Declaring the week of October 29, 2005 through November 4, 2005 as Philadelphia Missing Persons Awareness Week and calling for a Philadelphia Missing Persons Awareness conference.

WHEREAS,

Recent missing persons cases such as those involving Latoya Figueroa and Natalee Holloway have generated National and Local attention to missing persons; and

WHEREAS

, According to the FBI, as of June 1, 2005 there were approximately 48,000 missing persons in the United States ; and

WHEREAS,

According to the FBI

,

nationally over 800,000 children under the age of 18 are reported missing each year; and

WHEREAS

, In the City of Philadelphia, all missing persons are entered into a National/Local Database; and

WHEREAS

, As of June 30, 2005, in the City of Philadelphia, 719 adults were reported missing and of that number, 100 are still missing; and

WHEREAS

, As of June 30, 2005, in the City of Philadelphia, 2675 Juveniles under the age of 18 have been reported missing with 393 still reported as missing; and

WHEREAS

, Involvement from family, friends, neighbors, civic groups and town watches give police the added help to try to find a missing person; and

WHEREAS,

Many missing persons cases never make headlines or the evening news, and the general public remains unaware of the scope and seriousness of the issue; and

WHEREAS,

The lack of awareness disproportionately occurs in missing persons case involving minorities and/or low-income individuals; and

WHEREAS

, The Latoya Figueroa case has offered instruction and guidance to police, families, communities, and elected officials in methods for raising the awareness of missing persons; and

WHEREAS,

City Council now has a timely opportunity to act on this instruction and guidance and raise awareness of missing persons in Philadelphia and its surrounding regions; now therefore, be it

RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA,

That we hereby declare the week of October 29, 2005 through November 4, 2005 as Philadelphia Missing Persons Awareness Week and calling for a Philadelphia Missing Persons Awareness conference.

End