Missing Person Center - A child goes missing every 40 seconds . . .

The Missing Person Center has launched their website to help keep the spotlight on missing person cases and to promote a forum in which people can unite to find solutions to cold cases.

“We have created a website that is easy to navigate and very interactive”, stated Lawrence Olmstead, licensed private investigator and president of the Missing Person Center from his office in Los Angeles.  Olmstead is a court qualified expert in missing person cases and has worked in the investigative industry for 25 years.  By speaking to him for a few minutes, you truly get a sense that Olmstead has seen and done just about everything you have seen fictional P.I.’s do in TV shows.  The only difference is this guy is the “Real Deal”.

I visited Olmstead and we talked about missing people, the reasons why people are vanishing and what we can do to prevent it.  “There have been kidnappings and abductions for a far back as people have been alive and certainly since trade of goods or money has been around”, Olmstead said.  “The big difference today is that kidnappers are no longer motivated by ransom, it’s sex they seek”.

We tried to get a specific number from the FBI and the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) regarding the number of persons kidnapped or abducted and later found to be he the victims of sexual assault and murder.  There seems to be no specific data related to that combination of crimes and each crime is categorized separately.   “I can’t remember too many cases in recent media involving a missing child’s body being recovered without evidence of a sexually assault” remarked Olmstead.

“Our goal is to provide an online portal for law enforcement and families to share information about missing people in order to keep the search alive” said the investigator.  Olmstead mentioned that it seems as time goes by, people tend to forget about the missing person and search efforts that once were frantic in some cases, have absolutely ceased.  It’s a shame for the person who is missing and still alive and prays every day to be found, to be saved from whatever their situation might be.

Olmstead said “Time is everything and not only law enforcement has to take action, so do the communities that have children missing.  Everyone needs to take action to help prevent our children from falling victim to abduction. “

Right now the Missing Person Center is trying to populate their national directory with missing person profiles and are asking that anyone who has a missing relative to visit the website at http://www.missingpersoncenter.com/ and register for free and enter in their missing person’s detail to be published in the directory.  Listing someone is free and law enforcement is also encouraged to use the database as well.

The Missing Person Center is not a non-profit organization and is currently funded by Hollywood P.I. (Hollywood Private Investigations).  However, there is banner advertising available for business or private people who would like to support the efforts of the center .  They boast the largest banner ad space available on the web.

The website is constantly undergoing updates and they are working on publishing a full set of comprehensive resources to help teach people how to keep their children safe.

After seeing many of the other missing person resources that are out there, I feel the Missing Person Center is a valuable resource that should be checked out and visited often since you never know when you might have seen someone profiled on their site.  One of the best features that have is they also started something called “Missing Person Radio” to give families and investigators a live forum to discuss the issues in various cases and to tell their story.  Another great thing on their site is also the fact that people who enter a profile can update or add event information to it at any time.  Critical information like search events, vigils, new information and more.

A recommended resource and certainly a place to visit often.