This week “Top Gun” the sequel made an obscene amount of money. Per Deadline.com ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Catapults Past $1B At Worldwide Box Office – that is One Billion Dollars (in Dr. Evil’s voice…) This is crazy to me! Why? Because I loved “Minority Report”. I can understand why this movie would be difficult for Tom Cruise at this time in his life. He had three children…I will leave it there.
What was “Minority Report” about? It had many storylines but I want to focus on the main subject for me personally today: Missing children.
In the movie, a top cop was struggling. He was a drug addict. He had mental issues of loneliness, anxiety, and deep depression. At work, he seemed to be doing well but it was a total lie. A complete lie. You would never think that the top cop would be a secret drug addict and soon a fugitive.
When I think of all the night terrors I had being a parent. There were so many unknowns. I didn’t know who I could trust. My family and friends were untrustworthy. People who were trustworthy seemed to drain away out of my life like water down the drain. Speaking of water that’s how the child in the movie was lost. It was summertime. He was at the pool with his dad then poof! He was gone never to be recovered. While watching the movie I felt what the character felt because as a child, I was abducted, right out of my grandmother’s front yard at 5659 Beldart, Houston, Texas 77033 in the morning right after my Mom left to go to work at Ben Taub Hospital.
I was gone, gone, gone and no one in my family even missed me except my great-grandmother. My abductor was a Black man who drove a white car. Abductors always drive white vehicles… Anyway, I was lucky he did not kill me. As soon as my great-grandmother saw me she asked me a million questions and I lied. I lied. Why? Even before going to kindergarten, I knew I could not tell my family the truth.
Anyway, as a parent myself, my sons went missing. I had to stay late at school and I called Margaret Burgan, my sons’ grandmother to pick up the kids from daycare for me. I was in class to become a Dental Assistant at Astrodome Dental. When I got out of class I called Margaret and she did not answer. This incident could have cost my sons their lives.
Sidenote: I wanted to give birth to my sons and I took my role as Mom seriously. I suffered over every choice I made as a Mom and my children went missing. I made the wrong choice. With Roe V. Wade being overturned what will happen to babies that the Moms and Dads could care less what happens to them? I hope unwanted babies are not conceived at all. Once babies are here, I pray that what happened to me and my boys does not happen to them.
Back to this blog…
“Minority Report” also included a storyline about three “Pre-Cogs” who were children whose Moms were drug addicts. Their children were taken from them and these children had pre-cognition abilities. They could tell the future. So this man took them and put them into service foretelling crimes before they happened.
Spoiler: In the end, all three “Pre-Cogs” ended up in Washington state on a peaceful island. As for the top cop, he and his wife reconnected and had another child.
When my sons went missing all I knew was to call the police. What I didn’t know is that there is a federal organization you can call:
National Center For Missing & Exploited Children https://www.missingkids.org/gethelpnow/isyourchildmissing
What to do if your child is missing
- Immediately call your local law enforcement agency.
- After you have reported your child missing to law enforcement, call the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST® (1-800-843-5678).
- If your child is missing from home, search through:
- Closets.
- Piles of laundry.
- In and under beds.
- Inside large appliances.
- Vehicles – including trunks.
- Anywhere else that a child may crawl or hide.
- Notify the store manager or security office if your child cannot be found when in a store. Then immediately call your local law enforcement agency. Many stores have a Code Adam plan of action in place.
- When you call law enforcement
- Provide law enforcement with your child’s name, date of birth, height, weight, and descriptions of any other unique identifiers such as eyeglasses and braces. Tell them when you noticed your child was missing and what clothing he or she was wearing.
- Request law enforcement authorities immediately enter your child’s name and identifying information into the FBI’s National Crime Information Center Missing Person File.
How NCMEC can help
When you call NCMEC, a Call Center specialist will record information about your child. A NCMEC case management team will next work directly with your family and the law enforcement agency investigating your case. They will offer technical assistance tailored to your case to help ensure all available search and recovery methods are used.
As appropriate NCMEC case management teams:
- Rapidly create and disseminate posters to help generate leads.
- Rapidly review, analyze and disseminate leads received on 1-800-THE-LOST® (1-800-843-5678) to the investigating law enforcement agency.
- Communicate with federal agencies to provide services to assist in the location and recovery of missing children.
- Provide peer support, resources and empowerment from trained volunteers who have experienced a missing child incident in their own family.
- Provide families with access to referrals they may use to help process any emotional or counseling needs.
Why even go “here”?
21.7 million + Reports were made to the CyberTipline in 2020.
18,300 + Attempted abductions analyzed.
According to an NCMEC analysis, 67% of attempted abductions involved the suspect driving a vehicle. In my case, it was a white car.
Remember, an ounce of PREVENTION is worth a pound of CURE.
How do you keep your children from being abducted? https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/abductions.html
I found this information helpful but please know that my experience and my kids experience did NOT meet these parameters. Please know there are exceptions to the rules:
Ways to Prevent Abductions
About 2,100 missing-children reports are filed each day in the U.S. Many cases can be solved more easily when parents can provide key information about their kids, like: height, weight, eye color, and a clear recent photo.
It’s also wise to:
- Make sure custody documents are in order.
- Have ID-like photos taken of your kids every 6 months and have them fingerprinted. Many local police departments sponsor fingerprinting programs.
- Keep your kids’ medical and dental records up to date.
- Make online safety a priority. The Internet is a great tool, but it’s also a place for predators to stalk kids. Be aware of your kids’ Internet activities and chat room “friends,” and remind them never to give out personal information. Avoid posting identifying information or photos of your kids online.
- Set boundaries about the places your kids go. Supervise them in places like malls, movie theaters, parks, public bathrooms, or while fundraising door to door.
- Never leave kids alone in a car or stroller, even for a minute.
- Choose caregivers — babysitters, childcare providers, and nannies — carefully and check their references. If you’ve arranged for someone to pick up your kids from school or daycare, discuss the arrangements beforehand with your kids and with the school or childcare center.
- Avoid dressing your kids in clothing with their names on it — children tend to trust adults who know their names.
Don’t assume that your friends and family give a damn about you or your children.
What to do after your missing child is recovered:
I could not find anything on Bing or Google. That’s right, Ms. Google did not return any information. I would call law enforcement except I am a Black Lady so that is never a call I will make. Luckily for me, I saw a movie a long time ago where a missing son was returned to his Mom starring Angelina Jolie. The movie is called “Changeling”. Did you see it too? https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0824747/
It is the story of Christin Collins of Los Angeles, California. Her son went missing. LAPD brought her another child. She was appalled and LAPD institutionalized her.
Sidebar: With all of the perils, are you surprised that ladies do not want to have children even in the event they become pregnant? What is wrong with the Supreme Court of the United States? Becoming a parent no matter the circumstance is a horror show. Reversing Roe V. Wade is NOT helpful, supportive, or humane. Is it really fall out from women revolting against sexual harassment at work?? Looks like it. (Dave Chappelle called it years ago in a comedy special. Men aren’t afraid of women anymore.)
7 Million people have expressed interest in what happened to Walter Collins – according to his Mom, Christin, he was never found. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMu7_Xpp1SM
| Christin Collins c. 1928 | |
| Born | Christine Ida Dunne December 14, 1888 Los Angeles, California, US |
|---|---|
| Died | December 8, 1964 (aged 75) Los Angeles, California, US |
| Spouse(s) | Walter Anson |
| Children | 1 |
Always keep trying to get help as a Mother from those who WANT to help you. Don’t expect those who hate and hurt you to ever change. You have to KNOW the difference. When you are truly hated – accept that – leave those people and their cohorts alone and FOR GOOD. Stop begging people who hate you to change, hoping beyond hope. You are being a fool. It’s a lesson we all must learn.
Just because a person you depended on insert negative word here doesn’t mean everyone else you come across will. Remove that filter from your heart.
#KeepGoing
#HelpYourself
#LetOthersBlessYou
Ms Coletha's Blog 
