Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales Marks National Missing Children's Day (1/2)

28 May 2006

Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales commemorated National Missing Children's Day by honoring law enforcement and citizens nationwide for their valiant efforts to recover missing and exploited children at a Department of Justice (DOJ) ceremony today. The Attorney General was joined at the ceremony by John E. Potter, Postmaster General and CEO, United States Postal Service, to issue a new AMBER Alert stamp and by Steve Largent, CEO and President of the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA) -- The Wireless Association to announce new public service announcements about wireless Amber Alerts (part 1 of 2).

"Today, we honor all those who have worked hard to protect our Nation's children and to prevent future tragedies," said Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales. "They have uncovered sexual exploitation rings, located the predators hiding in the dark recesses of the Internet, and expanded our use of the AMBER Alert system to help recover abducted children. Most importantly, these heroes have diligently and tirelessly pursued missing children, in order to bring them home to the parents who love them."

http://www.ctia.org/ Attorney General Gonzales honored 12 law enforcement officers for their efforts to help recover missing and exploited children.

National Missing Children's Law Enforcement Awards

-- Special Agent James T. Minor, a State department law enforcement officer based at the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, received an award for the recovery of 6-year-old Zachary Jay who had been abducted to Thailand by his non-custodial mother.

Sgt. Michael Hall from Lake Worth, Fla. Police Department received an award for the recovery of missing 8-year-old Lachele Nance, who had been abducted and abandoned in a secluded landfill.

-- Lt. John Arndell of Lyon County, Nev. and FBI Special Agent John G. Ginocchio received awards for recovering 8-year-old Lydia Rupp who had been abducted and taken to Mexico.

National Exploited Children's Law Enforcement Awards

-- Detective Kevin Weins of the Fresno County Sheriff's Office and Special Agent Michael Prado of U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Fresno, Calif. received awards for the capture of Mark McGarry and Jeffrey Yingst for child molestation and distribution of child pornography.

-- Sgt. Chris Hunt of the Indiana State Police and ICE Special Agent J.Tom Rothrock from Indianapolis received awards for the capture of Charles Johnson Jr., who was charged with child molestation and the production of child pornography.

-- Pennsylvania State Trooper David E. Olweiler and IRS Special Agent Christopher D. Kegerreis from Pennsylvania, FBI Intelligence Analyst Jamie Konstas from Washington, D.C. and FBI Special Agent Mike Beaver from Oklahoma City received an award for dismantling a child-prostitution and trafficking ring.

The Attorney General acknowledged the work of Special Agent Flint Waters with the Attorney General's Special Commendation Award for his efforts to combat Internet crime against children. Special Agent Waters heads the Wyoming Internet Crime Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) also awarded Special Agent Waters with a Law Enforcement Leadership Award. Now numbering 46, the Justice Department-funded ICAC task forces are on the front lines addressing computer facilitated child sexual exploitation through aggressive investigations, prosecutions, computer forensics and community outreach nationwide.

The Attorney General praised seven Justice Department components for responding to his challenge issued in January, on the tenth anniversary of the abduction of Amber Hagerman, to join the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) in a pilot program to receive AMBER Alerts in the Washington, D.C. area through their e-mail system. The employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Bureau of Prisons, the United States Marshals Service, the Justice Management Division and the Executive Office for the United States Attorneys will now regularly receive e-mail AMBER Alerts to assist in the search for abducted children.

The first-ever commemorative AMBER Alert stamp will be available nationwide today. A concurrent stamp issuance ceremony occurred today at the City Hall in Arlington, Texas, where Amber Hagerman lived and for whom AMBER Alert is named. J. Robert Flores, Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Susan Plonkey, Vice President for Customer Service, U.S. Postal Service; and Donna Norris, the mother of Amber Hagerman, participated in the public event for north Texas area citizens.

The Department of Justice today joined the Advertising Council, NCMEC and The Wireless Foundation to launch a public service advertising campaign to raise awareness about Wireless AMBER Alerts and to encourage wireless subscribers to sign up for Wireless AMBER Alerts to aid in the search for abducted children.

Regina Schofield, Assistant Attorney General for OJP and National AMBER Alert Coordinator, presented the AMBER Alert Citizen Awards to Agatino Amoroso of Cooper City, Fla. for his assistance in the recovery of a 17-year-old Florida teenager. Awards also went to Chastity Angell and her husband Mike Butcher of Ivins City, Utah for their help in recovering two boys who had been abducted.

AMBER Alerts have saved the lives of more than 265 children since the program began in 1996. In 2001, only four states had statewide AMBER Alert plans. In 2005, the Department of Justice met its goal having statewide AMBER Alert plans in place in all 50 states. The Justice Department is now working with Canada and Mexico to have plans in place in case children are abducted across our northern or southern borders, and in July, the Justice Department will invite the Native American community to a conference on AMBER Alert to discuss the use of this tool in Indian country.

The National Courage Awards were awarded to Mickenzie Smith of West Haven, Utah and to Stephanie Quackenbush of Albany, NY, for their bravery in fighting off their abductors and helping law enforcement to find their abductors.

The winner of the annual national Missing Children's Day Art contest winner was Catherine M. Braun, a fifth grader at Our Lady of the Snows School in Eugene, Mo. Twenty-four states and the District of Columbia participated in the contest this year.

NCMEC awarded their National Volunteer of the Year award to Khaliah Ali, of Philadelphia, for her tireless efforts to promote missing and exploited children's issues.

The Office of Justice Programs provides federal leadership in developing the nation's capacity to prevent and control crime, administer justice and assist victims. OJP is headed by an Assistant Attorney General and comprises five component bureaus and an office: the Bureau of Justice Assistance; the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the National Institute of Justice; the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; and the Office for Victims of Crime, as well as the Community Capacity Development Office, which incorporates the Weed and Seed strategy and OJP's American Indian and Alaska Native Affairs Desk. More information can be found at.

U.S. Department of Justice

2006 National Missing Children's Day Awards

National Missing Children's Law Enforcement Award: For the Recovery of Zachary Jay

Special Agent James T. Minor, U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security, Bangkok, Thailand

On May 15, 2005, Special Agent James T. Minor of the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security in Bangkok, Thailand, learned that 6-year-old Zachary Jay had been abducted from San Antonio, Texas. Minor discovered that Jay's non- custodial mother, Dorothy Toon, and stepfather, Nathan Offerman, had taken Jay to Chiang-Mai, Thailand, where they were staying in a hotel. Minor quickly obtained an arrest warrant for passport fraud and interference with child custody, and asked the U.S. Embassy to revoke Toon's passport. Minor accompanied Thai officials to the hotel, secured Zachary's safety, and presented Toon with an arrest warrant. Just 10 days after Minor began work on the case, Zachary returned to Texas and was reunited with his father.

National Missing Children's Law Enforcement Award: For the Recovery of Lachele Nance

Sergeant Mike Hall, Lake Worth Police Department, Lake Worth, Florida

On May 22, 2005, 17-year-old Milagro Cunningham of Lake Worth, Florida, called 911 to report that five unknown white men had entered an apartment where he was staying, owned by Lisa Taylor and snatched Lachele Nance, Taylor's 8-year-old god-daughter. Cunningham told police that he had run after the men and watched them drive away in a brown station wagon. Immediately, police established a command post and issued a statewide AMBER Alert. Investigators began to search the area for Lachele Nance. Sergeant Michael Hall of the Lake Worth, Florida Police Department arrived at the scene on his day off to help with the search and was assigned to examine a secluded landfill nearby. When he opened a recycling bin, Sgt. Hall noticed a child's hand and foot under a pile of rocks and concrete blocks. To his amazement, the child was Lachele Nance who was still alive. Once she was free, Nance told police that Cunningham had choked her and thrown her into the dumpster. Cunningham was apprehended and is awaiting trial.

National Missing Children's Law Enforcement Award: For the Recovery of Lydia Rupp

Lieutenant John R. Arndell, Lyon County Sheriff's Office, Silver Springs, Nevada

Special Agent John A. Ginocchio, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Reno, Nevada

On July 22, 2005, Carmen Bauer of Fernley, Nevada, called police, stating that her 8-year-old daughter, Lydia Rupp, had been missing since that afternoon. Bauer stated that her 47-year- old roommate and friend she had met three months earlier at church, Fernando Aguero, and Aguero's car were also missing. Lieutenant John R. Arndell of the Lyon County, Nevada Sheriff's Office and Special Agent John A. Ginocchio of the FBI immediately called NCMEC. Lt. Arndell sent descriptive information to area law-enforcement agencies and generated posters of Aguero and Rupp. Special Agent Ginocchio determined that Aguero had fled with Rupp to Mexico and coordinated federal agents along with members of the California Highway Patrol and Mexican Federal Police to plot Aguero's exact location. Acting on a tip from NCMEC that a child matching Lydia's description had been spotted in a hotel in Puerto Nuevo, Mexico, Lt. Arndell and Special Agent Ginocchio arrested Aguero and reunited Lydia with her mother. Aguero was tried and sentenced to 17 years in a Mexican federal prison.

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