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Pauli
10-13-2007, 06:04 PM
In the Fall of 1985, we acquired our first Bloodhound for the purpose of training and getting involved in searching for missing persons. The impetus that kicked us into doing this was a missing child case that remains unsolved to this day. We felt that if a good Bloodhound had been used, there would have been a chance that little boy could have been found! By the time we got and trained our dog, too much time had passed to ever be able to help on that case. However, we did assist our local and area police and sheriff's departments on other cases and did get to make a difference on several felony cases, including a missing person/murder case that was eventually re-enacted for the producers of The New Detectives on The Discovery Channel, in October of 2001. But times changed, and departments and new personnel became much less willing to ask civilian volunteers for this help. We found that this problem extends across the United States, and many other handlers who had trained their dogs for this purpose were ALSO not being called out on those cases where they could have made a difference!

In the meantime, the news became saturated with so many cases of missing children and adults... and the crimes against these innocent victims were becoming even more heinous... that it reached an intolerable level with us! That is when the plan for a "Molly's Law" was brought up to search dog handlers in all areas of law enforcement and search and rescue across the United States for their input and support. We drafted a proposed law, named after a Bloodhound (then in California) that followed the scent-trail of a baby that had been stolen from his mother and taken in a pick-up truck.
http://www.firesociety.com/imagelib/contentitem/11212/f0f219158e118e83--283bf5a4-1117b342ae0--3436207026290.jpg
Using the "drop-trail" method, "Molly" and her handler followed the trail over a two-day period of time, along more than 35 miles of busy highways and intersections; from one town to another; through residential areas... right to the front door of the kidnapper!

The baby was returned safely to his mother, and we chose to name our proposed law after "Molly", who exemplified the kind of success that is possible when a properly-trained dog is called in a timely manner! This case was re-enacted by "Molly" and her handler in the late Summer of 2001, and was aired several times on Animal Planet's program titled Wild Rescues!

It has been a long, slow and painstaking process... because we are not a true organization; we have very little outside help; we have no grant or other funds; and we have no voice in the media. Still, we have accomplished quite a bit on a shoestring... thanks to the internet being a free source of the little publicity we can get. So I have joined numerous online forums and it's past time, once again, to get the word out on the "Molly's Law" project and ask for people to visit our online petition, read the Preface to the law we have written, and sign in support of it... then pass the link and information on to as many others as possible!

We need to fight the problem of lost, missing and abducted children and adults on many different fronts, but because a scent-discriminating man-trailer (generally, a Bloodhound) can start the trail immediately, with only an uncontaminated scent article and a reliable "point last seen" (P.L.S.), it is the quickest and most direct way of establishing a direction of travel of the missing persons and, hopefully, following it to a conclusion. Because few people live in this world entirely alone, and most have children, elderly, or other adults at risk of these crimes... this is a subject that should be of concern to everyone!

At the moment, I have something over 1,800 online signatures and almost 2,500 signatures on hard-copy petitions. This isn't even a drop in the bucket to show for the untold amount of work I have put into this important project over the past few years. We should have hundreds of thousands, if not MILLIONS, of signatures by now... but because we have no grant or other funds to help us publicize, set up a website, etc. I have been joining various forums and message boards and posting whenever I can, but that is just not enough. I really need Everyone's help in getting signatures!

Please... if everyone would sign and pass it on to even a few family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, businesses, etc.... and ask each of them to do the same, on down the chain of E-mails, letters, phone calls, etc., the numbers would grow TREMENDOUSLY in a very short time! I have seen petitions with hundreds of thousands of signatures, having to do with subjects of FAR LESS importance than this one, and the comparison dismays and depresses me! Each person should think about what they would want done, if their child or adult loved one went missing! Again, the problem has to be fought on many fronts, and this is one of the most important... because a scent-discriminating man-trailer, called in promptly on a search, can do MUCH to help find or recover these victims and/or gather evidence! We have reams of documentation on the use of Bloodhounds, which is our BEST recommendation, particularly on cases where the victim may have been taken in a vehicle, and the trail is old and contaminated!

We should never allow a trail to become this complex or difficult, however, before a qualified man-trailer is called in! The only hope for change, nationally, is through "Molly's Law" and the attending aspects of our overall plan, which is to also educate law enforcement and the general public; to provide contacts for these resources; and to encourage further training of search dog teams to hone their skills! Your help in making this possible is most deeply appreciated! Please refer to the link below, and permission is given to forward this message in its entirety, or the paragraphs and link below, to any person, group or list that can be of help! Thank you!

Sincerely,
Joyce Phares

P.S. -- I am providing the link to the Online Petition site for "Molly's Law™", which I hope you will visit and read what we, as a group of search dog handlers from all areas of Law Enforcement and Search and Rescue across the country, are working on to help combat the problem of lost, missing and abducted children and adults.
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/MollyLaw/petition.html (http://www.PetitionOnline.com/MollyLaw/petition.html)

Your signature is greatly appreciated -- and please share this link and information freely with everyone you possibly can!We need the help of all handlers and other concerned citizens to get the word out, as we plan to get the actual 12-point law we have written... passed as a National/Federal Law! Many thanks for all your support!

Rummy
10-14-2007, 08:28 PM
October 14, 2007

To ALL;

WOW!!! Once again, Harlett set up a wonderful new website in HelpFindTheMissing.org! The special surprise for me, is that she so very generously provided a forum for the proposed "Molly's Law" I have been working on for some time, and notified me of it by E-mail. I was just able to access the site today and register, so I thought I would test it out after adding an avatar (first attempt for this computer-challenged soul) and starting this thread off with my first post!

The Bloodhound pictured was our first, "Frontier's Tonto", who came from the excellent man-trailing stock of Glenn Rimbey... and who also earned his show championship at a young age. He is shown, here, on the grounds of Kansas State Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, where Glenn was in charge of the K-9 unit. It was the first or second year we attended a training seminar there in the Spring of 1987, where we saw Glenn’s famous and award-winning man-trailer, "Sac River Red's Marquessa", become the first recipient of the Big T Multi-Purpose Dog of the Year Award, sponsored by the Niagara County Deputy Sheriff's Assoc., and presented by Bill Tolhurst... who was, until his death two years ago, the leading authority on man-trailing Bloodhounds!

Then, the first great honor our Bloodhounds ever received came in 1988, when "Tonto" (whose dam was "Marquessa"), became the second recipient of this prestigious national award... on the basis of his excellent multi-purpose work, including the Karen Warner case... and it was again presented by Bill Tolhurst! Brief accounts of the cases that helped "Marquessa" and "Tonto" earn the award in consecutive years, were also written in one of Bill's books. [Ref.: Manhunters! Hounds of the Big T, by William D. Tolhurst, as told to Lena F. Reed. Published 1984, by Hound Dog Press, Puyallup, WA.; this case is also referenced in another SAR dog book, of which I don’t have a copy].

The second great honor that "Tonto" received in his lifetime, was a request by the producers of The New Detectives (on The Discovery Channel) to do a re-enactment of the March, 1987, Karen Warner case that was instrumental in earning him the “Big T” award! We had worked our first two Bloodhounds, "Tonto" and "Tonta", on the scent-trail of this young woman who was murdered and transported in the trunk of her own vehicle. She was placed in a shallow grave; we went on the 10th day of her disappearance (the program incorrectly stated 7th day); and her body had even frozen from the night before… but "Tonto" located her body within an hour and 45 minutes of starting the search in a heavily contaminated area, which had been thoroughly searched for days by a number of officers from two jurisdictions (Champaign and Danville). "Scent of the Kill" was aired many times over a period of years, following its premier showing on The Discovery Channel on 10-23-01… and as recently as 9-11-07! There were probably MILLIONS of people (not only across the U.S. and Canada, but also around the world) who had the opportunity to see it! The dog that played "Tonto's" part was from our first litter; we had sold him to a Sergeant who was then with the Lima, Ohio, Police Dept… and he drove back with "Grimm", so I could borrow him to play this part! I wanted a red male to play "Tonto"; and I took his old harness out of retirement to put it on "Grimm". He looked a lot like him, and I was so proud that he handled the role so well! "Rummy" (one of our current working dogs), who later became the dam of a litter of 10 living puppies, was used in the film to play the part of "Tonta" (another of our wonderful man-trailers); however, her part was cut, due to time constraints. Several members of the Champaign and Danville (IL.) Police Departments, Illinois State Crime Lab, and two K-9 officers from Ohio were present and participated in the re-enactment of this case! Perhaps some of our readers may recall seeing it at some time during the past 6 years!

Of course, "Tonto" and "Tonta" have been gone for many years... but will NEVER be forgotten by us! He was my BEST EVER birthday present in November of 1985... and passed suddenly, due to heart failure, on my SADDEST EVER birthday in 1996! "Tonta" was an excellent multi-purpose dog and show champion, herself, and lived to be over 10 years of age before her passing due to cancer, in the Spring of 1996. Today, "Blackjack" and "Rummy" are our senior working dogs, along with 3 of her daughters: "Trail's End Calamity Jane", ".....Annie Oakley", and ".....Lady Godiva" (or "G"). Their littermate sisters and one brother are serving LE and SAR from California to Pennsylvania, and from Wyoming to Managua, Nicaragua! At some later time, I will share a few accounts of the outstanding work of "Blackjack" and "Rummy's" littermate brother and sister, "Grimm" and "Bonnie"!

Sincerely,

"Rummy" (the 2-legger one)

Roamer
12-15-2007, 05:55 PM
What a great organization this sounds like. I'm signing, and I hope everyone else who reads it will do the same.

Rummy
12-15-2007, 06:19 PM
What a great organization this sounds like. I'm signing, and I hope everyone else who reads it will do the same.

Hi, Roamer;

Thank you SO MUCH for signing in support! We are not an actual "organization", but a large group of search dog handlers (mostly of Bloodhounds) that collaborated online to write this proposed law. Count us among the multitudes that are sick and tired of reading about all the abductions, rapes and murders going on across the country... and the victims not being found! We know this valuable resource can be a great help to L.E., if they will just use them in a timely manner!

Any and all help from our supporters/signers is greatly appreciated! We encourage them to also freely share the link and information with everyone they possibly can! Permission is given to forward the links and paragraphs in their entirety!

Sincerely,

"Rummy" :happy0207:

P.S. -- My primary focus is the issue of lost, missing and abducted children and adults... and I would like to refer you to the following important links regarding the "Molly's Law" project we have been working on...

http://www.firesociety.com/article/11212/

I am providing the link to the Online Petition site for "Molly's Law™", which I hope you will visit and read what we, as a group of search dog handlers from all areas of Law Enforcement and Search and Rescue across the country, are working on to help combat the problem of lost, missing and abducted children and adults.

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/MollyLaw/petition.html

Your signature will be greatly appreciated -- and please share this link and information freely with EVERYONE you possibly can! We need the help of all handlers and other concerned citizens to get the word out, as we plan to get the actual 12-point law we have written... passed as a National/Federal Law! Many thanks for all your support!!

slaphappy
12-17-2007, 02:22 PM
:happy0207: Signed it, thanks for the link!

SavannahStar
12-17-2007, 07:22 PM
Signed!

ferretplay
12-17-2007, 07:22 PM
Signed the petition. What a wonderful group you are.Thank you for the excellent work you do.:missing:

maryhaze
12-17-2007, 07:53 PM
what great work & i love bloodhounds!

Rummy
12-18-2007, 12:25 PM
Thanks to all who have signed in support!!! It was a wonderful surprise to check the list this morning... kind of like opening a present!!! Now, if you would all help spread the word on this project by passing on the link and encouraging others to do the same, we can get the high numbers needed to get this going in the New Year!! Hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday!!

Sincerely,

"Rummy"

LiveLaughLuv
12-18-2007, 03:15 PM
Signed

Grande
12-18-2007, 03:23 PM
Thank you everyone for signing 'Molly's Law'!

Precisely
12-23-2007, 05:27 PM
Okay, Grande, Harlett et al. Its time to review what this site is REALLY all about. Signing up for Molly's law right now and going to review How I Can Help. Thanks!!!

Pauli
12-23-2007, 07:10 PM
Thank you so much Precisely :)

DIBBS
01-02-2008, 12:58 PM
Isn't it puzzling that something as useful and rewarding as having lovely dogs find those who are missing has to be publicized to make it happen when we know it works?!?!

It's a tool no police agency should do without !!

Many thanks for highlighting it ~!

wheezer
01-02-2008, 03:05 PM
Signed.

Pauli
02-18-2008, 12:29 AM
I received an email from Joyce

RUMMY... 7/9/99 -- 2/11/08

My working partner, one of my best friends, my 4-legged treasure, made her journey to the Rainbow Bridge in the early morning hours on Monday, February 11th. This is my tribute to a wonderful Bloodhound who served our community and beyond in her all-too-short lifetime. Rummy was met by thousands of people attending the many public events she participated in over the years, including the annual PetStravaganza and demos. at classes for some of our U. of I. students, Boy Scouts and other groups… or those who observed her working training trails or assisting law enforcement in missing persons cases.

Rummy excelled at working aged trails in which the subject left in a vehicle, and she did it with ease. Her most extraordinary case was a call-out by the Warren County (IN.) Sheriff in December of 2004, in the search for a missing 61-year-old man. It was the 15th day of his disappearance, and none of our Bloodhounds had ever worked a trail this aged, but we responded and started her on a good scent article placed outside the health center in Danville, IL., where he was last seen. She quickly picked up the scent, and followed it on what turned out to be a marathon trail. Once she cleared the city and indicated our subject went South on Route 1, we were able to use the “drop-trail” method and transport her in the sheriff’s vehicle, letting her out to check major intersections along the highways to determine direction of travel. She continued to Paris, IL., then to West Terre Haute and Terre Haute, IN., leading us to two salvage yards along the way where employees identified pictures of the man and his vehicle to the sheriff. A few other locations, including an off-the-path country store where he had likely stopped for some food, were also identified by Rummy… to confirm that we were still on the man’s trail. That first day, we logged 94.2 miles until we had to discontinue on Route 63 near Hinsdale, IN.

It wasn’t until the 23rd day of his disappearance that we were called back to resume the trail, but Rummy had no problem picking up the scent and continued to Route 41, where the search was called off near Boswell, IN., after logging another 56.3 miles. All totaled, she had covered 150.5 miles on an aged, highly contaminated vehicle trail! Two days after we got back home, there was a news report that the missing man had been found alive and well. He drove back into Illinois and was spotted hiding out in a small town by someone visiting friends or family and who happened to know and recognize him, as he had been a barber for many years. This person contacted the sheriff’s department and they brought our wayward missing person back home. He simply decided he was not going home, and drove for a few hundred miles in the process. While Rummy did not get to make the “find” as she tried so hard to do, she demonstrated the amazing capabilities of a great, scent-discriminating man-trailer and, I believe, probably holds a record for this marathon trail.

Now, it will be up to her littermate brother, Blackjack, and three of her daughters (Trail’s End Annie Oakley, …Calamity Jane, and …Lady Godiva/“G”) that we kept as our man-trailing stock, to continue in her place. Rummy was in great spirits for her Sunday breakfast, but when she wasn’t right there to greet me for her supper, I knew something was horribly wrong. When she finally came out of her house in the kennel building, I could see she was very depressed and was showing signs of bloat and torsion. Gastric dilatation and volvulus syndrome (GDV), occurs most often in the large breed dogs when the stomach dilates and twists… and it is a merciless killer without immediate detection and surgical intervention. We rushed her in to the U. of I. Small Animal Clinic, where she was x-rayed and stabilized for emergency surgery. I asked to see her before they took her in for the procedure and she was up on her sternum, which seemed a promising sign to an otherwise guarded prognosis. I remember how beautiful and stoic she looked, while I hugged her and told her how much I loved her… just as we do every day to each of our dogs. She was in most capable hands, and the surgeon was to call if anything came up. When the phone rang in the early hours, my whole world fell apart with the news that it was much worse than expected and a large portion of the tissue from the esophagus to most of the stomach was strangulated and beyond hope of saving. If I had been shot in the heart, it couldn’t have been more painful than the decision that had to be made and the devastation of losing such a great dog! They kept her stabilized so that I could go back in to be with her, she would not have to be alone at the end and I could say my last goodbye. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, but she had to be spared any more suffering.

Rummy will be buried on our farm beside those who passed before her; the part of her that has gone on to the Rainbow Bridge is in good company; her memory will be with us forever; and I will continue to include her in the greeting with the others each day… We love you, Rummy!

Joyce and Frank Phares
Urbana, Illinois

Pauli
02-18-2008, 12:30 AM
For Rummy, I know she will be greatly missed :1222423::1222423::1222423:

Roamer
02-18-2008, 05:11 AM
Run free at Rainbow Bridge, Rummy. :1222423:

Grande
02-18-2008, 03:30 PM
RIP dear Rummy, you will be missed by many!

Joyce, our thoughts are with you and your husband! :1222423:

animallady
04-07-2008, 01:01 AM
Signed and link posted at my health board.

Rummy
05-18-2008, 07:44 PM
To ALL;

Thanks, Harlett, and everyone... for both signing the "Molly's Law" petition and for your condolences for the loss of "Rummy"! I haven't been able to get over the devastation of losing such a great man-trailer, but I am blessed by still having her littermate brother, "BlackjacK", and 3 of her daughters!

On April 26th, we participated in the 3rd Annual Petstravaganza held at the U. of I. Stock Pavilion on campus. We set up a nice big display of search dog work, provided handouts, and included the "Molly's Law" project to get more signatures; the most popular feature, however, is the Bloodhound trailing demos... where we encourage everyone that wants to (young and old), to follow along on the trail! This was the second year my friend, Johnna, has come to help me with the P.R. and demos with her dog, Bumper, and she's been a Godsend!

I hurt my right arm some weeks ago, falling in the garage, so I had to use the left hand and arm to do the most strenuous work and the right hand to help control the lead... so I had her do two of the 3 trails for me. Since we lost "Rummy", it fell to one of her daughters ("Trail's End Lady Godiva"... call name "G") to do the honors and make her debut! She had never seen this large a crowd and such a carnival atmosphere, so she was shaking like a leaf when we walked through the building. But I gave her time to settle down and she worked a great trail; a cameraman followed us on the whole trail and interviewed us afterwards... so I will be getting a video of her first Petstravaganza demo! She made me and her 4-legger mom very proud, but it was a bittersweet time!

Well, I wanted to check in with everyone, again, and ask any new readers to check out the "Molly's Law" petition and sign in support, as I still need many more signatures. Here are the links to both the online article and the petition...

www.firesociety.com/article/11212/

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/MollyLaw/petition.html

Thank you SO MUCH!!

Sincerely,

"Rummy" (Joyce)

Roamer
05-19-2008, 06:31 AM
Good to see you over here, Joyce, and thanks for the update. This will push the thread to the top and maybe more people will notice and sign the petition for Molly's Law.

PatC
12-18-2008, 11:16 PM
I just signed the petition.

delilah
12-27-2008, 05:47 AM
I also signed the petition and posted the article at Peace4 the Missing. I feel strongly that is should be sort of a 'first responder' procedure when someone goes missing.

Roamer
12-27-2008, 06:02 AM
:bump:

TigressPen
12-27-2008, 06:57 PM
I signed

annalyzer
01-29-2009, 05:07 PM
http://wcsi.whiterivernews.com/templates/localnewstemp.asp?id=974&storyno=1

Bill Aims to Help Locate High-Risk Missing Adults

Two years ago State Representative Dave Cheatham (D-North Vernon) helped get legislation passed to help high-risk missing persons. Cheatham is now expanding on that law, titled "Molly's Law," hoping to gain an immediate response from law enforcement agencies in high-risk missing persons cases.

The new bill would require law enforcement officers to submit information regarding any missing person to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) no later than two hours after a report is filed. The NCIC is a computerized index of criminal justice information available to federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.

Cheatham said there is a list of characteristics that define someone as high-risk. "If there's evidence that a crime has been committed, if a person was on medication and they could suffer some kind of side effects from their medication," Cheatham said those are factors that make a missing person high-risk.

He said the new bill simply tweaks the original law by adding the requirement of adding the missing person's information into the NCIC.

Last Updated: Thursday, January 29, 2009 4:47:18 PM