another idea would be to ask for donations to fund a full page ad in the paper (or even a half page ad). I'm not sure what it would cost but I'd be willing to be part of a donation fund.
Anna, are you working with any of the current elected officials in California. With all the bailout money being thrown out now who knows there might be something available for new investigation, etc. I'm frustrated with the local law enforcement efforts on your behalf.
Is there a National Cold Case organization I wonder.
Madge, that's a very sweet offer, but we have tried to stay away from requesting donations of any kind. If people wanted to buy the book and give it to their local library, that would put our information everywhere there is a Websleuth nearby. I don't want to give the impression that LE is not being helpful. You should see the file they have on Anna. It's just that right now they are extremely short-staffed and have to deal with pending cases unless we have some new hard evidence.
I am working on the Chronicle story right now. If it turns out they don't want to use it, I'll post it here (it won't be very long) and ask members who want to, to rewrite the lead paragraph with a local angle and submit it to their local papers. For instance, "Madeupname", a resident of (your town) is one of 17,000 searchers looking for ACW, who disappeared in 1973 without a trace."
I hope the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which has done so much for Anna's case over the years, will benefit from the stimulus funds. I was just re-reading my information on the forensic artist who produced the age progression of Anna. Their age-advanced pictures have helped locate more than 800 missing children.
Other than the NCMEC, I don't know of a national cold case unit.
A representative in our local congresswoman's office has been notified about our problem getting passport information. They did telephone, but there hasn't been any recent activity here.
Thank you, Madge, for your questions and suggestions.