My Daughter Alyssa Attended NYC Showing of the Hollywood movie “King’s Faith”

Our family received an invitation to attend a New York City showing of the Hollywood made movie, KING’S FAITH. Due to busy schedules, only our teenage daughter Alyssa was able to go. [At the right she is with Lynn Whitfield, one of the stars of this Christian movie.]

This experience highlights our daughter’s personal experience and journey as a child adopted out of the foster care system through Your Gotta Believe, a very unique adoption agency. Alyssa has huge hopes and dreams that her father and I support. She has a lovely singing voice and thinks about a singing career. She also feels she could have a career in banquet management in the hotel industry.

Watching KING’S FAITH and meeting Miss Whitfield spurred her on with her hopes and dreams. Like the main character in the movie, Brendan King, a foster kid who grew up getting into trouble on the wrong side of the tracks, Alyssa was transplanted by her adoption into our white, middle class family along with her sisters Victoria and Delayne. Like Brendan’s story in the movie…all did not go so smoothly. There was a huge culture gap. We are still working things out, but Alyssa has made huge strides and she sees no reason why she can’t accomplish her goals. She told me today that she sees herself doing a lot of good things in this life.

Alyssa is home schooled by moi and she is now working on a school project on KING’S FAITH that will dove-tail for both her English and Social Science classes.

For information on the adoption of tweens and teens in the New York City metropolitan area contact You Gotta Believe adoption agency in Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY. You Gotta Believe in the only adoption agency in the United States that limits adoptions to finding permanent parents for tweens and teens. 718-372-3003

You Gotta Believe on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/pages/You-Gotta-Believe/41832034532

Do You Remember the Etan Patz Case?

I do remember the Etan Patz case and as a mother, I can’t imagine going 33 years without knowing what happened to my child. Yet many parents of abducted children never find out what happened to their children.

The FBI has reopened the missing persons investigation of Etan Patz, the first missing child to have his photo on a milk carton. They have a possible new lead and looked yesterday at a location on Prince Street which is now a Lucky Jeans store and less than one block from Etan’s former home. Dozens of FBI and NYPD investigators swarmed into the basement of the location.

Six  year old Etan went missing in 1979 from the SoHo area of New York City when for the first time he was allowed to walk the two blocks alone from his home to bus stop. Remember it was over 30 years ago. Parents thought their children were relatively safe back then. This case changed that.

I believe little Etan must have been so proud and happy to be walking alone to the bus stop that morning…and how his parents must have blamed themselves after the fact for allowing him to walk alone. Of course hindsight is 20/20 and there’s no shortage of blame parents may heap on themselves in retrospect.

Since milk cartons have evolved into plastic jugs, they don’t put the photos of missing children on them any more. Where it took days and weeks to get the face of a missing child before the public then, now with technology it only takes a matter of minutes.

Today the Amber Alert has taken the place of the milk carton. Amber Alerts pop up immediately on message boards on major highways in a matter of minutes. Amber Alerts can even be downloaded to email boxes and cell phone messages.

Apparently the effectiveness of Amber Alerts can be maximized. Here is an article on the US Department of Justice website for maximizing the effect of an Amber Alert. http://www.amberalert.gov/guidelines.htm

The figures are staggering. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children estimates indicate 800,000 children, 18 years of age or younger,  go missing every year in the United States.  203,900 children were the victims of family abductions. 580, 200 children  were the victims of non-family abductions. Only 115 children were the victims of the stereotypical kidnap/killing of the type we see portrayed in thrillers and murder mystery stories. This is where the child does not know the abductor, or the abductor is a slight acquaintance who holds the child overnight, transports the child 50 miles or more, demands ransom, maims, and/or kills the child. Or intends to keep the child permanently.

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. http://goo.gl/YQWwq

As this is a blog about crime fiction novels, specifically Christian crime fiction novels…former Long Beach police officer Janice Cantore has a wonderful suspense novel on the subject of abducted children, THE KEVLAR HEART.  As the story unfolds, PO Brinna Caruso, who was abducted as a child but managed to escape is committed to finding and saving abducted children in California.

If you remember the Etan Patz case, or are burdened by another child abduction case, please leave a comment. Give the names of missing children you wish to honor.  This is something we, as a society, must keep a bright light shined on. We must never forget the children who did not come home.

Am I "Sexting" Now???

Not really, but I am spending a whole lotta time online talkin a whole lotta trash to a whole lotta kids who spend a whole lotta time talkin trash. Many of them college bound kids.

First off…I’m posing as my runaway daughter. So, they don’t know I’m a mom. Or so I thought. One girl caught on right away and stopped replying to me. Why? I quickly figured it out. I typed in upper and lower case. A dead give away. But I learn quickly and switched to lower case exclusively.

Here’s a mom writing: Hi, BFF, what’s going on? How’s school? Oh, yeah, and I have a really important question, are you seeing much of Anthony?

Here’s a better way for a mom to disguise her writing so they don’t know it’s a mom: hey bestie, whaz w/u? how’s school? O yeah, I gotta really primo question. u c much of anthony?

Unfortunately I’m always a day or two behind my daughter, so whatever info I give the missing persons detective is old, but some of it’s info he doesn’t have. It all goes into a report which will be filed along with all the other NYPD reports.

Tiring, but I thank God for the two detectives who’ve devoted time to this case.

Meanwhile, back at the farm, quite a few people have have opened up to me privately…told me stories. One woman told me of a young man in law school who works part-time at her job. The kid’s parents are divorced and not on speaking terms. He lives with his attorney dad and they pass like ships in the night. The dad has high hopes for this son to follow him into law, as he followed the grandfather into law. However, this young man is selling pot and ecstays in the clubs on weekends. Dad doesn’t have a clue. The woman cautioned this fellow if he gets busted not only will he have an arrest record and possible prison time, but he can kiss his law career goodbye…not to mention rock his dad’s world. While the dad isn’t rolling in the dough anymore with alimony and what not, the boy really doesn’t want for much. The college kid’s response was it’s exciting to sell drugs in the clubs…not to mention the availability of chicks–his word.

And so it goes…

Do You Know Where Your Kidz Are???

My adopted daughter chose to return to the life she had befor the adoption..the life of the streets. She ran away seven days ago.. She’s only 14.

I’ve been searching Facebook to find her. I’ve found a kidz culture that’ll knock the sox off most parrents.

Some kid (he is probably over 18 and selling drugs) had a party last night that he publicized on Facebook. My run-away daughter was at that party…so were a lot of kids…their parents had no idea.

These kids don’t think they can be found out…but they haven’t met me yet. I’m an anomoly! My kid’s mom writes crime fiction. The underbelly is not unknown to me. I know the streets better than most parents. I did what my heroine (a private detective) woulda done.

Lest you think these kida are wash-outs…many of them area college bound, some of them high achievers. How did they get to this party??? They lied to their parents.

Updates to come….

Heroes For A Day

My huband Joseph and I adopted three half-sisters from foster care 7 years ago. They had been horribly abused. Abject pedophiles had access to them…two men, from what we can tell. One, due to our efforts was sentenced to ten years in prison.

The two oldest girls were the sexually abused ones. The little one was physically abused and went hungry a lot, but was not sexually abused. And she’s the one of the three who’s making it.

The oldest is in Manhattan somewhere. She phones now and then. She’s selling her body in the sex trade and pedling drugs on the side.

The middle one just took off with some guy she met on Facebook. She’s left a few phone messages. We don’t have a clue where she is. She’s been gone five days, going into the sixth day.

Funny thing is, I wrote a manuscript four years ago about a girl who is found murdered not far from where we live by a man she met online. I’d been getting it ready for submission when my daughter ran off. Life can mirror fiction, just as fiction can mirror life.

I’ve been very affected by the 9/11 anniversary this year. I’ve played a number of the songs from the Concert For New York City — in 2001 just after the terrorist attack.

I find myself playing David Bowie’s Heroes, from that concert. It resonates with me in my own personal hell. I want to swim like the dolphins swim. I want to be free like the dolphins, and yet I am chained to the computer combing Facebook, looking for anyone who might know where my daughter is.

My husband and I were heroes for a day, adopting them, having dreams for them…and then the evil of the world consumed them again…swallowed them.

I write of this evil in my Christian crime fiction novels…for which I’m seeking a publisher. I tell stories of  the evil consuming children, devouring them while so many of us are playing at church. We’re so pioulsy polite, and the enemy, the destroyer is glad we are…as we’re largely ineffectual against him.

We’re afraid to touch the girl in the sex trade and if we won’t touch her, how can we give her a hand up and out? We don’t understand when she rejects us and the wonderful Christian life we offer…and runs back to hell. And it’s hell on earth. It’s all too easy for us to heap judgement upon her.

The old addage, hate the sin/love the sinner, is all too true. We must hate the life she’s run back to, and yet somehow try to communicate to her how worthwhile she is.

To see the David Bowie music video…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xdo5f_ozf6E