Experts believe that many infants abducted long ago can still be located.
(SALEM, Ore.) - You could call it "future forecasting". Photo progression technology has advanced the science of locating missing children in ways that investigators of yesterday only dreamed of.
The public, along with police and online missing persons agencies like charleyproject.org, http://www.doenetwork.org/, and media organizations like Salem-News.com have an open chance to raise the odds for locating missing children. It begins by taking the time to study images of the missing, and note which of the locations are close to you.
Sometimes people discover that they live very close to a crime scene, and sometimes the families of the victims and the people responsible for their disappearance, are in the same place.
Sadly, all too many volunteers who become engaged in this extremely important work are people who lost a child, or have a missing family member. Our agencies banding together with the eyes and ears of the public, incrementally raises the possibility that some of these children, many of whom are now adults, could be located.
The news recently featured the story of Jaycee Lee Dugard, freed from captivity after 18 years of being held in poor conditions as she was sexually abused and ultimately gave birth to two girls, who were also released.
The very car that her stepfather saw her being kidnapped in, was eventually located 150 miles from the girl's home. (see: NY Daily News: Jaycee Lee Dugard's struggle to re-enter society after 18 years in captivity)
There is the story of Elizabeth Smart, who was kidnapped during the summer of 2002 from her home in Utah, and held for nearly a year, again not a long distance from the scene of the kidnapping. (see: Wikipedia: Elizabeth Smart kidnapping)
These stories testify to the possibilities that exist.
A Salem-News.com contributor and Missing Person Advocate, Andrea Stroh, assembled a list of abducted babies from across America. The list is not complete, but gives a reader an idea of the immensity of the problem. The list below is approximately 60 abducted infants aged birth to two years old, who have been missing over the last 50 years or so.
Experts believe it is possible that many of these infants may still be "recoverable", as statistically, children this age are usually abducted more often by people with psychological problems, who want to raise a child, as opposed to sexual predators who may harm them.
There is also the very strong possibility in these cases, that the children themselves, taken at an extremely young age, may not be aware of their own story, that is until they see a photo on a site like this.
In the list below, you will find hot links that take you to a page on that individual child. Almost all have pictures, and most are age progressed. The pages include birthmarks and identifying features, Stroh said.
"They might notice they have the same scars as one of the missing, and this along with other things might arouse their suspicion. A girlfriend might say 'my husband has a birthmark like that' or my friend or my friend's daughter has a heart shaped birthmark on her arm. 'That looks like so and so's baby picture' etc.'"
She added, "Even if they don't see it today, even with all the thousands of hits on the Jaycee Lee Dugard case, if it's on the Internet it's out there."
Cases:Steven Craig Damman Oct. 31 1955 (small scar under chin/birthmark on back of left calf/ healed fracture to left arm/was undergoing treatment for a growth on his kidney at the time he vanished)James Bordenkircher June 12 1965Elizabeth Gill June 13 1965 (chicken pox scar on one of her arms)David Miera Jan. 10 1970 (birthmark in center of upper back/wide set eyes/ wide feet/large for his age at time of disappearance)Melissa Highsmith Aug. 23 1971 (three inch red colored birthmark on back below her neck) *suspect composite* Joseph Hurtado Sept. 9 1974 (birthmark near right kidney/club feet) may be pigeon toed)Michael Lloyd Johnson November (unknown date)1974Tiffani Claudette Wise March 30 1977 (reddish-blond hair, naturally curly/surgical scar from behind hairline to back of head)Fannie Fawn Stuart Dec. 10 1977 (red hair/missing with her sister)Raymond Green Nov. 6 1978 (abductor black female,had a mole on her cheek/ fled in brown vehicle)Royce Henson (missing with mom) March 23 1979 (biracial, may have some black features) Larry Krebbs March 30 1980Megan Ginevicz April 30 1980Curtis Fair Nov. 15 1980 (half-inch scar under chin/three inch scar on back)David Ezell Blockett Dec. 11 1980 (David has a mole on right ear/birthmarks under his left arm/back/buttocks)*suspect composite*Russell John Mort May 5 1982 (small mole on left side of chin/small cleft in chin) *suspect composite*Shannon Patrick Ketron June 17 1982Wallace Guidroz Jan. 10 1983 (biracial African-American and Asian) *suspect composite*Jason Keith Cannon March 16 1983 (a scar over one of his eyes, two moles on his neck and possibly more on his back)Desiree Carroll March 25 1983 (has a dog bite scar under left eye/suffered from allergies at time of disappearance)Vinyette Teague June 25 1983Amber Nicole Crum Dec. 26 1983Tanisha Lorraine Watkins Jan. 5 1984Sean Evans May 17 1984 (one inch birthmark between shoulder blades/ birthmark and scar on forehead)Donel Jacoby Minor Dec. 20 1984 *suspect composite*Robert Bowling Aug. 11 1985Marlene Santana Oct. 21 1985 (foot deformity, feet will appear C shaped if viewed from bottom) *suspect composite*Christopher Abeyta July 15 1986Bonita Karen Sanders Sept. 14 1986 (abdominal hernia scar, scar on joint of left wrist,one of her hands is lightly deformed and turns inward) she was left handed as a baby and may still be today.Jamie Thornton Oct. 4 1986 (birthmark on right thigh)Corey Edkin Oct. 12 1986 (blond hair that is very light in color)Cherie Nicole Barnes Dec. 1 1986Kimberly Boyd April 3 1987Andrew Brown July 24 1987Carlina White Aug. 4 1987 (has birthmark over left eye) *suspect has some hair under her chin*Melissa Diane McGuinn March 6 1988 (pigmentation mark on right tricep)Daniel Stephen Spangle March 2 1989 (curly hair/scar on top of left eyelid)
Age Progression: an Aid in Locating Stolen American BabiesSalem-News.com