Push for missing on-line site

By Glen Atwell
CITY of Casey councillor Steve Beardon is spearheading a state-wide campaign to establish an official missing persons website to improve the flow of information to grief stricken families.
Cr Beardon’s notice of motion to write to the State Government calling for the establishment of a publicy accessible Victorian Police missing persons website was unanimously passed at the Casey council meeting last Tuesday.
Cr Beardon’s efforts are a welcome relief to Cranbourne West mother Jo-Ann Adams, whose son Gary Adams has been missing for more than four years.
The Mayfield Ward councillor wants a new site to be linked with the Victorian Crime Stoppers website to encourage the sharing of information between the public and the police.
With almost 30,000 people reported missing each year in Australia, one every 18 minutes, Victoria is the only mainland state without an online missing person’s register.
Cr Beardon said a Victorian specific website was a project well overdue.
“The Internet is available to most homes, and is an invaluable tool to reach millions of people,” he said.
“Families and friends of those missing need to know that the police and public have not forgotten the person who is missing.
“Many have been missing for decades,” Cr Beardon said.
“The majority of long-term missing person cases are deemed undetected or unsolved homicides. It is important to help and do all we can to assist in re-uniting family, friends and children with those searching.”
Ms Adams has experienced the heart-breaking pain of missing a loved one since her son Gary disappeared in December 2003.
Ms Adams said she will never stop searching for her son and believes a central online resource could help find the missing link.
“Ideally, a national website will eventually be established and provide a central resource for the families and friends of those searching, and a means of connecting members of the public with any information,” she said.
“I only know one thing for certain and that is that someone must know what happened to Gary, people cannot simply disappear.”
“What hurts most is knowing that someone out there has the information that I have been seeking for four years,” Ms Adams said.
Nicole Morris runs the Australian Missing Persons Register, the only private national website dedicated to providing information about missing persons.
Ms Morris said her task, to update and inform the public about missing persons, was always an uphill battle.
“The police protect the privacy of the missing, which is a good thing, but it always means there is a lack of information, which means public help cannot be sought,” she said.
“Cr Beardon and the City of Casey’s efforts to push for a central Victorian site is a huge step in the right direction.”
For Ms Adams, the search for her son continues, and will not conclude until Gary is found.
“I know Gary is out there and I know someone has the information the police need, so I’ll never stop looking,” she said.