard, they say, in missing adult cases. "You have to commit lunacy to draw attention to the fact: `Hey, we're still out here looking,'" said Donna Raley of Modesto, whose 36-year-old daughter, Dena Raley-McCluskey, disappeared in 1999. "Everybody in society is all focused on children. How fair is that?" Raley and Susan Levy, the mother of Chandra Levy, formed the support group Wings of Protection to help families of the missing. Raley has met with the Peterson family. They are not ready to enter that sad club. "They look at us like, `Oh, my god. I don't want to be one of those people,'" said Raley. "They don't want to be embraced by us yet. They've got all these people coddling them and keeping them active. That's all going to go away. When it all goes away, all of a sudden it's, `Now what?'" Sharon Rocha, Laci Peterson's mother, said the family continues to live "moment to moment." "We plan on having her home very soon," said Rocha. "There is somebody out there who knows where she is. We're just praying that person will come forward." Most families of missing adults have never had the kind of attention that continues to accompany the Peterson family as a massive search for the Modesto woman extends into another week with no solid leads. (EDITORS: BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM) Advocates say Laci Peterson's disappearance is not so unique, and they hope it will spur a greater awareness of equally baffling missing adult cases. The fact she is fresh-faced, eight months pregnant and went missing on Christmas Eve helped to draw the public eye, Pasqualini said. So has the family's network of supporters, which includes people who were involved in the search for the three women killed in Yosemite in 1999. They are well-schooled in organizing volunteers, drawing the public spotlight and keeping it. (END OPTIONAL TRIM) When Debbie Modafferi went looking for her daughter, there was no crime scene, no good leads and nowhere to turn. She looked to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, but Kristen was 18, over the center's threshold. The family scrambled to launch their own campaign, desperately pitching their story to media outlets. With the family's help, advocates for missing adults lobbied successfully for a 2001 law, dubbed "Kristen's Act," that funnels federal money to foundations that help search for missing adults. Last year, Pasqualini's group received $1.5 million to set up the first national clearinghouse for missing adults. "It just shows where we're at. We're 20 years behind the establishment of resources for missing children," Pasqualini said. (EDITORS: BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM) Many missing adults are homeless, drug users, or people who disappear on purpose, not wanting to be found. In the East Bay, law enforcement officials say the vast majority of missing adult cases are resolved quickly. Contra Costa County sheriff's Sgt. Eric Navarro, who heads the unit that deals with missing persons, said the agency has handled 240 missing adult cases over the past two years, and cleared all of them, including one homicide. A few cases, however, remain unresolved from years ago, with no solid clues. One missing man, Jason DeMello, disappeared in 1997 and is believed to have been slain. The other dates back to 1997, when two adults and a juvenile from Oakley went missing. The fate of Kenneth John Beltram and sisters Evangeline Silva and Becky Rodriguez, who was 16, remains a mystery. (END OPTIONAL TRIM) There is hope, at least for closure, in a new state effort to link the DNA of missing people with human remains that sit in county morgues, identified only as John and Jane Does. For Debbie Modafferi, there is no closure. Kristen's disappearance seems as baffling now as it was on June 23, 1997. "I'd love to say we have some really hot leads. We don't have much," said Oakland police investigator Dan Castanho, who continues to pursue the case. Castanho is the recipient of those twice-monthly e-mails from Debbie Modafferi. He hopes they keep coming. "It's nice to know they're still holding out hope, they want something done," he said. "It's their daughter. If it was my kid I'd be the same way." http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-96730875.html |
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Lauran "If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only. | |
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| monkalup | Mar 15 2010, 05:30 PM Post #12 |
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The Old Heifer! An oxymoron, of course.
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Oakland Police Department 510-238-3641 510-238-3775 510-238-3352 Agency Case Number: 97-60524 NCMEC #: NCMA991788 NCIC Number: M-038421722 Dentals |
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Lauran "If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only. | |
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| tatertot | Jun 24 2012, 07:36 AM Post #13 |
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Advanced Member
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http://www.wsoctv.com/news/news/family-mis...sks-help/nPc6P/ Posted: 4:19 p.m. Saturday, June 23, 2012 Family of missing daughter asks for help CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Fifteen years after the disappearance of their daughter, a Charlotte family is asking for clues to solve the case. Kristen Modafferi was just 17 years old when she was last seen leaving her job at a coffee house in San Francisco. The sophomore at NC State University was taking a summer course at the University of California at Berkley. Police suspected foul play, but never found the teen. The family went to Frazier Park on Saturday to remember the Charlotte teen. Standing near pictures of their daughter at the park's children's memorial walkway, Bob and Debbie Modafferi said they didn't think they'd be here so many years after her disappearance. "We thought we would get a quick resolution and find out what happened to Kristen. It just didn't come to pass, "said Bob Modafferi. Today her parents thanked the Charlotte community for praying for them. "What we're asking now is that you pray for the person who has those answers that we so desperately need and seek." "Please please have the courage to come forward with those answers so we can bring Kristen home and be at peace," pleaded Debbie Modafferi. A neighbor of the Modafferi's created the Kristen Foundation to help the families of missing adults. "This is her legacy…she has helped so many people. We have brought people home because of her. We have given resolution to people," said a neighbor. |
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| Ell | Jun 26 2015, 06:29 AM Post #14 |
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Heart of Gold
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OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Investigators arrived at a home in Oakland Thursday looking at a possible new lead in the disappearance of Kristen Modafferi whose face has been on billboards for nearly 20 years. Modafferi rented an Oakland home in 1997 where a private investigator combed the home with his cadaver dog Thursday and found the scent of human remains. When Oakland police arrived at the home where she once lived, Modafferi's family insisted there were human remains in the basement. Modafferi was 18 years old from North Carolina and was attending U.C. Berkeley for the summer at the time of her disappearance. Paul Dostie and his dog named Buster have done extensive work searching for missing Americans from World War II in Europe and in the Pacific. Cadaver dog may have found missing Oakland woman Paul Dostie shows Oakland police officers what his dog found Several months ago he was contacted by a former investigator helping the Modafferi family find their missing daughter. "He reached out to me many many months ago, actually last year saying, 'hey can you go to Oakland and check this house,'" Dostie said. She was last seen leaving her job at San Francisco's Crocker Galleria. The search for the missing 18 year old went on for months, but she was never found. On Thursday, a former detective brought renewed hope that the mystery of her disappearance may be solved after his dog picked up a sent from a drain near the home and also from vents that lead to the basement. "There's human decomposition present here 100 percent. The question is what is the source of that decomposition and so that's what we hope to get with the soil analysis," Dostie said. Dostie took several samples from the soil inside a basement, which will eventually tell him if there could be human remains and possibly the time of death. "If we get the chemicals that are showing in that 20 year time range, that would give us a strong indication that it's Kristen," he said. ABC7 News spoke with Modafferi's father who now lives in Florida. "We're hoping that we'll finally get some closure and be able to finally put this case to rest and know what happened to our daughter," Bob Modafferi said. Oakland police told ABC7 News they are sending a crime scene technician to go over the area in order to go over the findings. Police are not declaring this a crime scene yet and said they were at the home before back in 1997 when she disappeared, but didn't find anything. |
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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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