KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Isabelle Zehnder reporting) – Volunteers searching for missing Kansas City, Missouri baby Lisa Irwin said unnerving phone calls and annoying stunts will not deter them or hinder their search for the missing baby.
Baby Lisa went missing sometime between 6:40 p.m. Oct. 3 and 3:45 a.m. Oct. 4. Her parents, Deborah Bradley, 25, and Jeremy Irwin, 30, say she was abducted from her crib while the family slept.
Volunteers plan to search for Baby Lisa on Sunday. Details about the search can be found on the Searching for Lisa Irwin Facebook page.
Recently Bonnie, one of the volunteers, was informed that her employers had received a call stating she was interfering with the search for the missing baby. When asked to identify herself the caller laughed and hung up.
According to Shelly, the administrator of the Facebook page, another searcher's boss received a similar call at her workplace. Shelly said the calls came from a pay phone and were reported to police.
Leslie wrote on Facebook Saturday night:
"If these people took the time to find out the place and number to employers then what else will they do? Some fear the ‘what’s next?’”
Aside from the unnerving calls to their employers, someone began posting searchers' personal information on Facebook, including maps to their homes.
Shelly said the volunteers believe they know who the person may be and believe what instigated the incidents may have been the fact that this group of volunteers appears to be searching for a dead baby, not a live Lisa.
Statistically, the chances Baby Lisa is alive are very low. That doesn't mean her family, friends, and supporters can't hold onto hope that she'll be found alive.
The discovery of a person's body in a missing person's case can provide vital information needed to determine if foul play was a factor in the person's death, and to determine the date and cause of death.
However, the chance of the information being available and justice being served lessens the longer human remains are exposed to the elements.
Caylee Anthony's remains were not found until six months after she went missing. Justice was not served in that case in part because of the length of time before her skeletal remains were found and the lack of evidence at the site where she was found. It is feared that the longer Lisa goes missing without being found, if she is deceased, the less chances are justice will be served in her case.
These volunteers know the odds and say their mission is to find Baby Lisa. They say the recent distractions will not lessen their resolve to find her so that justice can hopefully be served.
Lisa was 10 months old when she vanished. She did not walk away on her own. Someone made her disappear. More than likely there are a number of people who know what happened to her. It is the hope that someone will come forward and say what they know so that police can solve this case.
Future search efforts
Shelly explained that all incidents against searchers are reported to law enforcement as they occur. She also said officers respond to their calls and take police reports on the incidents, and that searchers' jobs were not in jeopardy as a result of the calls.
Searcher Edith Fine acknowledged the threats to volunteers are reported to law enforcement as they occur, and that they will not allow anyone to stop them from searching for Lisa.
Shelly said it’s gotten to the point that people will no longer confirm publicly that they are attending a search because people can view their names on the Facebook page.
Anyone posting on Facebook or any other social networking site should use caution when providing their personal information, or personal information of others. Unfortunately, when a child goes missing and a group of people continue searching for the truth, there may be those who try to stop their efforts.
Ethel S. explained that while she was helping in the search for Hailey Cummings someone posted her personal information on Facebook out of spite because her opinion differed from the moderators of the site.
“It’s very childish and can even be dangerous,” Ethel says. “It’s just mean and vindictive to do that to someone who is trying to help find a missing child.”
It is the hope that the phone calls and internet shenanigans will stop. It is a waste of police time and resources and no volunteer wants to feel personally targeted for their desire to help.
Private Investigator Ron Rugen posted on his blog Wednesday that as time passes, though we may feel we are no closer to answers, we have eliminated some questions. Rugen provides a Jan. 11, 2012, update here.
---
Baby Lisa Irwin was reported missing Oct. 4, 2011, at around 4 a.m. Her parents, Deborah Bradley and Jeremy Irwin, say she was abducted from her crib. Their repeated inconsistent stories and refusal to cooperate with police have placed them under a cloud of suspicion by police and the public.
An anonymous donor has offered a $100,000 reward for the safe return of Baby Lisa or for information that leads to a conviction of her abductor.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact the TIP Hotline at (816) 474-TIPS.
More on Lisa's story:
Follow this National Missing Persons news writer:
Click on SUBSCRIBE link above for instant updates
Comments