The Orange County District Attorney's Office (OCDA) has
launched what's hailed as a first-of-its-kind social networking page developed and
utilized by a U.S. prosecutorial agency: a Facebook page for children abducted from Orange County.
Developed by the OCDA Bureau of Investigation, the page features
current cases being investigated by the OCDA Child Abduction Unit. The unit probes cases where a family member is suspected of taking a child, necessitating international investigations when children are taken into other countries.
]
The Facebook page
currently profiles six cases with individual victims believed to be in
Mexico, Japan, Zambia, Kansas City, MO, and elsewhere, as
well as one case of two recently recovered children. Additional cases will be featured as needed, and the media will be notified accordingly, says the OCDA.
The page features individual albums containing photos of abducted
children, including age progression photos when necessary, photos of the
defendant(s), circumstances of the case, and the suspected location of
the abducted children. The page also includes links to other
organizations, further information and resources for parents and the
public, and an e-hotline that allows users to email tips to the OCDA
regarding abducted children.
Go to OCDA Child Abduction Facebook and, to access individual albums, click on the profile picture and select “albums” under the “Profile Pictures” header.
“One of the worst things that can happen to a parent is to have their
child taken, with no idea where the child is or if the parent will ever
see them again,” explains District Attorney Tony Rackauckas in an OCDA
statement. “The children are victims, too, because they are deprived
of the love, comfort, and company of the parent from whom they were
forcibly taken. I hope this
page will help to bring closure and happiness by reuniting divided
families.”
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.