Proposition 35 and Human Sex Trafficking

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Proposition 35 and Human Sex Trafficking

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On November 6, California voters can launch the single largest movement against human trafficking in our country and pass the toughest anti-human trafficking law in the United States by voting YES on Proposition 35. We will deliver a firm statement to traffickers around the world that we take slavery seriously and care about those in bondage.

 

Human trafficking, the modern day equivalent of slavery, became an American legislative priority when President Bush signed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) in 2000. Human trafficking, which includes labor and sex trafficking, is acknowledged as the second most profitable international criminal enterprise after drug smuggling. Victims of human trafficking are forced or coerced to work or commit sexual acts by violent criminals who strip them of their dignity and their freedom.

The TVPA was based on the theory that the United States is a destination country for human trafficking. However, original TVPA estimates of 50,000 women and children trafficked into the United States annually have since been downgraded to 14,500-17,500 per year, so initial estimates were reduced by more than two-thirds after the legislation was signed into law. The direction of the TVPA, which agencies would administer it, and which populations would be targeted were based upon seriously flawed data.

 

The Federal definition of sex trafficking includes when, “a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age.” It is very simple: according to Federal law, children can never consent to prostitution, it is always exploitation. A person who has not attained 18 years of age and is induced to perform a commercial sex act is then a victim of human sex trafficking. Therefore, all underage youth who are involved in prostitution, and who are under the influence of a pimp, are by definition, victims of human sex trafficking.”

 

Between 1.6 and 2.8 million children run away annually in the U.S., half of which are girls. Within 48 hours of hitting the streets, one third of these children are lured or recruited into the underground world of prostitution or pornography.  The average age at which girls first become victims of prostitution is 12-14.  For boys, the entry age is 11-13.

 

These harrowing statistics provides broad justification for a growing focus upon the domestic side of this issue, because the statistics conclusively demonstrate that the USA is a source country as well as a destination country for Human Sex Trafficking. Unfortunately, the vast majority of resources unleashed by the TVPA are still globally directed. This is why Prop 35 is so important to California’s future.

 

In addition, current California law is inadequate to deal with the realities of human trafficking in our state. The California Trafficking Victims Protection Act (CTVPA), passed in 2005, established human trafficking for forced labor or services as a felony crime punishable by a sentence of 3, 4 or 5 years in state prison and a sentence of 4, 6 or 8 years for trafficking of a minor. Incredibly, according to California law, there is no stated penalty for sex trafficking of a minor without force. The CTVPA was written when domestic human trafficking was viewed as a crime impacting mainly foreign nationals brought into this country. It overlooked thousands of American minors and adults who were also exploited.

Proposition 35 will eliminate barriers to prosecute child sex traffickers by removing the requirement to prove “force, fraud or coercion” of a minor trafficking victim. Prop 35 will deter traffickers in California with higher penalties and fines, use fines to fund victim services, mandate training for law enforcement officers, require convicted sex traffickers to register as sex offenders, require all sex offenders to disclose Internet accounts, and protect victims in court proceedings.

 

The choice is clear. On November 6, California voters can draw a line in the sand and stand up for domestic victims of human sex trafficking, or we can continue a status quo approach that criminalizes young victims as it celebrates some of the most heinous criminals in our midst: human sex traffickers. I am going to vote Yes on Prop 35, because to turn our backs on the tens of thousands of children being trafficked in California is simply another form of victimization.

Posted in California Against Slavery, Human Trafficking, KlaasKids Foundation, legislation, Proposition 35, Safer California Foundation, the CASE Act | 10 Comments on Proposition 35 and Human Sex Trafficking

We Found Something

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It has been a busy weekend for KlaasKids. We facilitated a meeting between the Sierra LaMar Search Center, her family and Congressman Jerry McNerney (CA-11) on Saturday morning. Simultaneously, we participated in an important grass roots rally on behalf of Proposition 35 in Elk Grove. After that Violet and I drove to Sacramento where KlaasKids Foundation SAR Director Brad Dennis was facilitating a weekend worth of searches for missing UC Davis coed Linnea Lomax. Then we found something.

 

Congressman McNerney is the first member of Congress to visit search center since Congressman Mike Honda (CA-15) visited on June 6. Both members of Congress have expressed support for a legislation being considered as a result of Sierra’s disappearance. The new law would close the loophole that allows schools to wait until the end of the day before notifying parents that their children did not attend school.

Violet Klaas, Daphne Phung, Rosario Dowling & Me!

Proposition 35 continues to pick up support as Election Day approaches on November 6. Currently, U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, and Congresswoman Jackie Speier lead a list of more than 60-elected officials who publicly support the anti-trafficking ballot measure that will also bridge Megan’s Law into the 21st Century. They are joined by law enforcement groups representing more than 90,000-sworn police officers and more than 125-child advocacy organizations throughout California.

 

Linnea Lomax is a 19-year-old coed student who disappeared on the early afternoon of Tuesday June 26 after walking away from an outpatient mental health facility near the American River in Sacramento, California. The day before, June 25, Linnea had been released from a psychiatric facility where she was recovering from a psychological breakdown. On July 4, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department absolved themselves of any responsibility for locating Linnea, despite her fragile mental state, when they said, “Circumstances suggest she is, by all accounts, voluntarily missing and choosing to stay away from friends and family.” Potential sightings, theories and tips that initially flooded the tip line set up by Linnea’s family have since been reduced to a trickle.

 

Left to their own devices the family hired a private investigator to lead the search for Linnea. He focused his investigation on human sex trafficking. KlaasKids assisted this effort by monitoring known websites that advertise escort and erotic services up and down the West Coast, but nothing of consequence turned up. Despite no real evidence that she was involved in the trafficking trade valuable weeks were devoted to that singular scenario. Finally, the family let the private investigator go and eventually asked the KlaasKids Foundation to conduct a search of Linnea.

 

Linnea’s family runs a Christian kids adventure camp near Sacramento. She has grown up among the pristine hills, canyons, valleys, and rivers of Northern California’s Sierra foothills. She was raised near in and around nature, and has a very strong sense of natural surroundings and the environment. She would not leave an orange peel at a camp site out of a concern that the next camper might be offended.

 

This past Friday, Saturday and Sunday KlaasKids sent 230 search volunteers on 40-search assignments. Search volunteers were a combination of family, friends, others drawn from the faith based community, complete strangers, and KlaasKids friends from the Bay Area. The sun was shining brightly and the temperature was in the high 80-90’s range. We focused the search on the American River for two reasons. It was near the mental health facility that she was last seen at, and she was familiar with and loved the American River. It almost always makes sense to focus a search near the last place the victim was last seen.

 

Linnea’s Notebook

On Sunday afternoon one of the search teams found it. Linnea’s notebook, the one she was holding when last seen was there…in the bushes only two blocks away from the mental health facility. It was near a foot path heading toward the river. It seemed to have been flung into the bushes. Our team leader contacted the search center and the authorities. Linnea’s father confirmed the sighting. Now the evidence needs to be processed.

 

Fifty-four days after she disappeared we have developed our first solid lead. We believe that Linnea tossed her notebook into the bushes. Much can be read into that, but it is not my place to do so. What I do feel comfortable pointing out is that in the past five months we have sent out somewhere in the neighborhood of 9,000 volunteers on approximately 900 search assignments in and around Morgan Hill and we have not found anything relating to the disappearance of Sierra LaMar. Stay tuned for updates.

Posted in Brad Dennis, KlaasKids Foundation, missing adult | Tagged | %

The Glass Half Full and Child Safety

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It was expected to be 106 degrees in Patterson, CA yesterday. Packing lightly, I left my apartment to pick up Danielle [LaMar] from the BART station – ready to head down to the inferno we all call central California. Our three hour mini-roadtrip, though hilariously misdirected as we crossed Sacramento County when we were supposed to be going south, was smooth sailing as we caught up on each other’s lives and the latest in both of our family’s cases.

My first time doing a KlaasKids Print-a-thon was in Patterson nearly a year ago – the October right after we found Michelle. At that time, I was adjusting to a new normal as I started involving myself with the organization that helped find her. That October, I promised myself, Michelle and KlaasKids that I would be involved with this team for the rest of my life.

It was a strong commitment to make, to say the least. Recently, with the trial coming up, I have been reflecting on this new normal that I’ve made and how rapidly and dramatically my lifestyle, hobbies and attitude have changed as a direct result of her death.

I have always believed in optimism – making and seeing things better and brighter. Michelle’s murder presented what was possibly the most challenging situation to be optimistic about; it was senseless, cold, brutal violence that gashed into our lives and made us realize how dark and evil human nature really can be. We, as a society, see robberies and crimes every day on the news, hear about weird zombie cannibals on bath salts, maybe mingled briefly with others who have faced tragedies of their own – but until you taste the same sense of bitter anger, confusion, hopelessness and desperation for answers, you feel shielded from all the world’s woes.

Then there are families who are brave enough to hear about the world’s woes, and not only acknowledge, but face the fact that they should be preventative about protecting their children. Not by avoiding, but embracing, the conversation about child safety.

Danielle, Marc, Violet and I headed to the Patterson festival ready to meet and help those families.

Also joining KlaasKids was Tabitha Cardenas, who lost her own 4-year-old son in early 2011 in Patterson. I had a chance to meet Tabitha last October; she is truly a strong woman with a beautiful smile that seems to defy all that happened to her and her young boy.

At print-a-thons, there is no darkness. Parents line up with their little ones whose ages range from a couple months old to 18 years old, ready to get them fingerprinted and ID-ed. We meet children and teens of all sorts of personalities – from super hyper to rebellious to autistic or with a mental disability – but all children have the same thing in common. They are all lovely, young and trusting – all with the potential to be lost or kidnapped.

These parents wait in line to do one of the best things they could do for their children – prepare to talk to them about child safety. They watch proudly as their child gets fingerprinted and laugh as their sons and daughters smile broadly at our camera. They know that it’s better to be safe than sorry, that the conversation about child safety isn’t something to avoid – that it could be fun and educational.

At the end of the day, we fingerprinted over 260 kids and met dozens of families and parents in the sweltering heat of Patterson. Over 260 kids went home with their bio sheets, safety tips and DNA kits. Hopefully, over 260 kids will have the conversation with their parents about child safety and crisis prevention.

I left the print-a-thon with a spoonful more optimism.

KlaasKids’ print-a-thons have historically helped over a million children. We can only hope our families’ stories helped 260 kids at Patterson; heck, we’d be happy if our families’ stories helped even one more family out there.

A year ago, I was in a dark place. Now I find myself in love with our organization, our searches and the volunteer heroes that we get to interact with on a daily basis. If the abductors, kidnappers and murderers expected our families to back down and whimper at our losses, I hope they know that our optimism overpowers whatever power they think they have. That our loved ones’ legacies far outweigh their pitiful, rotten existences.

Now that’s looking on the bright side of things.

As Danielle and I head back to the East Bay, the temperature drops to a thankfully cooler 88 degrees. The sun is shining brilliantly as we wish those 260 kids the happiest – and safest – futures that they could have.

Posted in KlaasKids Foundation, Krystine Dinh, Michelle Le, Print-A-Thon, Sierra LaMar, Uncategorized | Tagged | 2 Comments on The Glass Half Full and Child Safety

An Act of Moral Cowardice

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Petaluma’s Polly Klaas Foundation was honored by the US Dept. of Justice this week, being named the 2011 Missing Children Nonprofit of the year by the United States Department of Justice’ Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

In Oct. 1993, Violet and I founded the Polly Klaas Foundation (PKF) to protect ourselves from potential speculation that we would misappropriate money donated to help find Polly, who had been kidnapped on Oct. 1. Upon learning of Polly’s tragic death on Dec. 4, it was our intention to lobby for laws that would protect children, use the remaining $283,000 to help find other missing children, and continue fundraising. On October 21, 1994, without my knowledge or permission, the PKF board of directors secured a trademark for the name Polly Klaas. In November 1994, in an act of stunning moral cowardice, the board of directors of the PKF voted me off the board during a secret meeting that I was not privy to. When they informed me via telephone I felt as if I had lost my daughter yet again. Violet and I were no longer welcome at the Foundation that we had created and hoped would become Polly’s legacy.

In September, 1994 several events foretold our rocky path and lonely crusade. On the 13th I stood on the podium with President Clinton on the White House south lawn when he signed The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. The President gave me the first pen that he used to sign the bill. Among other things the Crime Bill provided for 100,000 new cops, allocated $6.1-billion in prevention funds for at risk children, and nearly $10-billion for prison construction costs.

Days later the board of directors informed me that I would no longer be allowed to pursue criminal justice legislation, arguing that a non-profit organization is prohibited from advocating for new laws. They knew that this was not true and continued supporting and promoting legislation long after they gave me the boot.

Before the month was out I had submitted a separate non-profit application to create the KlaasKids Foundation, from which to lobby, advocate and promote legislation. The PKF board said that I had created a conflict of interest by finding an avenue that would allow me to pursue goals that they forbade me from pursuing. This became the justification for kicking me out of the Polly Klaas Foundation. Ironically, one of the stated goals on the Polly Klaas Foundation’s current mission statement is to effect legislation which, “Will ensure that children can be safe in their own homes and communities.”

When Violet and I were shown the door we had $2,000, a fledgling non-profit that would become the KlaasKids Foundation and sense of urgency. We believed that there was no time to lose, because otherwise everyone would forget. We struggled. She worked a regular job, I volunteered my time. We lived frugally, turning our home into an office, with a small loft devoted to personal space. We worked 18-hour days writing, advocating, traveling and otherwise pursuing our window of opportunity. Fortunately, our voice was being heard on television, radio, in the op-ed pages of newspapers and at KlaasKids events throughout the country.

As KlaasKids built a solid reputation for action and accomplishment the PKF struggled. With just a few months of operating expenses left in their account, they launched a high profile car donation program. For the next several years a confused public donated millions of dollars worth of vehicles as the PKF produced minimal results.

How do I know this to be true? Because over the past two days many people, even some that I have known for years, congratulated me for the OJJDP recognition as the 2011 Missing Children Nonprofit of the year. 


The KlaasKids Foundation may not have won any awards, but I will stack our accomplishments up against any other missing children’s NPO. Below I have outlined some of KlaasKids 2010 accomplishments. I have left off our Print-A-Thon programs and the tens of thousands of free Child ID Kits that we distribute throughout the year.

·        KlaasKids offers multiple levels of support for the missing and their families. From grassroots search-and-rescue assistance, to human trafficking intervention; from legislative support to providing experts to the media, KlaasKids remains at the forefront of safety innovation and proactive advocacy.
  • In 2010, KlaasKids’ search and rescue efforts provided assistance in 86 cases. Our search center has also played an active role in 33 missing person/trafficking cases. Of those, eight out of nine children were rescued from human trafficking. In the other 25 cases, nine were safely located, four were recovered, and 12 remain missing.
  • KlaasKids actively advocated for California’s Chelsea’s Law, which increases prison time, prohibits sex offenders from entering parks frequented by children, and increases use of trackable GPS devices to monitor paroled offenders.
  • We also supported California laws AB 33, which requires law enforcement to establish written procedures on how to handle missing child cases;
  • AB 34, which will reduce the time to notify the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and California’s Violent Crime Information Center (VCIC) from four hours to two;
  • AB 1022, which establishes a position in the Department of Justice for a new director to oversee missing children recovery processes.
  • KlaasKids also continues to work with the Flying J chain of truck stops to bring a broadcast quality suite of television options to America’s 2,000,000-plus long haul truck drivers, so that they can become an army of first responders whenever a televised Amber Alert is issued in the United States. 
  • In September, KlaasKids initiated a lawsuit against California’s Department of Mental Health (DMH) for releasing tens of thousands of potential sexually violent predators in violation of Jessica’s Law, which was passed in 2006 Jessica’s Law mandates that, prior to release from prison, violent sex offenders who meet certain offense criteria be evaluated in person by two expert psychiatrists or psychologists. If the experts agree that the prisoner is a violent sexual predator with a high risk of reoffending, they must be referred to the District Attorney for civil commitment proceedings. However, in many cases since 2007, the DMH has provided only a cursory “paper screening,” or records review, of potential predators by only one mental health professional in lieu of an expert panel in-person evaluation.
  • On the proactive front, KlaasKids long-standing relationship with Fight Crime: Invest in Kids has paid great dividends. As you will read in this edition, the California branch of this national non-profit organization, led by more than 400 police chiefs, sheriffs, district attorneys, and crime survivors, has ensured that California is the nation’s leader in supporting after-school programs.
Posted in KlaasKids Foundation, legislation | Tagged | 5 Comments on An Act of Moral Cowardice

KlaasKids Continues to Provide Child Safety

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The KlaasKids Foundation Print-A-Thon has been providing free Child Identification throughout the USA since 1994. Our oldest and most loyal sponsor, the St. Louis, Missouri based Dave Mungenast Auto Family has been hosting KlaasKids signature child safety event since 1996. This Saturday 10/15 marks our 15thannual Print-A-Thon in St. Louis, MO.

The Print-A-Thon is a high energy child safety event that utilizes 21st Century technology. KlaasKids fingerprints and photographs children, provides their parents with DNA Collection Kits, pro-active child safety information, and a nine-point-plan on what to do if a child disappears.

Always free to the public, the KlaasKids Print-A-Thon has been serving America’s families for more than a decade.  Since 1994, the KlaasKids Print-A-Thon has fingerprinted and photographed more than 1,000,000 children at no cost to families and without data basing personal or private information.  The Print-A-Thon is always underwritten by community minded sponsors like the Dave Mungenast Auto Family who wish to maintain safe communities and give back to their loyal customers. 

The Print-A-Thon utilizes imaging systems originally developed for federal law enforcement agencies by Sentry Technology that integrate digitized computer technology to fingerprint and photograph children quickly without ink or film.  Parents immediately receive an English or Spanish language 81/2 X 11 inch Bio-Doc® featuring forensic quality, magnified fingerprints, updated photograph, and blank form fields for personal and identifying information.  The back of the Bio-Doc provides safety rules for kids, safety suggestions for parents, instructions for properly storing DNA samples using household items and the 9-step emergency plan.   Since the Foundation does not database children’s personal or private information privacy is guaranteed.  Parents receive the only existing copy of the “Bio-Doc”®.

On Saturday, October 15, KlaasKids will conduct Print-A-Thon’s at 4-separate Mungenast Automotive Family locations. KlaasKids is flying in our “A” Team to ensure that St. Louis continues to receive the high quality, professional Child ID service that Dave Mungenast and KlaasKids has been providing since 1996.

On event day one of our “A” Team coordinators will fingerprint and photograph children at each location from 9:00 am until 3:00 pm. Since it only takes between 1 and 2 minutes to serve each child, hundreds of families can take advantage of this free service during the course of the event.  Because the Foundation utilizes computerized/digitized technology we are able to develop magnified, forensic quality fingerprints on children as young as 3-months old: a feat that no other system can duplicate. KlaasKids Foundation coordinators will answer child safety questions and distribute no cost child and parent safety information. Don’t miss out on this rare and unique opportunity.

Facilitating a Print-A-Thon is a win/win for all the parties involved. It allows our fantastic sponsors to fulfill social responsibility by creating safer communities. It provides parents with an opportunity to engage a safety dialog with their children in a fun and positive environment. However the biggest winners of all are the kids, because they receive tools that enable them to make choices and decisions that will help to avoid victimization in the first place. Individually, none of us has the power to effect profound change, but, by reaching out and linking arms, together, we can change the world.

 I will travel to each location with kidnap survivor Midsi Sanchez to meet families, reacquaint with old friends and make new friends.
Posted in KlaasKids Foundation, Print-A-Thon | Tagged | %

Creating Order out of Chaos!

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The two guiding principles that drive missing person cases are chaos and order. Chaos rules the family. Their precepts of normalcy are obliterated, and their faith is oftentimes challenged, as they are thrust into a foreign environment that defies logic and experience. Law enforcement, especially if the jurisdictional agency has limited experience investigating missing child cases, is also subject to chaos. Chaos reigns in the community as rumor and innuendo inevitably insert themselves and anonymous bloggers level outrageous theories or point accusatory fingers at family members. Finally, chaos is multiplied as the second wave of predators inserts themselves into ongoing investigations.
I can speak from experience that there is nothing to prepare a family for the disappearance of a child. Whether they are missing for ten minutes in a department store, or months during a lingering investigation, panic and fear quickly dominate our emotions. But, because of our experience, professionalism and issue knowledge the KlaasKids Foundation can be a stabilizing force after a family invites to search for their missing child.
One hopes that order dominates official efforts to investigate and solve the case. Fortunately, many if not most law enforcement agencies have missing child investigative templates or protocols to guide their efforts. Unfortunately, most law enforcement agencies have little to no experience in missing child investigations, and their best efforts can be chaotic at best. However, as State and Federal resources are drawn into investigations protocols, templates, and experience usually, but not always, increase exponentially.
Media is a wild card. In the rush to be first many media outlets throw caution to the wind and report rumor as fact. Or, they offer speculation and opinion as hard knowledge. When Polly was missing certain television reporters would breathlessly report that her remains had been found every time a dog bone was turned over. However, there are also media outlets that take a much more rational, cautious and deliberate approach to these troubling cases. Again, the approach is dependent upon experience, attitude, and a desire to be first as opposed to do the right thing. Personally, I believe that newspapers demonstrate the most restraint and usually provide the best overall service. That is because viable newspaper stories historically have depth based in knowledge. Conversely, the most damage can unusually be found on the blogosphere. After all, blogging requires zero experience, many bloggers exist under the cloak of anonymity, and they are not burdened by standards or ethics.
Then there is the world of non-profit agencies. We are the gray area between government and the private sector. Most non-profit child locator services exist to help the family. Although many NPO’s in our sub-category are founded with the best of intentions, not many survive long enough to pursue long term goals or intentions. Those unable to survive, and those numbers have increased these past few years, dissolve because of dissent from within, they are unable to achieve sustainable funding, or do not have the leadership and vision necessary to get beyond adrenalin driven emotional response to tragedy.
For more than 17-years the KlaasKids Foundation has worked very hard to bring order to our approach. We attempt to respond to all aspects of the missing child issue with professional standards and reason. We adhere to proven protocols, some of which we have developed and others that we have adopted from other agencies. We represent families as we seek the cooperation of law enforcement, community and media. In other words, we try to bring order and provide hope to families that are frozen in fear as they try not to seek salvation beyond hope.
Our most critical, difficult and sensitive work is always in the immediate aftermath of tragedy. We talk with families, offer counsel and resources and when necessary intervene with search and rescue resources. We must demonstrate to law enforcement that our participation will enhance their efforts, will remove responsibility from their overburdened shoulders, and that we can be trusted with a seat at the table. This kind of trust will never be assumed, but must be earned every time that we show up at the scene of the crime. Unfortunately, resistance has not decreased as our portfolio has increased. Therefore, we must continue to pursue the dual goals of bringing order to chaos, and assisting in the recovery of missing persons.
Posted in family, KlaasKids Foundation, law enforcement, NPO | Tagged | %

Recovery & Redemption

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It is said that losing a child is a parent’s worst nightmare. From 2000 to 2006 (the last year for which verifiable data is available) 367,844 children under the age of 19 have died in the United States. The parents of these children can attest to this nightmare. The parents of deceased children spiral into confusion whether the children were victims of violent crime, accident, suicide or infant death. They oftentimes feel betrayed by God and search for reasons to continue living. The challenge is finding the path to recovery and redemption.

Following the kidnap and murder of my daughter Polly, Violet and I joined the fraternity of survivors. We are trying to recover from the sudden, unexpected death of our child, and redeem our lives in the wake of her tragedy. We testify in Congress and State legislatures. We advocate in the media, in town hall meetings and in living rooms. We pursue righteous causes, and offer encouragement, support and hope to other families who are facing life without their children. We fear not, for we have nothing left to fear. For us, rejection is a hurdle, not a brick wall. We are everywhere, because family is universal, and death does not discriminate.

Our children give meaning to their lives, but it is up to us to give meaning to their deaths. We do this by fighting back. Instead of sleepwalking through life, we extricate ourselves from the abyss of grief by communicating the lessons that we have learned in hope of preventing future tragedies. We don‘t drown our grief in the sad downward spiral of substance abuse; we choose to give new purpose to our own shattered lives by ensuring that our children did not die in vain. We reject the unsustainable heartbreak of denial and instead try to ensure that tragedies are not repeated, that we can use our experience to support others similarly afflicted, and that some level of social benefit results from our actions. This is how we ensure that our deceased children are not relegated to data points.

Polly would want our lives to have purpose and value. She would want us to love and laugh and to find a future full of hope and substance. She would encourage us to take action, effect legislation, write poetry and touch lives. The process of burying our daughter exposed our emotions like dangling nerves. But, we survived the great depression. We take time to smell the flowers, listen to the music and appreciate all of the beautiful things that life has to offer.

The following dispatches were written in the spirit of recovery and redemption. We felt no guilt, harbored no malice and are forever grateful for the experience.
Posted in KlaasKids Foundation, Marc Klaas, missing children, Polly Klaas, recovery and redemption | Leave a reply

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