Missing Girls from Our Area

UPDATE:  Thanks to WCNC's Dianne Gallagher for pointing out that Tayviona Vandiver was located after two weeks.  Her name didn't come up in a search before posting this story except for the Charlotte Observer/WCNC partner link posted August 5 which shows her as "still missing" as of August 14.  It seems WCNC didn't tell the Observer, either.   Apologies for the error but so happy to know she is safe.  See the story at WCNC.com direct story here:

http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/12-year-old-girl-missing-in-Charlotte-217802281.html

The Charlotte Observer is reporting about Rowan County only recently reported missing by her brother, even though authorities now say she’s been gone since 2011.  The full story can be found here, with excerpts shown below:

Police: Missing girl’s parents are being uncooperative

Investigators searching for a missing Rowan County teenager say nothing the girl’s adoptive parents told them during two days’ worth of questioning was true, and the family is not being cooperative.

Erica Parsons’ older brother reported her missing last week. It appears the last time people at the family home on Miller Chapel Road in Salisbury saw her was November 2011.

No one knows where Erica Lynn Parsons is, or who she left with in 2011

What isn’t in the Observer story but has been reported in other media is that both the maternal grandmothers have been dead since years prior to the time frame the adoptive parents claim Erica went to live with her grandmother, driven away with some unknown person.

WBTV reported tonight on the one week delay between the missing persons report and posting Erica’s information on the Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s site (http://www.missingkids.com).  What they didn’t report and what is notable is that another young girl from our area is also missing, but not on the site either: 

The full story from the Charlotte Observer on Monday, Aug. 05, 2013 is here:

A 12-year-old Charlotte girl is still missing.

Tayviona Vandiver was last seen at her house on Cold Water Lane on July 23.

She is 5-foot-5 and 110 pounds. She is black and has black hair, and police say she may need medical attention.

Officers say Vandiver has run away before, but never for this length of time. She is known to frequent the Redman Road area near the Forest Ridge and East Walk apartment complexes.

Anyone with information should call 911.

EXTRA TELEVISION COVERAGE FOR TAYVIONA?

Tayviona is not listed on the Missing Kids site.  She hasn’t been reported as found.  She is likely not the only child from our area who isn’t safely at home.  Please watch for her as well. 

Please talk to your children about their own safety and about how to help their friends—that they should “tell on” their friends to keep them safe.  If there are secrets too big for kids to handle, go get the right adult to help.  And keep trying until everyone is somewhere safe. 

Meanwhile, look for these two girls to bring them home, and make sure if you see them you tell them they are loved and people are only interested in having them home safe:

Photo Credit:  Charlotte Observer
TAYVIONA VANDIVER, Age 12, current picture, 5' 5"
Missing from CHARLOTTE

Photo Credit: Charlotte Observer
ERICA LYNN PARSONS
Photo from 2011
Missing from ROWAN COUNTY

SAFETY INFORMATION

There are a number of sites with good resources for having conversations with your kids.  One specific list comes from the www.missingkids.com site (see www.take25.org/FamilyResources ) and could make a big difference.  Remember, it’s not just one conversation.  Of course, nobody wants to scare kids, but we do want to prepare kids:

Child safety is a serious subject, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have an enjoyable time talking about it with children. Sing songs, tell stories, play games, and interact with kids in a way that makes them feel safer. Consider the following topics as you begin the conversation.

• Teach children their full names, address, and home telephone number
• Make sure they know your full name
• Make sure children know how to reach you at work or on your cell phone
• Teach children how and when to use 911 and make sure children have a trusted adult to call if they’re scared or have an emergency
• Instruct children to keep the door locked and not to open the door to talk to anyone when they are home alone 
• Set rules with children about having visitors over when you’re not home and how to answer the telephone

See the same site to click on links for:

• ·       Conversation Starters
• ·       Safety Tips
• ·       Child ID kit
• ·       Emergency Contact for Parents
• ·       Bookmark (Nat’l. Center’s rules of safety)
• ·       Series of Mini Lessons
• ·       Activity Lessons
• ·       Parent Presentation

With the excitement of a new school season starting and everyday pressures, it’s a good time to review and teach your kids.

HALLOWEEN: The Right Kind of Scary

BASICS AND COSTUMES    

Younger children especially should be accompanied by adults. 

Reinforce traffic safety rules to kids who will be excited and distracted.  Remind them the rules to wait for adults before crossing a street, look both ways for cars and bikes, and hold hands with their buddy or parent before crossing.

Make sure costumes do not impede line of sight or cause any other safety problems with breathing or movement.  Be sure they are flame retardant.  Use bright colors and reflective surfaces.  Add reflective tape to costumes and bags for safety.

Everyone should trick-or-treat in groups, and make use of the buddy system to keep track of each other.  Establish routes, check-in times, and curfews for older kids and be sure they have a phone with them.  For Halloween parties, know who they’ll be with and review all rules about friends, drinking, getting in cars, and having the designated adult pick them up. 

IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD   

Stay in well-lit areas, and remember you can see cars better than drivers can see you.

Do not go to unfamiliar areas.  Do not enter houses of people you don’t know or accept unwrapped treats from people you don’t know. 

It’s unfortunate to need to know, but all year round, you should be aware of registered sex offenders in your area.  You can check by street, zip code, name, or other ways at the NATIONAL SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY and at the NC SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY. 

Remind kids BASIC SAFETY that applies all year:  if they need help, try to find a police officer for help.  After that, it is usually safer to ask a woman for help than a man—especially if she has children with her.  Teach children their home phone numbers and how to call 911.

Teach children that if anyone tries to harm them, touch them the wrong way (and talk about what that means) or grab them to remove them from their location, they should scream as loudly as possible, drop down from someone’s arms, and run away.  Teach them it’s okay to punch and kick adults in that case.

 

DEADLY NUT ALLERGIES

Check with parents about any potential nut allergies, which can be deadly, if you are watching children for other people.   Let others know if your children have allergies.  Read packages carefully.  Some items are “processed in plants that also process peanuts or other nuts” and can trigger severe allergies, even if they don’t contain whole or chopped nuts that are obvious.

PARTIES AT HOME

Consider having a party at home with friends and healthy treats as part of the evening, but don’t suck all the fun out of Halloween.  Just be prepared and safe.  And wear layers, because it’s going to be cold out there!