A few months ago Joe LaSorsa reached out to a group of us with the idea of starting a nonprofit to address the issues of human trafficking and missing persons. All of us liked the idea and came onboard. Joe, never being one to sit around, moved the idea from concept to reality in lightning speed. For me, as the thought became a reality I began to ask myself why do I want to be involved in something like this.
I started my law enforcement career with the local Sheriff’s Department in South New Jersey in 1990. Among the many things that have stayed with me over the years since I retired is a Missing Persons poster that was on the bulletin board in our break room. The poster contained two pictures, one of a panel van and the other of two children — a boy and a girl. The children were obviously bound and had strips of tape across their mouths. The girl in the picture had been positively identified as reported missing two years earlier in Arizona; the boy was not identified. The picture had been found in a parking lot in Florida. That picture has stayed with me — a ghost that asks what more we can do.
According to the FBI, as of December 31, 2019 the NCIC had approximately 87,500 active missing person reports. Thirty-five percent of those reports are for juveniles (persons under the age of eighteen); another forty-four percent are people under the age of twenty-one.
Many of the people affected by these crimes are our most vulnerable and are helpless to defend themselves. Police departments are overwhelmed and don’t have the staff to address these issues as much as needed, and many families can’t afford professional assistance with their cases. That is where we at Project Guardian hope to be able to make a difference.
We hope that you’ll join us and support us in this endeavor to assist people and families in need, hoping for the safe return of their family members.
