Missing Kids.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is doing all they can to make sure missing kids are returned safely to their families. They are a nonprofit organization that was started in 1984. The organization provides information and resources to law enforcement, families, and children.

An estimated 800,000 children are reported missing; that's more than 2,000 children every day! It is estimated that 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 10 boys will be sexually victimized before the age of 18. Out of these minors, only 1 in 3 will tell anyone.

The Center's website has a number of different features that helps to spread the message and find the missing children. There is a quick search bar that let's you search state, gender, and the number of years they've been missing. You are also able to report things on the website, such as a sighting. There is also a cyber tipline that allows people to report things dealing with sexual abuse.

The website also allows you to donate and stay informed on current issues. It provides resources for parents, law enforcement, childcare providers, attorneys, and the media.

This is depressing, I know. So, they also include a number of success stories. These children need prayers and  help. Put yourself out there. Learn about the system and what's going on with these poor, missing kids. Take the time to get involved; it could mean saving a life.

info from http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PublicHomeServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US

Kidnapping & Abuse

As far as I'm concerned, a parent's worst nightmare is the kidnapping of their child. Last weekend, my mother and I went shopping in Sam's Club. All of a sudden, my sugar dropped really low. She went to the food stand and got me some pizza. We both sat there in silence eating. When my blood sugar came back up and I was more coherent, I began reading the ads on the billboard. It broke my heart to see the age enhanced faces of missing children - to see that they've been lost for that long. I began asking my mother questions like "What happens to them? Do they runaway? Are they ever found? Why would someone take a child?" She couldn't answer my question.  Instead, she told me to look it up.

Here are some cases of kidnapping where the truth came out. Let's take a look at what happened:

• Masha
• Masha lived in a Russian orphanage when an American man decided he wanted to adopt her. He was divorced but no background checks or follow-up visits were ever conducted. He took her home and immediately began sexually assulting her. Soon after, he started using her for internet child pornography. Several years after the adoption, police rescued Masha. They only began looking for her because her pictures were pasted all over the internet.
• Elizabeth Fritzel

• Joseph Fritzel, Elizabeth's father, kept her locked in a secret basement in Austraila for 24 years, along with three children that he fathered to her. Supposedly, the Fritzel family was shocked to find out what was going on in the cellar and said they were "completely unaware of Joseph's evil tendencies." The three children had been in the cellar for so long that they developed their own type of communication growls and cannot communicate with words like you and I. Elizabeth Fritzel tried to teach them and to let them have a normal life in the cellar.
• Shawn Hornbeck & Ben Ownby




Shawn Hornbeck


• Michael Delvin is a convicted child molester currently serving 74 life sentences. Shawn Hornbeck lived with Delvin, disguised as father and son, for a total of four years and three months. He also participated in child pornography.

For the next blog, we will focus on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. In the meantime, check out their website at http://www.missingkids.com/

info from listverse.com

pictures from google images.

Poverty & Crime: The Correlation Pt. 1

A study done my McClatchy Newspapers found that the percentage of poor Americans who are living in extreme poverty has reached a 32-year high. Nearly 16 million Americans live in "deep or severe poverty."

The connection between poverty and crime has been an ongoing debate for many years. Many scholars argue that the poverty rate has nothing to do with crime rate because of all the extremely poor countries that have relatively low crime rates. I, however, believe that it is hard to deny the connection between poverty and crime in our country. An overwhelming 53% of prisoners earned less than $10,000 per year before incarceration.

Sociologists and criminal justice scholars have found a direct correlation. One theory assumes that the consequences of a crime are weighed. Sometimes the outcome could be better than not committing the crime.. at least in their eyes. This theory proves that people in poverty are more likely to commit crimes such as burglary, larceny, or theft.

What do you believe??

info from capaassociation.org

Parole vs. Probation

Parole and probation are often confused and used interchangeably. However, they are two very different things even though they are based on the same concept.

Someone may be sentenced to probation instead of being confined to a correctional facility. Along with probation comes strict guidelines. Some of the most common requirements include checking in regularly with your probation officer, attending drug/alcohol rehab, attending counseling sessions, and apply for employment or keep a job. Community service is also a common requirement for probation.

Parole is a conditional release from prison. With parole, time has already been served and an early release is considered. There is no set time you must wait before applying for parole, however, the minimum is usually set within the sentence. When an opportunity arrives for parole, the offender goes before a parole board to plead their case. Parole also has many conditions which can include checking in regularly with a parole officer, holding down a job, abstaining from committing any more crimes, attending drug/alcohol rehab, attending anger management/therapy sessions, and not associating with other convicted criminals.

Here is a list of celebrities who are or have been on probation:

• 50 Cent - battery and assault in 2002.
• Chris Brown - assaulting Rihanna in 2009.
• Hugh Grant - attempting to purchase a prostitute in 1995.
• Khloe Kardashian - DUI in 2007.
• Lindsay Lohan - her whole life... drugs.
• Paris Hilton -  DUI in 2006.

picture from google images
info from ranker.com

Mean boys & girls..

Some people are just plain mean. Bullying has been a hot topic lately. It's something hard to stand up to and even harder to enforce. While we have rules and a "no bullying" policy, things really haven't changed. It breaks my heart to see people breaking others down the way they do. They obviously don't value themselves enough.

There are a number of direct consequences as a result of bullying. It's insane the way people just casually overlook them. Victims show an immediate increase in anxiety, sadness, low self-esteem, sleep difficulties, headaches, stomach pains, and general tension. Research done in Finland also shows that victims are more likely to suffer from anxiety disorders, and their bodies are less likely to fight off disease and infection.

Because of the way victims feel, it is more likely for them to miss more school, obtain lower grades, and a higher predisposition to violence. Many of the disorders previously mentioned can carry through to adulthood. Sometimes, they can cause difficulties with family, friends, and co-workers.

In some cases, suicide is turned to because the bullying is so severe and continuous. The MBNBD says that suicide rates among 10-14 year olds have grown more than 50% in the last three decades. In 2005, 270 children between the ages of 10-14 killed themselves due to bullies. That's 270 lives gone!! We could have prevented it 100%! Why do we treat others so inhumanely? Honestly, we treat animals better than we treat other people!

It's time to take a stand! We need to fight for what's right. The human race lives with their eyes closed. For some reason, we see more differences in others than we do similarities. Clearly, no one is better than the other. Let's stop acting like it!

Are you going to be a bully or a hero?

Vampire Killer: Tracey Wigginton



Tracey in 1989



Lately, our society is big on vampires. We have the Twilight saga, the Vampire Diaries, and even Buffy: The Vampire Slayer. What happens when vampires become real? What happens when they manifest themselves into our world? This is what happens:



Tracey Wigginton, her lesbian lover, and two other girls lured a drunk man into their vehicle and drove away. Wigginton enticed him with sexual favors; he followed her. Instead of what she'd promised, he was brutally attacked. He suffered so many stab wounds to his back and chest that he was virtually decapitated. However, she was not done until she drank his blood. He was found early the next morning. In his shoe, there was a card with Tracey Wigginton's name on it. This lead to an early arrest of all four women.



Tracey 2012



During the trial, Wigginton confessed to being a vampire. She said that she did not live on solid food alone, but the blood of cows and pigs that she got from the local butcher. Wigginton's lover admitted that on several occasions, she would slit her wrists so that Wigginton could drink her blood. The four women devised this plan to feed Wigginton's obsession and craving for human blood.

Both Wigginton and her lover were sentenced to life imprisonment. The other two women were sentenced to 18 year which was later reduced to 12 years. One of the women was later acquitted when it was determined that she had no real role in the murder, but instead tried to keep the others from taking part in it as well.

Wigginton was released from prison in January of 2012.

info from evilwomen.com
pictures from google images

A Case Of Bad Parenting: Mary Beth Tinning

Mary Beth Tinning. Everyone thought her to be a good mother until her children started dying off. Here's her story:

She had two children and was pregnant with another. She didn't seem to like the messy part of mothering: the cleaning, the crying, the dealing with the problems. She seemed only to care for the happy moments. It's like her babies were her play toys. One night, her son began crying and throwing Jell-O agaisnt the wall. It pushed her over the edge.

All the doctors were told was that she found him in his bed, not breathing. However, he seemed to be too old to die of SIDS. Everyone came swooping in trying to help Mary Beth and her husband, Joe, deal with the devastation that had just taken over their lives. Mary Beth liked the attention. Only two weeks after buring her son, her daughter was found the exact same way: not breathing in her bed, rushed to the hospital, pronounced dead.

Doctors began looking into reasons the children could be dying. They thought maybe it was some sort of genetic disease. After tons of testing, they found nothing. While police and others began to suspect Mary Beth, her husband could not believe she could've killed their kids.

She gave birth to her son and he, too, died the same way. After being advised not to get pregnant again, for fear that the children were dying from a genetic disorder, the couple celebrated a new pregnancy a year later. The pattern followed.

This kept happening until, finally, Mary Beth and Joe Tinning decided to adopt a child. After he died the exact same way, suddenly the possibility of a genetic disorder was gone. Still, husband Joe stuck by her side.

She also attempted to poison her husband. He ended up in the hospital. The doctors thought it was an overdose until he was questioned. He admitted that he thought Mary Beth tried to poison him but it didn't matter. He said, "You have to believe the wife."

Mary Beth and Joe got pregnant once more, thirteen years later. Tami Lynne - their last child - died the same way.

Finally, Mary Beth confessed to smothering Tami Lynne. She was convicted and sentenced to 20 years to life in prison.

Husabnd Joe continues to stick by her side, promising to provide a home for her if and when she gets released from prison. She is now eligiable for parole. Although she's filed, she has been denied thus far.

Nine dead children later - Jennifer, Joesph Jr., Barbra, Timothy, Nathan, Mary Frances, Jonathan, Micheal, and Tami Lynne - she is diagnosed with the most extreme case of Munchausen by proxy.