TN TN - Bethany Markowski, 11, Jackson, 4 March 2001

[Casshew]

Bethany has the most gorgeous eyes!

I can't help but wonder why she has not tried to call home? by 11 years of age you know your phone number. Also if the suspect managed to get bethany enrolled in school somewhere - she would be on her own in school able to speak with teachers,counsellors etc...

 

[KatherineQ]

She is beautiful, but she's SO COMMON looking. I saw several posts in this thread where others said hey she looks like . . or why does she look so familiar?

To me, she looks familiar because I know many many girls who look just like her.

That some very oddball type woman tried to enroll a child who looked like this in a school, and then took off, is no indication at all that that was Bethany. It could well have been a girl just like her, traveling with a drunk mother.

It seems like in every case of a missing child, others are reported who look like that child and turn out not to be.

Prayers she is found, the dad's story sounds very fishy to me.

 

[knale]

Thinking of Bethany and her family! She has been missing 5 years now!

http://www.newschannel5.com/content/

 

[Mr. E]

Wow. She looks just like one of my students. I'm sure it's nothing, but wow. I will check her records (she's a new student who enrolled after Christmas break) because when I saw the age progression I was struck by how much she looks like my student.

 

[WholeLottaRosie]

Please keep us posted!

 

[Mr. E]

I talked to my student today, just asked her where she was from and why she moved here. She told me her step-daddy is the "bossman" (sometimes Southern kids are so cute -- using words like bossman when they're 16 years old) of a company and got transferred here. I'll check her school records tomorrow. I'm sure she's just an uncanny lookalike. It just blows my mind how much they look alike. However, one big difference is that my student's eyes are more blue than green.

 

[Mr. E]

I looked more closely at my student, and her eyes ARE green. So she looks a lot like Bethany. However, her birthdate is different: May 8, 1989 as opposed to Bethany's Feb. 1, 1990. I also have her SS# and her mother's name, although I wouldn't know what to do with that information.

I've got to say this, though. My student does not act like you would expect an abducted kid to act. She's very normal -- giggly and happy and surrounded by friends. Maybe Bethany just has one of those faces that is familiar. But if anybody has any idea as to what I could do with the information I have, let me know.

 

[Kelly]

You would notify the LE in charge of her case.

 

[crypto6]

You would notify the LE in charge of her case.

Let's see: You've got confidential information through your privileged position as a teacher, with not even a gut feeling there is anything wrong, and a tiny, hardly believable chance this student may be Bethany. Hmmmm.
I would much rather see this handled locally and delicately so as to not get the student and parents angry at you and the school. Why not continue to do what Mr. E is doing? The student is happy, he's in a position to observe, and there's little downside. You can go through the school's LE liaison and let them get some more info for you or help you with a plan of action, rather than involving (presumably) another state's LE. I know of and respect your situation, and would nevertheless be mighty angry if someone came to my door demanding that I prove my child was mine. Imagine the trauma to the child of cops coming and harassing her daddy and questioning whether he was her father. Imagine the Gestapo role this puts LE in. I'll close my rant with this:

"The makers of the Constitution sought to protect Americans in their beliefs, their thoughts, their emotions and their sensations. They conferred the right to be left alone -- the most comprehensive of the rights of man and the right most valued by civilized men."

-- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis (1928)

Crypto6

 

[Trino]

I can tell many of you don't understand school enrollment. Public city (and perhaps others) schools enroll students who have a parent with them - no records required. The "parent" certifies the student's age and grade. Counselors check, but often the student wasn't at the previous school long enough to verify anything. Tracing is often not possible. A counselor calls in a kid to verify; he says his info is correct; you can't throw a kid out. Laws say he is entitled to be in school. It's the school's problem where to place him/her. How do you think kids of illegals are getting an education?

City schools have kids who are here today, gone tomorrow. Quite frankly, if a parent does not wish to enroll a student in school, it's easy to do this, too. I had two students who enrolled in mid-October/early November - had not been to school in the previous states where they were living. If they live/lived at a shelter, you may as well forget trying to verify anything.

Many of my inner city students change names on their papers at a whim. (I still have registered names on my online attendance.) Why do they do this? They're now living with Auntie, so they take her name, or they're living with another family, so they take their last name. Or, if they're of a certain culture, it's an accepted thing.

Education is not what it used to be.

 

[PonderingThings]

I looked more closely at my student, and her eyes ARE green. So she looks a lot like Bethany. However, her birthdate is different: May 8, 1989 as opposed to Bethany's Feb. 1, 1990. I also have her SS# and her mother's name, although I wouldn't know what to do with that information.

I've got to say this, though. My student does not act like you would expect an abducted kid to act. She's very normal -- giggly and happy and surrounded by friends. Maybe Bethany just has one of those faces that is familiar. But if anybody has any idea as to what I could do with the information I have, let me know.

The Missing and Exploited Kids group did a test and posted a monster size photo of a "missing" kid in a park, beside a map. They took note of the people who looked at the map, then had the "missing" girl walk by them a few times.

The "missing" girl acted normally. Not one of the adults said they recognised her - although many admitted they had looked at the poster really well. The primairy reason was that she didn't "act" like she had been abducted. Only a 8 yr old boy recognised her - and his mother didn't believe him.

I can understand, because you are a teacher, that it might put you in a jam to call in LE.

At the very least couldn't you take a photo of the class, making sure to get a good shot of this girl, write the school address on the back of the photo, put it in an envelope along with the poster of Bethany, and mail it to NCMEC?

They are the experts. If the inquiry comes from them, frequently it happens in a private manner and people aren't even aware of the inquiry.

Would this work?

 

[PonderingThings]

This was the test - it was put on by a news show not the NCMEC (but they mentioned the organisation so my memory got mixed up)

http://www.10news.com/news/7592453/detail.html

EXCERPT

"This is what you want to look for -- something distinct and personal to that particular person," said private investigator Dennis Bammann.

Bammann is paid to pay attention to the details. He helped 10News in a test on the powers of observation.

Gerren Hall and Portia Reinhltz are young models from the John Robert Powers Modeling Agency. With their parents' cooperation, 10News put their faces on fliers, posting them in plain sight, and Hall's mom helped by passing them out.

They wandered around the park and were over and over again ignored and missed. Hall's poster-sized picture was almost as big as a map directory. Everybody saw the map, but not Hall.

After receiving the flier, one mother gave her son a kiss.Another mother did see Hall."If I had believed it was him, then I would have definitely called," said the mother.

10News photographer: "What if I tell you that was him?

""Oh my God, are you serious?" said the mom.

Reinhltz was found more quickly.A couple had seen her walking around. Even after seeing the flier, they didn't make the connection."Oh my God, I thought we were looking, and we weren't looking," said Laura Macias.

"When you point it out now, it clicks. I should have noticed. We should have noticed," said Jose Becerra.But the one thing you may never notice is abuducted children acting as if they've been abducted."

According to the 2004 stats, there were 51 stranger abductions in California and over 2,000 family abductions," said Deputy District Attorney Stacey McReynolds.McReynolds said even if you're not sure, make a call to alert the police."The phone call is critical.

It's a win-win. If you call and the child is found, then you're doing something good. And if they're not found, at least (police) have an area to look in," said Bammann.

After two long hours, Hall was finally found by 8-year-old Max Suchman."Then I told my mom, and she said, 'No, it couldn't be,' and then I said, 'No, it's him,'" said Suchman.

But Hall's dad is concerned. Why did it take so long?"It makes you wonder, are we really looking? Do we really look? I'm going to be more on point because I can see what can happen and what does happen," said Edward Hall.

To learn more about helping missing and exploited children, go to www.MissingKids.com. Copyright 2006 by 10News.com.

 

[dannyodie]

The Missing and Exploited Kids group did a test and posted a monster size photo of a "missing" kid in a park, beside a map. They took note of the people who looked at the map, then had the "missing" girl walk by them a few times.

The "missing" girl acted normally. Not one of the adults said they recognised her - although many admitted they had looked at the poster really well. The primairy reason was that she didn't "act" like she had been abducted. Only a 8 yr old boy recognised her - and his mother didn't believe him.

I can understand, because you are a teacher, that it might put you in a jam to call in LE.

At the very least couldn't you take a photo of the class, making sure to get a good shot of this girl, write the school address on the back of the photo, put it in an envelope along with the poster of Bethany, and mail it to NCMEC?

They are the experts. If the inquiry comes from them, frequently it happens in a private manner and people aren't even aware of the inquiry.

Would this work?

MR. E, LIKE SO MANY OF US ARE INDICATING, JUST TAKE A CLASS PICTURE AND CIRCLE THE ONE THAT LOOKS LIKE BETHANY LIKE PONDERING THINGS MENTIONED. SEND IT TO THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN AND LET THEM DECIDE. PEOPLE THAT ABDUCT AND KEEP KIDS WILL ALMOST ALWAYS MAKE CHANGES TO WHAT THEIR BIRTHDATE IS AND APPLYING FOR SSN IS SOMETHING THAT CAN BE DONE WITH A FAKE BIRTH DOCUMENT. PEOPLE THAT ABDUCT KNOW HOW TO MAKE CHANGES AND THE ABDUCTED KID EVENTUALLY IS COMPLIANT TO THE ABDUCTOR . MAYBE THIS STUDENT IS A LOOK ALIKE, I RECENTLY FOUND A PHOTO OF A GIRL THAT LOOKED JUST LIKE HER, I TOOK THE ACTION THAT WAS NEEDED AND FOUND OUT THAT IT WAS NOT HER, BUT JUST DOING THAT MADE ME FEEL GOOD THAT AT LEAST I WAS PROVIDING A POSSIBLE TIP AND LEAD EVEN IF IT DIDN'T GO ANYWHERE. IF YOU TAKE NO ACTION AND YRS LATER YOU DISCOVER THAT THIS WAS HER AND SHE IS LONG GONE, YOU WILL BADGER YOURSELF AS TO WHY YOU DIDN'T ACT ON YOUR UNCERTAINTY OF THE LOOK ALIKE. IF IT IS HER YOU WILL GIVE A MOTHER BACK A CHILD SHE HAS MISSED FOR SO MANY YEARS, AND CLOSE A WOUND IN HER HEART. GOD BLESS YOU FOR TAKING NOTICE OF MISSING CHILDREN, THE WORLD NEEDS MORE CARING HEARTS SUCH AS YOURS.

 

[strach304]

Thanks for posting that story Ponder, I also sent it on to my daughter because she likes to keep up with stuff like that. Bethany looks like a friend of my other daughters from a long time ago so I do have to agree with the other poster who suggested she has a common look but to be sure I'd at least send a tip anonymously to have authorities check it out. I don't think her parents would be upset about an inquiry if their daughter looks like a missing child, it's understandable and even reassuring when LE checks all possibilities.

 

[sailorgirl]

The mall in Jackson is very small. You can walk it easily in 10 minutes. When Bethany dissapeared, Jackson was a much smaller town than it is today with a lot less traffic in the mall. I agree, that she was not abducted by a stranger, but by a family member.

 

[Beyond Belief]

I think the Missing Organization should be contacted at once. They can send a family member to view the child in question without her even being aware she is being viewed. Then the child will never be aware of what is happening. Maybe with some luck its her.

 

[Bobbisangel]

Where was the school that someone tried to enroll Bethany into? What town and state?

The dad said that they had been on a trip to Arkansas. I wonder if he has friends or relatives there that he might have left Bethany with? Had there been problems with custody or visitation between the parents? If Bethany is with a relative maybe that is where she wants to be. I wonder what her relationship with her mom was like.

That would really be something if the girl in the teacher's room turned out to be Bethany. If she is content being with whoever she is with she would act just like the other kids. Her birthdate may have been changed on her school paperwork for the purpose of not being connected to Bethany.

 

[Mr. E]

The student I mentioned has now been cleared by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. They are satisfied it is not her. I won't go into all the details, but I wanted to say that I did report it and it was investigated.

 

[PonderingThings]

Mr. E. it may not have been her, but in my book you are a hero!

THANK YOU for reporting it!

 

[Mr. E]

Thank you! It was the weirdest experience. I was hesitant to say anything, but now I'm glad I did. It was close. It's still weird because of the similarities in looks and discrepencies in my student's records. As soon as the TBI became involved, I was really weirded out.