IA IA - Elizabeth Collins, 8, & Lyric Cook, 10, Evansdale, 13 July 2012 - #20

[Marilynilpa]

I wanted to keep this as a separate post and was worried if I used a previous post as a "jumping off" point it was going to come across wrong, so this is kinda a stand-alone on the "human trafficking" angle. I hope it's ok to post here. I don't know how relevant it is to Lizzie and/or Lyric and I can't even decide if I hope it is or isn't, based on them returning alive, but anyway...

I could be completely off base but I think perceptions, in addition to geography, might be coming into this discussion a bit. When I first read the whole thing about abductors seeking such specific girls, I'm not joking, I was picturing some sort of catalog that included "ohh get me one of those, 11 years old and blond!" I keep thinking of those "Russian bride" catalogs and who knows how young those girls are, now I wonder if the ones in the 'catalog' were even the same kids that were later "delivered."

It's so hard for me to think this way but let's say you're running or selling to a big "child sex trafficking" ring,someone wants a very specific "type" of girl, and there wasn't already a girl being held that fit the bill. The mysterious "they" (one or more people) might go seek out a child that would? It seems so outlandish to me and I've even read a lot of the human trafficking stuff that was pretty horrible. The thought that there's some sort of "wish list" catalog out there scares the <self-censored> out of me.

I still think Lizzie and Lyric were taken by someone who knows one or both of them, and it seems very unlikely to me that they were abducted to fill some "catalog order" (makes me sick to even type that), but I do worry they somehow fell into a very dangerous circle of people. I hope not.

I completely get what you are saying. I agree that the thought of a "wish list" catalog of children is absolutely horrifying.

I have read many tragic stories of children in third-world countries being sold by their parents. I have read the extremely sad stories of runaways being forced into prostitution and . All of that is the ugly face of human trafficking, which does exist worldwide.

I don't doubt that there are people in the world who are wealthy enough to obtain anything they want, even a specific type of child. And I don't doubt that there are people out there willing to abduct a child to fit the needs of some wealthy person looking to "buy" one.

But what I do doubt is that there are organized groups of people in this country who routinely abduct our children to sell worldwide to wealthy "customers". Can it happen? Of course, anything can happen. But is it something that we can look to in order to explain the disappearances of children in our country? I truly don't think so.

Maybe Lyric and Elizabeth were taken by a child sex-trafficking ring. That is certainly possible, because we often hear of children being found when these types of rings are busted. But I do not think they were taken by someone for the specific purpose of selling them to a wealthy "customer".

Personally, I believe the girls were taken by someone known to at least one of them. And, as you say, they could have fallen into a very dangerous circle of people after they were abducted.

 

[GrainneDhu]

South Dakota? I don't see but a few missing. You must be doing something right! Pass it on. ty

South Dakota: population 834,000

Iowa: population 3,062,000

If Iowa lost over two thirds of our population, our statistics would probably look a lot like South Dakota's.

Anyone up for the black plague? <just kidding>

 

[Marilynilpa]

Me too, me too.

Far from denying that human trafficking exists in the US, I have given a brief outline of the history of it including the paradigm shift that revealed the problem.

Like you, what I am seeking information about is a very specific crime: US children abducted to be sold to wealthy individuals around the world.

So far, not one single link has been provided to substantiate that one single very specific claim.

I think some posters feel I am just not getting the seriousness of human trafficking.

Like you, all I want is one link to substantiate the specific claim that children in our country are being abducted to fill the "orders" placed by wealthy people worldwide. I have yet to see such a link, which to me is very telling.

 

[hambirg]

There have been 17 or 18 kids that have gone missing in Iowa in this area since April of this year and no one knows what happened to them. I consider that to be a lot of kids for a small community to just disappear without a trace. I know they consider several of them to be runaways but are they? I believe they just found a couple of them when they busted the human trafficking case in Chicago. I have no doubt whatsoever that LE is all over that but my little brain says something is wrong with this picture. I live in SD and in a bigger city than WaterLou Iowa, but we don't have any kids unaccounted for that I don't know about. Thank God they caught the last idiot that tried to abduct some school kids here which was recent. That sicko is in jail. I know that kids disappear all over the country, but 17-18 kids in one area in that short of time frame is a bit much to swallow.

I know somebody else brought up this area being the "drug highway" for cartels between Mexico and their hub in Chicago. Well, drug trafficking and human trafficking are linked through organized crime. I do think there is a connection there. I don't know if this applies to this case, but it's something that lingers in the back of my mind.

 

[Marilynilpa]

O/T

A sex offender in California allegedly attacked a 15-year-old girl on a bus just one day after he was released from prison.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...girl-15-day-release-prison.html#ixzz2764xBiCN

Snip:

His family showed KTXL-TV a chilling prison letter Long sent home to his family in which he said he was sexually attracted to children and planned to indulge his predatory urges.

'I know you might be tripping on me and my sexual interest in children. I believe for girls publicly 10 and up and for boys 12 to 14. I have to do some research in candidates,' the letter said.

 

[cindersoot]

You guys were talking about runaways and a lot of missing children lately. I think the internet has caused much of this with the chat rooms and it gives pedophiles easy access. I see so many instances where the pedo pretends to be another child and sets up a date to meet with the unsuspecting child.

 

[TxLady2]

This was taken off the WS Human Trafficking Awareness Thread

Human Trafficking Awareness Thread
The time has come to open this thread. My hope is that more people are reading to discuss the reality of the horror that children are being "sold" to become slaves - not only in other countries - but our country as well.

To start, here is a snip of Marc Klaas' website:

It is estimated that 14,500–17,500 individuals are trafficked into the U.S. each year. However, these numbers pale by comparison to the U.S. citizen 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 .
* The average age at which girls first become victims of prostitution is 12-14.
* For boys, the entry age is 11-13.
* Approximately 55% of street girls engage in formal prostitution.
* Of the girls engaged in formal prostitution, 75% work for a pimp.
* It is estimated that as many as 300,000 American children are working as prostitutes in the U.S.A.
* Many of these children are missing: many have run away or are throwaway children.

We have learned that the U.S.A. is as much a supply country as it is a demand country for human trafficking. In fact, we are supplying much of our own demand. President George W. Bush has committed the United States Government to lead in combating the serious 21st century challenge of Human Trafficking. The best way to lead is always by example. The best example that the U.S.A. can present to its own citizens and the world at large is to acknowledge the extent that human sex trafficking has affected our own society, and then repair the damage. We must seek legislative solutions and change society’s perception. We must impact the victim’s mindset as we rescue and recover them. Finally, we must identify and criminalize the traffickers.

http://www.klaaskids.org/pg-ht-report.htm

//I shared with all of you all a few links earlier in this thread in hopes to open your eyes that this does happen in the United States and Iowa is no exception. They just busted a ring in Iowa/Kansas/Nebraska which I posted links to, so for those of you who want to close your eyes to that fact and believe that it cannot happen in Iowa please go back and read those articles I posted. It can and has happened more than one wants to believe. Its a sad sad state of affairs. There is thousands of kids that go missing every year that are never ever found but something has happened to these kids.//

Thank you, Snowbunny. I agree, one can close their eyes and pretend it doesn't happen, but that's not going to make it go away. Whether that is what happened to these girls, who knows? There are so many possibilities.

 

[TxLady2]

I wanted to keep this as a separate post and was worried if I used a previous post as a "jumping off" point it was going to come across wrong, so this is kinda a stand-alone on the "human trafficking" angle. I hope it's ok to post here. I don't know how relevant it is to Lizzie and/or Lyric and I can't even decide if I hope it is or isn't, but anyway...

I could be completely off base but when I first read the whole thing about abductors seeking such specific girls, I'm not joking, I was picturing some sort of catalog that included "ohh get me one of those, 11 years old and blond!" I keep thinking of those "Russian bride" catalogs and who knows how young those girls are, now I wonder if the ones in the 'catalog' were even the same kids that were later "delivered."

It's so hard for me to think this way but let's say you're running or selling to a big "child sex trafficking" ring,someone wants a very specific "type" of girl, and there wasn't already a girl being held that fit the bill. The mysterious "they" (one or more people) might go seek out a child that would? It seems so outlandish to me and I've even read a lot of the human trafficking stuff that was pretty horrible. The thought that there's some sort of "wish list" catalog out there scares the <self-censored> out of me.

I still think Lizzie and Lyric were taken by someone who knows one or both of them, and it seems very unlikely to me that they were abducted to fill some "catalog order" (makes me sick to even type that), but I do worry they somehow fell into a very dangerous circle of people. I hope not.

I don't think this is what happened to these two girls either. But the topic of human trafficking has come up in a lot of different threads on missing kids as well as young women. It's not a new concept, but apparently some people just refuse to believe it exists.

I think most of the kids who are stolen are probably kids from broken homes, or from drug addicted parents, or kids who are allowed to roam the streets with no supervision. But I imagine there have been some stolen from playgrounds or other places where a parent may not be paying attention.

I don't think there is a 'catalog', at least not one in print. There is a network of people who negotiate these orders by untraceable phones or word of mouth, possibly websites with their own servers that go through multiple proxies in order to prevent them being traced. The FBI employs some pretty smart hackers and I have no doubt they have cracked a few of these, but more are out there.

 

[TxLady2]

I think some posters feel I am just not getting the seriousness of human trafficking.

Like you, all I want is one link to substantiate the specific claim that children in our country are being abducted to fill the "orders" placed by wealthy people worldwide. I have yet to see such a link, which to me is very telling.

You won't find a link because the FBI will not make that information public. My opinion is that most of the buyers are very, very wealthy men from other countries. The FBI does not have jurisdiction over them, so their ID's are not going to be made public here. There could be a handful of them here in the U.S. but money buys a lot of protection.

You don't have to believe it, but here's some points to consider. Could an average working man afford to "buy" a child? No. By the time the kidnapper is paid, then the people who warehouse these kids are paid, and the seller who actually has contact with the buyer is paid, it's going to end up being a lot of money. So only the very wealthy could go this route to get a child.

 

[Jax49]

Off Topic

Score one for the good guys. Seven year old girl honored for fighting off a grown man who was attempting to take her little cousin.

(video of award ceremony)

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/david-moore

 

[GrainneDhu]

You guys were talking about runaways and a lot of missing children lately. I think the internet has caused much of this with the chat rooms and it gives pedophiles easy access. I see so many instances where the pedo pretends to be another child and sets up a date to meet with the unsuspecting child.

It has given predators a new venue to troll for victims and the assumption of secrecy may have pulled in some borderline predators but sexual crimes against children are nothing new. In fact, unless my memory is failing me, sexual crimes against children have been dropping since 1992.

http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/factsheet.html#3

When I grew up in the late 60s and early 70s, there were just as many sexual crimes against children but no one talked about it. If a girl was victimised in such a public way that it could not be hidden, then the most common response was to move her elsewhere so that she could "start over." The implication was that she would be too ashamed to face her peers after such a crime. That's what happened to one girl I knew who was jogging with her sister before school when a perp popped out of the corn field they were passing with a gun, coerced them both into the field with him, pistol whipped her sister so badly that she died and raped the girl I knew.

Most of the girls I knew back then were victims of a household member or a trusted authority figure, as I was (junior high school guidance counsellor). Just standing up and saying "I was raped" in public was a revolutionary act. Literally, in the sense that the feminist movement hoped that if rape victims spoke up, a revolution would then ensue that would end rape.

Sadly, many of us did speak up but the revolution never happened.

Or maybe it is happening in slow motion. At least it is no longer regarded as an unthinkable act to say "I was raped." Although people who stand up are often accused of lying, etc.

It is hard to say. What seems to me to have happened is that freedom of movement for women is much more curtailed now under the pretext of avoiding sexual assault.

And there are still men who think it is okay to make rape jokes.

The more things change, the more they remain the same...

 

[cindersoot]

Maybe your right GrainneDhu, I don't know for sure. Have you seen that show that's on sometimes where they set up a house and perps come thinking they are going to see a 12 yr. old and end up on tv and arrested?

 

[palaminodee]

trial pushed back to 11/13 for DM

http://www.kwwl.com/story/19605749/dan-morrissey-appears-in-court-friday

 

[foxbluff]

trial pushed back to 11/13 for DM

http://www.kwwl.com/story/19605749/dan-morrissey-appears-in-court-friday

TY, Palaminodee! Sooo he's still waiting for judge to rule on Change of Venue. Hey...has he had that heavy beard all this time?!?

 

[palaminodee]

TY, Palaminodee! Sooo he's still waiting for judge to rule on Change of Venue. Hey...has he had that heavy beard all this time?!?

looks different than last month
http://www.kwwl.com/story/19370410/morrissey-appears-in-court-trial-gets-continued

 

[foxbluff]

looks different than last month
http://www.kwwl.com/story/19370410/morrissey-appears-in-court-trial-gets-continued

TY...yes, there's a little difference...appears he has let his sideburns grow and is letting the beard extend from where it used to stop to up to his ears/sideburns.

 

[nursebeeme]

he looks different... his child has been missing for more than a month.

a snip from the link above:

Morrissey's lawyer said he is not able to focus due to his missing daughter.

Morrissey admits he has made mistakes in the past, but he says being a loving father wasn't one of them.

"That was daddy's little girl. She's so awesome, so full of life," said Morrissey, Lyric Cook's Father.

Ten-year-old Lyric Cook and her cousin, 9-year-old Elizabeth Collins, have been missing from Evansdale since July 13. Authorities believe the two girls were abducted.

Morrissey came to court Friday with his daughter not only on his shirt, but certainly on his mind.

"As far as me, I don't care, they can throw me in prison for life. He can ask for the death penalty when I come back. I have been hurt enough, my daughter being gone," said Morrissey.

Throughout the investigation of his daughter's disappearance, Morrissey has been questioned by the FBI several times. He says he passed tests given to him by law enforcement.

 

[RNER]

trial pushed back to 11/13 for DM

http://www.kwwl.com/story/19605749/dan-morrissey-appears-in-court-friday

That's GREAT news! Hopefuly the girls will be found by then!

 

[Jax49]

That's GREAT news! Hopefuly the girls will be found by then!

I was hoping his trial would be sooner rather than later. :banghead:

 

[RNER]

I was hoping his trial would be sooner rather than later. :banghead:

I am being nice...don't want to be placed in naughty chair!