What value do we place on human life?
Does it come down to the perception of one? Of some? Of many?
The unborn have no value until it is wanted by the mother.
The saved embryos of a husband and wife have value as long as they are wanted.
Until the mother perceives her unborn has value, deserves life, then it's a glob of cells; no worth until the child is born.
Therefore, abortion is better.
Since abortion is such a continuous subject, let's move to the subject to those that are already born.
From infancy to death, from young to old: All lives have value, do they not?
Then what of the thousands missing?
"The United States has what may be the world's highest number of missing persons. According to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) Missing Person and Unidentified Person Files for the 2021 operational year, 521,705 people were reported missing in 2021. Moreover, 93,718 of those people remained actively missing at the start of 2022. The fact that the United States has the third-highest population in the world likely contributes to its high number of missing persons, as does the fact that the country's law enforcement agencies take missing persons reports seriously and are well equipped to act upon them and locate individuals reported as missing."
Put the missing on a back burner until a body is found.
So a body is found. Murder suspected?
What value was this person to society?
Then what is the priority of solving a murder case of some one that is a drug addict? Sex worker?
Smack it unsolved until something or someone puts the crime in the limelight?
How Many Cold Cases Are There In The US?
On average, 6,276 murders go unsolved every year in the US.
More than 1 in 3 murders (39.82%) go unsolved.
The number of cold cases increases each year by 6,300, on average.
3 of the 5 states with the highest murder rates are Democrat states.
Of the states with the highest murder rates, Democrat states have 55.8% of the murders.
Factors determining what victims gets the most attention:
Race, gender influence, "looks", age, position in society
How squeaky is the wheel of the loved one, friend or associate.
Who grabs the attention of the Media.
‘Far from justice’: why are nearly half of US murders going unsolved?
"The impact of the decrease in clearances and lack of transparency about convictions is multifold, researchers and victim advocates say. If police solve fewer crimes in the most affected communities, then residents will continue to lose confidence in law enforcement and potentially find that participating in homicide investigations is futile. And the longer a homicide case remains open, the more trauma compounds, especially when long-term mental health support resources are unavailable."
The first item on the list is beyond one's control. The latter two are not.
It takes people who value life to show the world that these people matter.
Why media coverage for missing persons is important - from 2012 but this statement still stands true:
"Bottom line: not all missing persons cases are treated the same. Sometimes, though certainly not all of the time, missing persons from a lower socioeconomic status aren’t given the kind of public attention those from middle-class or higher backgrounds receive (especially if they happen to have an album of attractive photos the media can flash)."
To Read: How the NYPD Responds
"Once the NYPD receives a call about a missing person, its response will depend on the circumstances of each case. People who are elderly, children under the age of 13, people suffering from a mental or physical condition, or possible victims of a crime are considered “special categories.” Police consider these populations particularly vulnerable and will immediately take action in searching for the missing person. However, missing people who do not fall under these categories will not receive as much attention. This is because people over the age of 18 legally do not have to return home."
Let's look at The Gilgo Beach serial killings aka Long Island Serial Killer (LISK). The killings took place between 1996 and 2011. Most of the eleven victims were sex workers who advertised in Craig's List.
An investigation did not begin until the first body was found in 2010. A serious investigation did not begin until 2011 after the mother of Shannan Gilbert pressured police to take her daughter's disappearance seriously. Shannan's body was found in 2011; that find resulted in four missing sex-workers, wrapped in camouflaged burlap, near the remote beach towns of Gilgo and Oak Beach in Suffolk County.
"[Mari Gilbert] fought tirelessly to ensure that Shannan and the other victims would not be forgotten. “Mari saw Shannan as an unintended hero because it was Shannan’s disappearance that ironically caused all the others to have been found and, now, to have at least one arrest,” said John Ray, an attorney for the Gilbert family."
It appears that it took the threat of being sued to force the police chief's hand.
“We kept all the cases alive by keeping alive the Shannan Gilbert case,” Ray said. “There’s no question of that at all. The police had entered into a dreamland of waiting it out.” Ray on Tuesday accused Dormer’s office of violating the civil rights of the victims by inadequately investigating. “He thinks this is some kind of a silly scene for the Suffolk County police to be involved in only because Shannan was an escort,” he said.”
To read:
Prostitutes’ Disappearances Were Noticed Only When the First Bodies Were Found
Mother of Shannan Gilbert asks FBI to take over serial killer case
Was it the result of Mari Gilbert being a "squeaky wheel" that kicked off the numerous films, television programs, podcasts, and other media that have covered or referenced the case?
48 hours: "Long Island Serial Killer" (Airdate July 12, 2011)
Killing Time, a 2012 play by Tom Slot
The Long Island Serial Killer (2013), also known as The Gilgo Beach Murders, an independent feature directed by Joseph DiPietro
People Magazine Investigates: "The Long Island Serial Killer: The Lost Girls" (2016): season 1, episodes 1–2
The Killing Season, 2016 docuseries episode
Crime Junkie, episode 21: "SERIAL KILLER: L.I.S.K" (Released: April 16, 2018)
Lost Girls, Netflix film (2020)
60 Minutes Australia: "Who is the Long Island serial killer?" (2020)
The Long Island Serial Killer: A Mother's Hunt for Justice, Lifetime television film (2021)
The Criminal Lawyer by Thomas Benigno
Grim Tide, (2021) a five part series on Fox Nation.
Unraveled: The Long Island Serial Killer (2021), a seven-part podcast series released by Investigation Discovery.
Even with all this attention, unfortunately, out of self-preservation, the former Suffolk County Police Chief James Burke managed to keep FBI at a distance, allowing only minimal assistance. Why? He allegedly viciously attacked a handcuffed suspect who swiped pornography and sex toys amongst other items from his vehicle and attempted to cover up the crime. Burke was indicted on December 09, 2015 for civil rights violations and conspiracy while he was chief from January 2012 to October 2015. (Busted ex-police chief blocked FBI probe of Gilgo Beach murders.)
On December 10, the FBI officially joined the investigation of the Gilgo Beach serial killings.
Why didn't the FBI insist on being officially part of the case prior to December of 2015? If it wasn't for James Burke being busted, how much longer would the FBI have left it to the SCPD?
Was it because most of the victims were sex workers, not high-profile victims?
To read:
Why Are Sex Workers Often a Serial Killer's Victim of Choice? 2020-22
Breakthrough in Long Island serial killings shines light on the many unsolved murders of sex workers 2023
Mortality in a Long-term Open Cohort of Prostitute Women
"sex workers are 18 times more likely to be murdered. These aren’t just statistics, they are people: who deserve justice."
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In July of 2023, a suspect was finally arrested in connection with the Gilgo Beach serial killings.
“Court documents show Rex Heuermann, 59, of Massapequa, Long Island, has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder for the deaths of three women — Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello — in 2009 and 2010. He was also named as "the prime suspect" in the murder of a fourth woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes. They were among at least 10 victims whose bodies were found in the area. Heuermann has pleaded not guilty.
As for the additional bodies discovered in and around the coastal Long Island enclave – including that of Karen Vergata, whose identity was announced August 4th – Harrison said police cannot rule out the potential for another serial predator.”
To read:
The Bigger Picture
2022 NCIC Missing Person and Unidentified Person Statistics
It is important to note, Hispanic cases are included under the category of white. Why?
While most missing person reports provide the number reported as missing, in actuality one should look at the number of active cases at the end of a given time period. For instance, 2022, 546,568 missing person records were entered into the NCIC database. By the end of 2022, 97,127 were still listed as missing.
Therefore sites such as Black & Missing In America provide misleading information.
Average number of persons missing by State: 303
Average Number Of Amber Alert Cases by State: 5
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) “is a national centralized repository and resource center for missing, unidentified, and unclaimed person cases across the United States. NamUs was created to assist with identifying these decedents by allowing investigators to match to long-term missing person cases and by offering professionals free forensic services.”
When Missing Turns to Murder
Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (ViCAP):
Lists missing persons and unidentified persons who may be victims of foul play.
As Murders Spiked, Police Solved About Half in 2020*
Clearance has long been the primary metric that law enforcement agencies use to assess their effectiveness at solving crime. Low or declining clearance rates often lead to increased political pressure on police leadership, and calls for more hiring or funding.
For police to “clear” a crime, they usually need to identify and arrest the suspect. But according to more granular data collected by the FBI but reported by fewer agencies, at least 400 murders cleared in 2020 were solved by “exceptional means.” That means police believed they had enough evidence, but were unable to make an arrest. This occurs when the suspect has died, can’t be extradited or if prosecutors refuse to press charges. Critics say police use clearance by exceptional means — sometimes colloquially described as putting “bodies on bodies” — to artificially inflate clearance numbers. Clearances don’t necessarily lead to criminal penalties like incarceration. In the nation’s 70 largest counties, nearly one-third of people accused of murder were acquitted or had their charges dismissed, according to a 2009 report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. That’s the most recent year with local prosecution and conviction data available on the national level.
*Research is confounded by the fact "that different agencies have different criteria for marking a case cleared. At the national level, the FBI uses blunt math to calculate a clearance rate, dividing the number of crimes that were cleared — no matter which year the crime occurred — by the number of new crimes in the calendar year. By clearing old and new cases, a department’s rate in any given year could exceed 100%. This leaves the numbers prone to statistical “noise.""
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Crime clearance rate in the United States in 2020, by type
Project: Cold Case is an organization to serve families that have lost loved ones to unsolved homicides.
Uniform Crime Report for Homicides: 2017 - 2021
Supplemental Homicide Report 2017 -2021
US murderers stand a 50% chance of getting away with it, new report finds
“Analyses of FBI data show that 71% of homicides were deemed solved in 1980 — dropping to only about 50% in 2020, the last time the data were compiled. A separate graphic shows a sudden spike in homicides in 2020 — with the number marked as solved barely increasing from preceding years.”
11 Currently Active Serial Killers: Unsolved Cases in 2023
“At any one time, it’s believed that there are around 25-50 active serial killers lurking in the dark corners of the USA, stalking the streets and highways for their next potential victim. While the term serial killer usually conjures up images of people like Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy and Richard Ramirez, there are a whole host of other serial killers who are perhaps even more terrifying – for the sole reason they’ve never been caught.
Such as:
Route 29 Corridor
“Since 1996, there has been an unusually high number of cases involving young women disappearing along U.S. Route 29 (US 29) in Virginia, or an area known as the "Route 29 Corridor". Five young women disappeared in five years between 2009 and 2014, earning it a particularly notorious reputation.”The I-70 Serial Killer
“The sinister spree began on April 8, 1992, with the cold-blooded murder of 26-year-old Robin Fuldauer in Indianapolis. It continued with the brutal killings of Patricia Smith and Patricia Magers in Wichita, Michael McCown in Terre Haute, Nancy Kitzmiller in St. Charles, and finally, Sarah Blessing in Raytown. Investigators believe the same killer may be responsible for two additional murders and an attempted murder in Texas during 1993 and 1994, as well as the 2001 murder of a store clerk in Terre Haute, Indiana.”
Compounding the Problem
“In the United States, "defund the police" is a slogan that supports removing funds from police departments and reallocating them to non-policing forms of public safety and community support, such as social services, youth services, housing, education, healthcare and other community resources. Activists who use the phrase may do so with varying intentions; some seek modest reductions, while others argue for full divestment as a step toward the abolition of contemporary police services. Activists who support the defunding of police departments often argue that investing in community programs could provide a better crime deterrent for communities; funds would go toward addressing social issues, like poverty, homelessness, and mental disorders. Police abolitionists call for replacing existing police forces with other systems of public safety, like housing, employment, community health, education, and other programs.
The Los Angeles Police Protective League said defunding the police would be the "quickest way to make our neighborhoods more dangerous" and that "at this time ... 'defunding' the LAPD is the most irresponsible thing anyone can propose.””
To Read:
Why police forces are struggling to recruit and keep officers
'Vicious cycle': Inside the police recruiting crunch with resignations on the rise
A Novel Idea: Crowdsourcing to Help the
Families of the Murdered or Missing
Uncovered
"Uncovered is a cold case platform that uses the power of collective
impact to bring peace to families of murdered or missing people by
combining data, technology, and the wisdom of the community."
From their website:
“Uncovered is where the most passionate true crime enthusiasts can learn from and teach others. Dig deeper into the stories you’ve heard before, and encounter many others you haven’t, in ways that actually help. At some point, compassion causes entertainment to grow into a need for activism, contribution, and community to solve the stories of real people.
Follow As you find people whose cases speak to you, follow them. You’ll be notified of any updates, and sometimes there are contributions you can make to the cases themselves.
Share While solving every case is the ideal, they can take time. Outside of DNA, what breaks cases open is sharing information and using your platform to bring awareness to the cases that don’t get as much attention.
Join When you raise your hand, you make a choice to be counted, and counted upon, as part of a movement that calls upon collective impact to uncover answers in unsolved cases.
Learn Expand your skills with resources and opportunities to learn from experts, advocates, and others like you.
Contribute No one can do everything, but everyone can do something. Crowdsource the gaps, join a resource group, and put your true crime knowledge to use.”
Click HERE to download the Citizen Detective Guide.
CRISIS AT SOUTHERN BORDER and the
MISSING MIGRANT CHILDREN
Rewind on Twitter: Listen to recording of a round table discussion and presentation by Independent War Correspondent Michael Yon and Independent News Reporter Ann Vandersteel regarding the crisis at the Southern Border. Learn how many immigrant children are missing and what you can do to help their mission, Operation Burning Edge.
Listen and check out links, videos, chat and more:
🔥 Invasion at Southern Border August 20th 🔥
Direct to Space Only
🔥 Space Only 🔥
Biden admin to allow for the release of some migrants into the U.S.
with no way to track them
[05.10.23] "After more than 11,000 migrants were caught crossing the southern border on [May 9, 2023], the Biden administration is now preparing a memo that will direct Customs and Border Protection to begin releasing migrants into the U.S. without court dates or the ability to track them, according to three sources familiar with the plans. Customs and Border Protection processing centers are holding more than 27,000 migrants, according to the two sources familiar with the numbers, far higher than the roughly 18,500 the facilities are equipped to hold."
The Heritage Foundation: Tracking Movement of Illegal Aliens from NGOs to Interior of US
"The investigation confirmed that a host of NGOs are actively facilitating the Biden border crisis. Overflow from Customs and Border Protection is being transferred to these organizations so that Border Patrol avoids overcrowded facilities. These organizations apply for, and receive, taxpayer money to provide processing and transportation services and infrastructure to facilitate the migration of illegal aliens into the interior of the country."
This clip is in reference to placing an orphaned migrant child.
In this case, Tara informs her boss,
“It’s going to be bad optics if we release a child to a place that is already under investigation.”
The response?
“Tara, you need to understand, we only get sued if we keep kids in care too long. We don’t get sued by traffickers.
Are you clear? We don’t get sued by traffickers.’”
Ergo, this is the official position of the United States Federal Government Health and Human Services Department, led by Secretary Xavier Becerra, who he himself is an attorney.
“Notice the memo says DNA testing is ending for “Suspected Family Unit Fraud.”
The Administration removed fraud prevention measures out
of the system, which puts children directly into the hands of people
who are NOT their family members.”
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It is again important to note, Hispanic missing person cases are included under the category of white. Why?
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“Children are calling a helpline to report they are being abused, neglected, and trafficked. We must stop Government-Sponsored, Taxpayer-Funded Child Trafficking through the US Department of Health and Human Services.”
Operation Underground Railroad:
Sound of Freedom
The Abolitionists
Operation Toussaint
It's Happening Right Here
Triple Take
Supplemental Information:
Exploitation of Trafficked Women, 2nd Edition Guide No. 38 (2020)
From Wikipedia:
Human Trafficking
“San Diego State University estimates that there are 2.4 million victims of human trafficking among illegal Mexican immigrants in the United States. Some workers are smuggled into the United States and Canada by human traffickers. People have been kidnapped or tricked into slavery to work as laborers, after entering the country, for example in factories. Those trafficked in this manner often face additional barriers to escaping slavery, since their status as undocumented immigrants makes it difficult for them to gain access to help or services. For example, Burmese women trafficked into Thailand and forced to work in factories or as prostitutes may not speak the language and may be vulnerable to abuse by police due to their undocumented immigrant status.”Sex trafficking
“Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, Western Europe is being confronted with a serious problem related to the sexual exploitation of undocumented immigrants (especially from Eastern Europe), for prostitution. In the United States, human trafficking victims often pass through the porous border with Mexico.
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