I appears that getting a PR person makes all the difference in the world in finding a missing child. More people should be helped get the media attention that was lacking in these to cases in Utah and the ones all over the US.
I think some people need to re-think their position concerning the VD's and their use of a PR person. It was a wise move and I think one that most of us would so in a similar circumstance.
A Family's 7-Year HeartacheFriday, June 14, 2002
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
SPANISH FORK- If your child disappears, pray for her safe return -- and then pray for a media blitz.It is a lesson few know better than Tamara and Richard Davis, whose daughter, Kiplyn, hasn't been seen for seven years. When the bubbly girl with the red bouncy hair disappeared from Spanish Fork High School, there were no reporters, no helicopters and no 6 o'clock updates. For that matter, there was barely an investigation -- at least initially.
For nearly three weeks, police insisted the 15-year-old was a runaway, going so far as to decline an offer of help from the FBI. And when the police finally labeled it abduction, the news media showed minimal interest.
So it is with aching hearts and a strange sense of envy that the Spanish Fork family -- and no doubt thousands of others whose loved ones are still missing -- follows the abduction of Elizabeth Smart.
Ten days ago, a man with a gun snatched the 14-year-old girl from her million-dollar home, according to her sister, fraying families' sense of security and stirring a media frenzy.
The Davises don't begrudge the Smart family any of the attention and resources they have been able to muster. But they can't help but rehash the response to Kiplyn's disappearance.
"How come we didn't get all this publicity? How come I didn't have 40 FBI agents and 60 law enforcement agencies out looking for Kiplyn at the time? We know it's different. We know it's a lot different. Elizabeth was taken out of her home. But my daughter was taken out of her school," said Richard Davis.
"We have some bitterness right now. We love our police department. There are some great people in it. . . But if we had had the same attention that Elizabeth Smart is getting right now, things would have been a lot different."
The news media plays a critical role in the search for missing persons. It's the only way to quickly and effectively reach millions of people, to get the victim's picture out there and spur volunteers and potential witnesses to come forward, said Bob Walcutt, executive director of the Texas-based Laura Recovery Center.
Media representatives and search experts like Walcutt offer various explanations why the Smart case has garnered so much media and law enforcement attention.
The uncommon nature of the crime -- most non-family abductions occur on the street -- is an obvious hook for journalists. So is the first-ever use of Utah's Rachael Alert system, designed to inform the public of kidnappings through the news media. Many also say the Smart family's attractive looks, wealth and church connections played a part in making this a cause celebre.
A girl stolen from her bedroom in the middle of the night generates high human interest, said MaryLynn Ryan, managing editor of CNN'S U.S. broadcasts.
"We were like, wow. A parent's worst nightmare," Ryan said. "We've spun stories from this story: Are we not safe in our home?"
The August 1995 murder of 6-year-old Rosie Tapia raised the same fears. The girl was taken from her bedroom in the middle of the night, sexually assaulted and dumped in a surplus canal of the Jordan River. Unlike the Smart case, however, Tapia's body was discovered by a jogger five hours after her mother noticed her missing from their apartment in Salt Lake City's Glendale neighborhood.
Yet that hasn't stopped some people from wondering why Tapia's case, or the search for her killer, has received so little attention.
KSTU Channel 13, the local Fox affiliate, is one of many media outlets fielding phone calls and e-mails insisting the Smart family is receiving preferential treatment. A kidnapping in a less affluent neighborhood would not have received the same level of attention, they claim.
Channel 13 news director Renai Bodley disagrees. "As far as the investigation and as far as our response, we would have done that under any circumstances."
Perhaps. But Jennifer Marra, a former journalist who founded a Web site for missing persons, said most of us are guilty of shrugging off abductions when they occur in poor neighborhoods.
"There tends to be a high crime rate in those areas and it seems to be 'expected.' I really don't have an answer for why, but I am guilty of it as well. I try not to have that type of attitude, as it goes against everything I believe in. But when I hear about a child disappearing on a street known for drug dealing or other criminal activity, I am not surprised," said Marra, founder of The Missing Persons Cold Case Network.
"Perhaps that's why our ears perk up when we hear about Elizabeth Smart or Danielle van Dam [the San Diego girl who was abducted from her home and murdered in February.] Abductions are not 'supposed' to occur in 'safe' neighborhoods. All the cliches start spewing shortly afterwards."
Marra doesn't buy the theory that money doesn't buy coverage. The wealthier the family, the better their chances are of securing the interest of the news media, the community and law enforcement, she said.
"They also can hire private investigators and publicists if needed -- two things not available to middle-class and less fortunate families," she said.
Former KTVX news director John Edwards said the Smart case would not have struck the same nerve had it been focused around a family living west of Interstate 15.
"It's not affluence so much as connections. They can mobilize the media and resources in a hurry," said Edwards, director of major gifts for the University of Utah's Health Sciences Center. "Someone on the west side can get to a reporter, but a guy like this can get to your publisher."
Edwards was speaking hypothetically. But in the Smart case, the girl's uncle happens to be a long-time photographer for the Deseret News. And while Tom Smart's job may not affect the way the rest of the news media covers an event, knowing the journalistic ropes has no doubt aided the family in getting the word out.
So has The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. On the day of Elizabeth Smart's abduction, a church leader e-mailed all stake presidents in the western United States with information about the crime.
The Davises, also Mormons, said it never occurred to them to call the church for help when Kiplyn vanished.
On May 2, 1995, Davis drove his daughter, a sophomore, to Spanish Fork High School for her early-morning driver education class. When she wasn't home by 5 p.m., her father knew something was wrong.
The police said not to panic. She's probably at a friend's house. When the girl didn't show the next morning, the police ruled her a runaway. And her parents were on their own.
"We were handing out fliers, driving up the canyons and down the streets, going to her friends' houses. We didn't know what else to do," Davis said. "We weren't running an investigation because we didn't know how to."
Nearly three weeks passed before police called a news conference about Kiplyn's abduction. The Spanish Fork Police, while initially reluctant to investigate, have diligently followed up on every lead since, Davis said. The news media is a different story.
Reporters wrote follow-up stories when the FBI was invited back to join the case and when Kiplyn's face was featured on ADVO's direct-mail fliers. But the only in-depth coverage came three years ago on Kiplyn's birthday -- when the family held a memorial service at the Spanish Fork City Cemetery.
"There's no closure at all and there won't be ever until we find her," Richard Davis said. "It just gives us peace of mind knowing we've got a place where we can put a flower and honor her and remember her."
The family also keeps the front porch light on and will until their daughter comes home.
Elizabeth Smart's disappearance has renewed interest in Kiplyn's case, but it has caused the family much pain, too. Tamara Davis recalled that just last year, a local discount store refused to display a poster featuring Kiplyn and other missing children. Today, that same store has Elizabeth Smart's poster in the window.
"Sometimes we feel like we're the only people who still care," Tamara Davis said.
"The sad thing about our society is we learn by our mistakes," added Richard Davis. "It's sad we had to learn with Kiplyn. But in a good sense, we've learned a lot about it and the police are trained now in case it ever happens again. And it will."
Photo Included "The Davis family, Tamara, left, Richard and sister Karissa with a portrait of Kiplyn, who disappeared seven years ago."